# One mahi, mid-rare



## dirk skene (Feb 13, 2007)

Waitress comes back to the line & says, "Man wants his Mahi mid-rare." Before the exec chef can say a word she adds, "I've already told him that you probably won't do it. He says that if you won't he'll go somewhere where they'll fix it right." Chef leaves the line to talk to the guest. He explains all the why & wherefores of why this is not a good idea. But the man holds his ground. The chef prints off a waiver & the guest signs. 

Then chef comes back to the line & calls out to me "One Mahi, mid-rare." I answer "Aye chef." I barely get it marked & it's ready. A few minuets later the waitress comes back. "Man says for you to finish cooking it."  I do it because I know it's healthier. 
Come to find out later the guest had never had Mahi before. He loved sushi & sashimi & never took his tuna past mid-rare. He thought all fish could be prepared in this way. Living in a big catfish town I found this hard to believe, but what the heck.

Anybody else had experiences like this? How do you handle it?


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## jbd (Mar 17, 2008)

I had one such situation only at the opposite end of the doneness spectrum. Waitress come back with steak order and says, "burn it". I take that for slang for well done which I had heard and done many, many times. Send out the steak well done and it comes back untouched with the comment, "it's not burned" So back on the grill it goes for a few more minutes on each side and I send it back out. Two minutes later the steak is back untouched and the customer is getting really angry that the steak is not burned and has gotten quite rude with the waitress. So I figure if burned is what he wants burned is what he will get. I cooked it on each side long enough for it to be crisp all the way through like a cracker and send it out with my apologies for not understanding that he actually wanted it burned. 25 to 30 minutes later the waitress comes back to the kitchen and hands me a $20 tip and says the guy will be back next week for another great steak. I ended up burning 6 steaks for the guy and got a $20 tip for each one.


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## dirk skene (Feb 13, 2007)

Man I hate to hear about good meat being treated like that. But it WAS worth a nice tip for you :lips:


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## ras1187 (Oct 3, 2006)

I actually had the opposite happen to me with Ahi Tuna.

We break the ahi into log-shaped rolls, crust it with black sesame seeds, sear it with a blow torch, and slice it nice and thin with a beautiful red inside.

After sending out yet another beautifully seared ahi, the guest sends it back and requests it well done. I practically cried as I ruined perfectly good ahi with my bare hands.

We all know this, but I still think this detail gets overlooked somewhat in the heat of battle. It is the customer that is paying, which means that he/she is entitled to eat what they want, how they want it (within reasonable request). I know I will often think to myself "I wish these well-doners would learn how to eat a steak right", and later on I remember their $30 is no more valuable than the $30 I get from a med-rare steak.


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## dirk skene (Feb 13, 2007)

Good point RAS1187. As long as it is in reason & they're paying, give 'em what they want. I will tell you this though, I'd been crying right along with you when you had to burn that Ahi


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

A good portion of the public is uneducated when it comes to food.
I'll bet the customer in the OP mistook Mahi for Ahi.

I've had people request a steak "medium rare, but no pink".

There is nothing wrong with giving the customer what they want, but it can be annoying.


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## ras1187 (Oct 3, 2006)

Also, Dirk, I've felt your pain with lamb chops on various occasions.

1.) Guest orders lamb chops extra (not just well, but EXTRA) well done. As I shed tears for another beautiful lamb rack lost in the heat of battle, I left them in the oven until they fit my best guess of what Extra Well should be. I was later informed that the guest complained that they were over cooked.

2.) Guest orders lamb chops well done. I bring them up to well and send them out, they are returned shortly because the guest requests them cooked more. I send them out again practically charred, and 5 minutes later I see a plate of black bones come back with all the meat sucked right off of them (along with a compliments to the chef).

I just dont get it sometimes.


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## allanmcpherson (Apr 5, 2007)

We serve a lot of game. One of the things that drives us crazy is getting a chit for a well-done bison, red tail, or magret. Especially when we get the comment back that the meat was tough. Grrr...The customer may always be right, except when they are wrong.

--Al


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## bazza (Apr 2, 2007)

Ditto RAS1187 I had exactly this last week. Every chef hates doing this to good meat or fish, I try not to comment when the ticket comes in but the expletives just come out automatically  I still can't bring myself to ruin it though, I cook it so that the pink has only just disappeared (as if it's not ruined already lol) This lady was hosting a business meeting and one of the waitresses overheard her saying what a wonderful restaurant this is, so she was immediately forgiven :lol:


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