Menu Manoeuvres: Asking For What You Want

Article By: Melanie Leyshon

Chefs and restaurants aren't particularly keen on the customer that breezes in and asks for dishes that aren't even on the menu. That type of request whips most up into a Gordon Ramsay-style tirade. However, the diner who asks for small adjustments for diet reasons is quite another breed, and, post the plethora of recent celebrity diets, more restaurants are accustomed to tailoring their dishes to be more customer friendly.

Three years ago, one restaurant owner told us ordering meals without any carbs, such as a grilled steak and a green salad without the fries and bread, was a common request. While extreme eating schedules are not generally good news, they have paved the way for restaurants to be more flexible. Here are a few ways to make eating out work for you. A few golden rules first:

Don't make unrealistic demands – work with what's on the menu, instead of asking for something that they'll have to start from scratch. Although, most will make you an omelette, if pressed, but then you can eat that at home. Ask your waitress to ask the chef for an alternative to a particular dressing or sauce – most chefs are used to devising menus on the spot, so will usually be happy to accommodate small omissions. Before ordering, ask the staff how a dish is cooked – check whether the fish is pan-fried or grilled and ask for the healthier option. Also, beware of sauces – provençale is tomatoey and rich, but not usually high in POINTS values, unlike hollandaise and béarnaise that do come with a ton of butter. Restaurants won't mind omitting garlic butters and sauces, so do ask for additions - maybe extra vegetables or suitable sides. Ask the waitress to take your bread basket and plate away as soon as you are full, to prevent you nibbling unnecessarily. 10 Top Menu Tweaks

Ask if they would serve crudities with a dip to start - most kitchens are well stocked with raw vegetables. Or stick to one or two breadsticks.

If you're having soup, make sure it's served without creamy accompaniments or croutons – ask for a dollop of natural yogurt instead.

Salads taste fine without dressings, but also ask for separate servings of oil and vinegar so you can measure a healthy serving of oil. Steer clear of mayonnaise, but ask if they ever make a low fat version using fromage frais.

Opt for tomato-based sauces or a little mustard or horseradish with grilled meats – garlic and herb butters are POINTS® values wasters.

Marinaded meats and fish are good choices, as the base is usually made of herbs, wine and vinegar, which provides lots of flavour as well as tenderising some meats.

Seared dishes are another good choice - they will have a light coating of oil, but nothing too drastic.

Ask for vegetables to be unadorned, without butter and cream - no one will mind you not having spinach without crème fraîche and just a grating of nutmeg. Mash usually comes with lashings of butter, so best to go for boiled with a knob of butter and fresh herbs.

Quiz your waitress for info – if you're in a pizzeria, ask which pizza has the least cheese, etc, so you don't find yourself munching through a mountain of mozzarella. They only need to ask the chef a quick question to find out which is your best option.

For puds, stick with fresh fruits or a small scoop of ice cream - this is the trickiest course for avoiding POINTS values, so best to be realistic about dessert.