If you need to add salt to a meal do you think the chef isn’t very good?

If I don’t like the way a restaurant prepares the food, I don’t go back. If, for some reason, I am going back, I find a dish or two that I can tolerate, and I have never not be been able to do that.

To answer your bold-in-red Q, no, I don’t think the chef is sub par, tastes differ dramatically.

No. First off, I don’t eat at many restaurants that have “chefs”. They have cooks. But my view of eating out, especially at a restaurant I’m not familiar with, is to find something on the menu that looks good and have it just as they prepare it. I want to see what they think is good food. It might end up having too much salt or some spice I don’t care for. But I want to try their food, their way before I make decisions. If I got a meal that was so loaded with salt I couldn’t eat it, I’d likely just leave that as a comment when the wait staff asks me how everything was. If it was not salty enough when I got the food, I could easily add a little to better match my taste.

Less is more, especially when it’s something you can add back in. I’ve also learned from various books about cooking that when you salt and what kind of salt you use matters. Depending on the restaurant, these things might not always be taken into account.

That’s a good cook.

If that is the only thing wrong with the food, then no.

One of the core reasons why I don’t go to restaurants that often is that I can make a far better meal myself.
When I travel and have to eat out, it is typically not a great experience.

My wife and I stopped going to a restaurant (recently changed owners) because the fried chicken and fish were OVER salted. The chef was new hire and the breading for frying was too salty. People we know raved about the new chef and his fried food, all that salt.

Nope. Because I rather have less salt and need to add it than have too much salt and no way to remove it. Its also hard to tell. Some places try to keep the salt content down to make the food more available for those with health issues who need to reduce salt intake.

I know people who have their own salt and bring it with them.

That might be a harsh judgment, but in general, I’m going to knock a few points from the place if the food is missing something (be it salt or whatever).

Usually, for me, if I’m going to be judgemental about the chef (or cooks), it’s about my food not being prepared the way I wanted, for example, the steak being overdone from the way I asked for. If it’s salty, I figure that’s the way they make it here, and if it’s bland, I can always add salt, which I have no problem doing.

A few weeks ago, I was in a fancy restaurant in NYC and I had roast chicken, and it was really good, but a bit salty. That’s one thing that made it taste so good.

I was watching an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives once, and they were in kitchen and the cook was showing how he prepared something. He had a big bowl of a mixture of salt and sugar (brown sugar or regular sugar, I don’t remember) and he took the meat and put it in the bowl and covered the meat with the sugar/salt mixture. To me, it was something I would never dream of doing at home but I am betting that’s what made that dish taste good in the restaurant.

My mom was a great cook, one of those who made everything from scratch (but didn’t brag about everything being from scratch, she just did it that way), and she would put very little salt in things. Maybe a dash of salt, that was it. My mom used a lot of herbs, and that’s what flavored her meals. My grandmother (my mom’s mom), was the same way. Everything from scratch, and she would tell you “there’s no salt in this.” There was a salt and pepper shaker on my mom’s table and my grandmother’s table, and you were free to use it if you wished, and neither my mom nor my grandmother would be insulted.

I feel like this is kind of like how you want to wear more layers than you think you need in winter. You can always take some off, but if you’ve already left the house, you may be screwed.

I put less salt, pepper, etc in things I make at work because my mentality is “they can always add more.” You can’t take the salt out if it is already added.

So no, it is not an insult. It would be an insult if it was adding a bunch of every seasoning, or enough sauce to drown out the taste of the food.

I think chefs or even cooks have an idea of how they want a dish to taste and that can include more or less salt than an individual prefers. It certainly is easier to add salt at the table than in the cooking but the bottom line if a chef at a restaurant is adding more salt than you prefer, amybe don’t go there again. Or tell then upfront that you are on a low salt diet – even if you aren’t. Ask what dishes might accommodate that.

@janbb I’ll definitely start asking if a dish can be prepared low salt.

Usually, I order a side that I can control the salt so the total meal rarely winds up extremely salty. Like a baked potato, salad, fruit, etc. I hate to change a lot of things on a meal when I order, I don’t like to complicate it so much for the waiter or kitchen. Usually, the salt is fine, but these recent meals happen to be excessive. A few months ago I had a similar problem with a Disney meal. I think I need to try to guard against it more where possible.

I totally misread this question. How embarrasing.

No. I don’t think the chef is bad if I have to add more salt.

Goodness this is awkward. How did I misunderstand this that bad?

^^No worries. :)

Over-salting is a sin. Undersalting should not be a goal because salting throughout cooking creates flavor in ways that adding salt at the table can’t. For example, the salt in a marinade helps the flavors penetrate. Or salting pasta water. As for garlic or butter, I can’t conceive of having too much or either.

I am not a fan of salt, so no. Also I cook a LOT, and generally season well but go easy on hot spices and salt, as each can be added to taste.
I would be concerned if oversalted on a regular basis. Though, as that could be canned sauces which are terrible for you and often 40% or more salt. Gross.

One thing that pisses me off in a restaurant is when the food is not piping hot. If it’s a casserole or something like lasagna, I want the inside to be steaming hot. If it’s soup, I want it to be piping hot where i have to blow on it to cool it off. Salt doesn’t bother me as much as the food not being hot or the food not being prepared the way I ask (as in my example above where the steak is overdone).

@jca2 We go to a pizza place almost every Sunday and almost all of us want the food hot a done “well.” Two friends of mine there say every time, “make sure the soup is hot.” Also, “the pizza cooked crispy.” Something along those lines. I never order soup there, but my friends still sometimes have to send the soup back. We go when the place opens, so maybe the pot of soup isn’t completely heated up yet? Some items I think are cold in the middle because they are microwaved.