Menu truth and consequences

Does this sound familiar?

You order a dish because one element in the menu description is exactly what you feel like eating. Then it comes and that very element is nowhere in sight.

Happens to me all the time. I order a salad whose first listed ingredient is butternut squash (without which, it would be like every other salad). What I get is exactly like every other salad because it has no butternut squash. I order a Margherita pizza because it’s supposed to have fresh basil on top. It's notable in its absence. I order “bubbly-crusted” mac and cheese anticipating both the bubbles and the crust. But what is served is an ordinary bowl of pasta tossed with cheese sauce.

Most of the time, I ask nicely and the situation gets corrected.  Still and all, the dish is never what I originally expected and I end up feeling like – you know – one of those whiny complaining kinds of people. Which I’m not.

Then again, you don't want to be the one bringing me “a rare seared tuna salad” whose main ingredient looks like strips of wood. 

The ideal mac and cheese from PeraBell Food Bar, Patchogue