Fortunately, never had a problem asking to be seated at a table other than the one a waiter/waitress..server..it's easier...lol ..took us to.
You've mentioned fish 'n chips at the end of your post. We used to go to a fish 'n chip restaurant..they serve oysters too which are really expensive but my wife loves them so I just do a day's busking down town...lol. Anyway..coming from the north..well, north west..I love 'me mushy peas'. One day we went there there it was on the menu Fish-chips- mushy peas. What came was fish-chips and 'crushed,minted garden peas. Bloody awful... excuse me. As you probably know mushy peas are made with marrowfat peas and added bicarbonate of soda. My wife really does like this place. .No doubt about it, it's first class.. and very popular, you have to book.At lunchtime , when we go, it's usually packed with retired people like us. So, we went again and I asked the waiter if we''d get mushy peas which was written on the menu. "No..crushed peas." he said. I told him I had them last time and didn't want them. He said "Well, they come with the meal, just leave them" which annoyed me. Before I could respond my wife gave me a 'look'..ie don't say anything...lol. She knows I would. Now, she wants to go again for her upcoming birthday. I'm thinking about this. Either call them and ask about the 'mushy peas' or go and see if they still have 'mushy peas' on the menu and if they do and those crushed ,minted, garden peas are served I'll then ask to speak to someone in charge..the owner runs a couple of these restaurants so it's not a family business..and tell them that they are contravening the Trades Descriptions Act and as this is the third time we've been I'm going to report it. I did notice that other diners had left their 'mushy peas'.,too. I think us Brits are better than we used to be about complaining but my guess is that people just leave the peas. Thing is, they are doing it to save money..ie make more profit ,because crushed garden peas are a lot cheaper to serve than mushy peas which take a bit of preparation. Any views ?