You were disappointed with the meal and wish to complain – GT Writing Task 1: Sample 2

IELTS Letter Writing / GT Writing Task 1:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You took your family to a nearby restaurant. You were disappointed with the meal and wish to complain to the manager.

Write a letter to the manager of the restaurant. In your letter,

  » explain why you were at the restaurant
  » describe the problems
  » write about the action you want the manager to take

Write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write your own addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

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Model Answer 1:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I visited your restaurant on 11th May with my family to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We usually enjoy your food but this time it was utterly disappointing. I am hoping that you will keep your food quality intact and take action regarding the bad dining experience we have had.

We have always considered your restaurant as the most classy French cuisine place in town. Since my sister lives in France, we dine at your restaurant every time she is in our country. This time it was even more special as we were celebrating her birthday. But the whole event was ruined due to the dishes we were served.

I suppose you can imagine our disappointment when we found the onion soup absolutely inedible. It was cold, and it appeared your chef did not stir it well while cooking. Some clogs of flour were visible in the soup. Moreover, the main course was cold and not up to our expectations. They tasted very ordinary and hackneyed but we paid almost thrice for these items! We asked a waitress about the reasons and she had no plausible excuse for that.

I am looking forward to hearing that you have taken the necessary steps to maintain your reputation and food quality. Otherwise, you have already lost a customer.

Yours faithfully,

Elizabeth Harley

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Model Answer 2:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a regular diner at your restaurant on Madison Avenue. Today, I am writing to express my discontent with the meal that I and my family had at your restaurant last Thursday. I am hoping that you will take the necessary action to improve your food quality and maintain your reputation.

Recently, I have been promoted to the Senior Internal Auditor in my office, and to celebrate this event, I took my family out to your restaurant on Madison Avenue. We ordered four servings of shrimp fried rice, but we were shocked to discover that the shrimp in our serving was undercooked and had a pungent odour. After complaining about it to the supervisor, we were told that the restaurant had run out of shrimp – not a valid excuse for a distinguished restaurant like yours. You can understand my frustration when my family and I had to leave the restaurant empty stomach and with utter disappointment.

My intention in writing this letter is to ask you to issue a "show cause notice" to the supervisor at your restaurant, and disseminate instructions to all your staff to hold a modicum of buffer stock for every item, just in case the restaurant runs out of that item and so that no customer experiences a humiliation.

Yours faithfully,

Muhammad Sameed

[ Written by – Sameed Qureshi ]

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Model Answer 3:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am Leslie Aston, writing to express my disappointment with my recent dining experience at your restaurant. My family and I visited your establishment last Saturday evening to celebrate a special occasion, but unfortunately, our experience fell short of expectations. I am hoping that you will take proper action regarding this.

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by your staff and seated promptly. However, the problems began when we received our meals. The food was served cold and lacked the freshness and flavour we had anticipated. Additionally, several items were missing from our order, which further detracted from our dining experience.

As a loyal patron of your restaurant, I believe it is important to bring these issues to your attention. I understand that mistakes can happen, but the quality of our meal was unacceptable given the reputation of your establishment.

In light of these issues, I kindly request that you take appropriate action to address the shortcomings we experienced during our visit. This may include reviewing your kitchen procedures, ensuring proper food handling and preparation, and providing additional staff training to prevent similar incidents in the future.

I trust that you will take our feedback seriously and make the necessary improvements to maintain the high standards that your restaurant is known for. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Leslie Aston

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Model Answer 4:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am Rona Lyn Olivar, a regular customer of your Cozy Place Restaurant, and today I am writing to complain about the unpalatable meals and desserts we were served last Sunday. I am hoping that you will maintain your food standard and probe into the event that ruined our evening.

I, along with my husband and children, went to your restaurant at around 7:00 o'clock on 27th July to celebrate my husband's job promotion. It was supposed to be a happy and memorable night because we were commemorating a special event as a family in one of our favourite restaurants. But we have had a frustrating experience.

We ordered lamb steak, spuds and toasted sandwiches as our main course, but the steak was salty, raw and hard. On top of that, our sandwiches were served cold! Though we complained about our food to the waitress, she did not mind us and instead told us to complain to the manager. This was quite unexpected and unprofessional.

I demand a full refund that I paid for the meal and your steps towards making your staff behaviour more professional and cordial. Otherwise, consider me as a lost customer.

I look forward to your immediate response regarding this.

Yours faithfully,

Rona Lyn Olivar

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Model Answer 5:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a regular customer of your restaurant “The Bay Leaf" and visited the place with my wife to celebrate our 1st marriage anniversary on 10th February. But the meal quality was upsetting and it ruined our celebration spirit. I would like you to take the necessary steps to improve the food quality to retain your reputation.

I often visit your restaurant due to a laudable ambience, hygiene, staff behaviour and above all the food quality. But, last night it was a big disappointment. I had my table booked well in advance but it was allocated to someone else, which is not acceptable as it hurts customers' faith in your service.

Moreover, the meal was less than average. The first course of sea trout was tasteless and salty. We mentioned that the duck was undercooked but no comment or apology was made at the time. To add more grief, my wife's duck had a large piece of gristle in it which was a shame. Besides, our steward was not very effusive or communicative, and he appeared to be going through the motions as quickly as possible.

I am a regular customer of your restaurant and if this is what you are going to continue in future, then I will have to find a different place for family occasions. Please offer the best possible meals, dining experience and efficient waiters to your customers.

Yours faithfully,

Gagan Bhatia

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IELTS GT Writing Task 1 / Letter Writing Topic:

You took your family to a nearby restaurant. You were disappointed with the meal and wish to complain to the manager.

Write a letter to the manager of the restaurant. In your letter,

    » explain why you were at the restaurant
    » describe the problems
    » write about the action you want the manager to take

Write at least 150 words.

 

Model Answer 6:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to raise my concern about the meal we had at your restaurant last week. I visited your eatery last Sunday to enjoy dinner with my family. I heard about your restaurant on the radio and thought to give it a try. But the meal experience was disappointing.

When we entered your restaurant, we saw a special menu written on a board and one of the items was fried rice with fish curry. We decided to try it, which we later regretted deeply. When we were served the dish, we found chilli powder on the surface of the fish. After we inquired about it, one of your attendants told us that they kept it off for one hour after marinating it with chilli powder with some other ingredients. Even though we felt terrible about it, we continued our meal. The dish tasted mediocre, and not up to our expectations at all. Unfortunately, my son started feeling bad after we reached home and he disgorged twice.

I had a high expectation from your restaurant but got equally frustrated. I would really appreciate it if you could take proper action about this inconvenience that we had due to the food we ate at your restaurant. Please instruct your chefs to follow proper hygienic manner and if they do not know how to prepare such kind of food, please do not offer it to customers.

Yours faithfully,

Lettisha James

[ Written by – Lettisha James]

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Model Answer 7:

Dear Sir or Madam,

My wife and I visited your restaurant to celebrate our third wedding anniversary on March 18th, 2025. Unfortunately, we had a very negative experience due to a below-average meal and poor staff behaviour. I want you to investigate the reason for such a terrible meal. Otherwise, you are going to lose customers.

We arrived at your restaurant at around 6:00 pm and ordered Doro Wat for our main course. But it tasted astringent due to overcooking. Even after we told this to the waiter on duty, he did not pay attention and told us to complain to the manager instead. Besides, the fruit punch that my wife ordered had no orange juice in it, though the menu stated so. This was very annoying which actually ruined our dining experience.

I demand a full refund that I paid for a worthless meal. I also want you to take the necessary action against the waiter who denied paying attention to our complaints.

I look forward to seeing you take immediate action regarding this matter.

Yours faithfully,

K. Henok

[ Written by – Henok ]