I don't have a lot of needs when it comes to restaurant dining, but I do have a few. I don't really care about the atmosphere. As long the place is clean, I'm good. I'm there for the food, not the ambiance. I also want the food to be fresh and prepared like it says on the menu. No surprises. No health hazards. And finally, I want my water glass filled regularly by an attentive waiter. That's what we're paying for, right?

Anyway, we went out for dinner over the weekend and I was completely disappointed in this local Vietnamese place in Walnut Creek called Dalat. It sucked.

When we arrived, the restaurant was full and there was a short wait, which was a good sign. The place was simple, with horrible floor to ceiling murals of the Vietnam countryside, formica tables and old style cafeteria seats. But who cares? We're here for the grub.

We ordered 3 things. Crab and corn soup. Flaming beef and prawns. Chicken and vegetable in curry sauce.

The crab and corn soup was a serious disappointment for the mere reason that the menu didn't say "Imitation Crab and corn soup". Imitation crab pales in comparison to real thing. It has no flavor and the texture, well, it's sort of like a rubber hose. Other than that it was fine.

The flaming beef and prawns was plopped down on our table unceremoniously by an angst ridden 20 something son of the owner who obviously felt he had better things to do than explain the dish which included, not surprisingly, a plate with beef and prawns, but also one with cold veggies and sauce and a third with thin, translucent pancakes. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure it out, but since the menu clearly stated, "prepared at your table", we had assumed this meant by the staff and not by us. It turned out that the pancakes were so sticky that they couldn't be pried apart and so we ate the beef and prawns straight up. It was tasty, but not what we expected.

The chicken and vegetables with curry sauce was a complete disaster in that it didn't show up. Instead we got beef with chicken and curry sauce. It's the sort of thing that happens when the waiter, as in this case, doesn't bother to write down the order, but relies on a faulty memory. No apologies from the owner when we mentioned it. Just a look of consternation that meant either "I'm going to flog the waiter at the end of the night" or "Don't be surprised when I spit in your curry, you foreign devil". Although, I could have misread her expression.

As a former waiter, I'm very attuned to what's going on in a restaurant. I respect the hard work of most waiters and reward them when they merit it with large tips. Often there are problems that are out of the wait staff's control and I understand that. But when the service and everything else falls way short of the reasonable standards that I have, what else can you do but protest by leaving no tip?

It's a horrible thing to do. I feel bad doing it, not just because I don't want to ruin someone's night but because it means my night was, if not ruined, at least brought down a few notches. The good news is that there so many more restaurants than there are lousy waiters.