A SCOTTISH tourist got a bit of culture shock on a trip to Manchester when a fish pie he ordered came with gravy.

Marc Tait was confronted with the 'foreign' delicacy when he sat down to enjoy lunch at city centre restaurant Sinclair's Oyster Bar.

Marc, who was visiting the city with wife Josie, ordered a fish pie from the menu at the popular bar and assumed it would be just like the meal he enjoys back home.

But when the pie arrived in the traditional Mancunian style - swimming in gravy - Marc refused to eat the £5.95 dish.

He was then further angered when he tried to return it and the restaurant refused to give a refund.

Marc, who runs four pubs in Scotland, said: "We ate lunch at Sinclair's on Wednesday and had a lovely meal, so we decided to return.

"I ordered a fish pie but was disgusted when the dish turned up covered in gravy. I asked for a refund and the manager refused.

"I admit I didn't see the word gravy on the menu, but the customer's always right so I should have been given my money back."

Unacceptable

Marc said that although he had travelled 320 miles from his home in Montrose, he was not in a foreign country and he didn't think it was acceptable to serve gravy with a fish pie in Britain.

He said: "Fish pies should not be served with gravy, full-stop. It's just wrong.

"Gravy seems to be served with everything around here, but fish pie and gravy just don't go together - anyone will tell you that.

"I'm not at all happy about this and am going to be complaining to the company that runs this restaurant."

Manager of Sinclair's Oyster Bar, Christine Chapman, said that she could not understand what the Taits were complaining about and that they should have read the menu, which clearly states gravy was part of the meal.

Menu

She said: "This customer ordered off the menu, where it clearly says our fish pie comes with chips or mash, vegetables and gravy.

"If he didn't want gravy he should either have ordered another dish or asked us to serve it without. This is just the way we've always served our fish pie, and it's very nice.

"I don't understand why he has a problem with this or why he thinks he should get his money back.

"If there was a genuine problem with the food we'd be happy to refund his money.

"However, on this occasion the meal was served exactly how the menu said that it would be."

Restaurant and bar owners can expect more cultural misunderstandings as up to 100,000 Scottish and Russian football fans are due in Manchester next week for Wednesday's Uefa cup final.

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