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
Sample Response
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
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Complaint phrase Original: raise my concern Suggested revision: make a complaint Why it matters: This is more direct and natural.
- 2. Register Original: eatery Suggested revision: restaurant Why it matters: “Eatery” is less formal here.
- 3. Verb pattern Original: thought to give it a try Suggested revision: thought I would give it a try Why it matters: The phrase needs a subject and modal verb.
- 4. Formal link Original: But the meal experience was disappointing. Suggested revision: However, the meal was disappointing. Why it matters: Avoid starting this formal sentence with “But”.
- 5. Unclear phrase Original: kept it off for one hour Suggested revision: left it aside for one hour Why it matters: The original phrase is unclear.
- 6. Predicate control Original: The dish tasted mediocre, and not up to our expectations Suggested revision: The dish tasted mediocre and was not up to our expectations Why it matters: The sentence needs a clearer second verb phrase.
- 7. Precise symptom Original: started feeling bad Suggested revision: started feeling ill Why it matters: “Ill” is more precise and formal.
- 8. Wrong word Original: disgorged twice Suggested revision: vomited twice Why it matters: This word is unnatural for the context.
- 9. Plural noun Original: a high expectation Suggested revision: high expectations Why it matters: The common phrase is plural.
- 10. Clear remedy Original: proper action about this inconvenience Suggested revision: appropriate action regarding this incident Why it matters: The requested action is relevant but too general.
- 11. Collocation Original: proper hygienic manner Suggested revision: proper hygiene standards Why it matters: This is the natural phrase.
- 12. Determiner Original: such kind of food Suggested revision: this kind of food Why it matters: Use “this kind of” for a singular type.
Suggested Rewrites
- raise my concern make a complaint
- eatery restaurant
- thought to give it a try thought I would give it a try
- But the meal experience was disappointing. However, the meal was disappointing.
- kept it off for one hour left it aside for one hour
- The dish tasted mediocre, and not up to our expectations The dish tasted mediocre and was not up to our expectations
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The complaint explains the visit, meal problems, health effect, and desired action. The remedy could be more specific and professional.
Ask for a clear remedy such as an investigation, refund, apology, or staff training.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence is easy to follow, but the single paragraph makes the formal complaint look less organised.
Use separate paragraphs for background, problem details, and requested action.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate but some choices are awkward, too informal, or imprecise.
Use natural complaint vocabulary such as “vomited”, “food safety”, and “hygiene standards”.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a mix of simple and complex sentences, but errors with verb patterns, articles, and collocation appear regularly.
Check prepositions, article use, and sentence boundaries in long complaint sentences.