I´m currently on a gastronomic tour of the Basque Country with two Hong Kong guests (man and wife), me being the local guide. 9 days visiting from the most avant-garde Michelin starred restaurants to the most traditional, homemade cooking places (and of course a historical tour of places as well). 4 days gone and they have not tipped at all. Nothing. I kind of feel awkward at this attitude, as we locals would tip some, that´s for sure. It´s weird when we leave the table after a 250 or 350 eur bill leaving nothing but a "thank you". It seems they´ve read somewhere that we don´t tip in Spain...and that´s not completely true. We do tip...but just the amount we feel comfortable with. A 10eur note for a 300eur meal would be just fine. Also a 5eur note. Or 15eur. But "Nothing" is just out of the question.

Meat: in the Basque Country we never, ever, ask about how cooked we want the meat or fish or vegetables. There´s just one way. And if that´s the right one for us, it´s the right one for everyone!!

So, why have you not said anything? It may simply be that they are not aware that their own tipping culture is not universal. Or that they expect their guide to take care of it.

mikelg wrote ***It seems they´ve read somewhere that we don´t tip in Spain...and that´s not completely true. We do tip...but just the amount we feel comfortable with. A 10eur note for a 300eur meal would be just fine. Also a 5eur note. Or 15eur. But "Nothing" is just out of the question.***

I blame "Benny" on Trip Advisor. I get very annoyed at what he writes on there about tipping. I expect they took his advice.

Well...to be honest, and as I´m not affiliated with any establishment, I don´t feel "forced" to "push" a tip if they don´t feel like it, be it due to not being aware of it or be it due to not wanting to. That is, it´s them who pay and therefore it´s them who decide, not me. And my job is to make sure they have the best meal experiences while in my homeland, not to reward the waiters.

Surely part of your job as a guide is to familiarize your clients with the customs of your country?! I would be rather annoyed if I subsequently discovered that I had been committing a faux pas in full view of a guide who said nothing.

To be fair to Mikelg, Thursday, I can see how bringing up this subject with his client could be awkward for him. Since he is their guide, the suggestion that tipping is expected could be taken as a none too subtle hint that a tip is expected for his services at the end of the trip.

I think you´re missing the point, Thursdaysd. There´s no obligation to tip and they may just don´t want to do it. I don´t want to sound rude to them, opening their eyes about something that most probably is quite irrelevant (nobody knows them, they´re not repeating restaurants, they are not repetitive customers...) and maybe making them feel bad about it. It´s my problem when I don´t feel right about it, not theirs. And there´s also some truth on nukesafe words too.

I always make sure that visitors know about our customs and habits (my blogs in English insist on this point and they´ve read them thoroughly before coming), but of course tipping is a tricky subject.

It is creeping up here now, Giraffe did me for a 10% gratuity added to the bill last Saturday in Manchester, I didn't question it, just will not ever go back.>>

that's some neck, Dickie. [sorry, couldn't resist].

Bilbo - nouvelle cuisine in Looe? Say it ain't so.

did you leave a tip? apart from telling them to cook the cauilfower, that is?

Rather than missing the point, I am now confused. Either it is customary to leave a tip, or it isn't. If I return to Spain, should I tip, or should I not? What does your blog say about it?

Wow! Thanks for every reply. My wife and I intend to tip in some amount. However, we agreed to limit tips to what seems to be an acceptable but apparently generous amount of 5 to 10 percent. Wife still insists on tipping based on a percentage. At least you convinced her to temper what she wants to tip. I will do the rest. Thanks for the replies.

Yes, it's about round numbers, close to your preferred percentage. Do not include any spare cents in the tip - - that would be the ultimate missing the point.

Good job, jeterray! Again, thanks for your effort to learn the norm.

Thursday...it´s customary to leave a small tip but you have no obligation whatsoever. That is, if you as a customer don´t want to tip, you are perfectly OK. But we locals like to tip a small amount. Just in restaurants. Not in bars. Nor in taxis (maybe just a minimum spare change in both).

You tip? Good. You don´t? Good too. But in the latter I (not my guest) feel a little awkward, just that.

And guides always deserve a good tip, of course!!!

@ mikelg -- I can understand that you are in an awkward position with these particular clients. Although it won't help with your current dilemma, I'm sure you could add something to your blog that would help future travelers understand. The wording might be tricky, but I'm sure you can come up with something that suits, and you can always pilot it here. (And obviously, you will get a FULL range of viewpoints if you do! ;-) ) Good luck!

Thanks for your suggestions, I´ll post about tipping on my blog, good idea!!

Some old post of mine talked about this...http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-the-us.cfm

Always assuming I am not the troll in question... I take the point that it is now difficult for mike to discuss this with his current clients, and I am glad he is going to update his blog. However, the issue is indeed whether tipping is customary, I know of nowhere, even the US, where it is obligatory. Given mike's discomfort with his clients' failure to tip, I deduce that it is in fact customary in Spain, at least on a large bill in a restaurant.

@ thursdaysd - OMG, of course not! I'm very sorry if I gave that impression
.

Ann, I wasn't the host.

Well, I´ve posed the question while in the car, in a very casual way...kind of "I´ve noticed that you don´t tip in restaurants here...is it customary in Hong Kong not to tip?". He answered politely..."I don´t like tipping, just if I´m very very very happy"

So I´ve told them about tipping in Spain, leaving a 5 or a 10eur note depending on the amount of the bill...and he said nothing. We´ll see what he does tonight...

Mikel

If I missed the point Dickie then I'm open to some clarification. You wrote:

"Our breakfast was including in the price of the room. The hotel had the wonderful system of billing us for breakfast at the table, asking us to sign for the bill (with the usual huge gap for tip) only for us to be told that the amount would be deducted from the final bill on check out. The amount was deducted but not the tip.

Cheap way of getting a tip."

No where in there do I see where you were 'forced' to do anything. As I read it (and subject to your clarification) there was a space on the breakfast bill where you could add a tip IF you chose to do so. You could have also chose not to do so presumably.

Are you saying that you thought you could add a tip on the bill and that the tip would then be deducted along with the breakfast cost at the end of your stay? That would make no sense whatsover.

Regarding the gratuity you now add you paid in Manchester and said nothing about but will not return to that restaurant, what does that do? Why did you not say you objected to them adding a gratuity and that if they insisted on it you would not return? If you do not speak up, how do you expect a business to know what is not acceptable?

As far as I know, you do not HAVE to pay a service charge that they add. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/b...staurants.html

What you DO have to do is speak up. I find the average Brit far too unwilling to 'make a fuss'. Instead as you say, they just don't go back but that doesn't tell the restaurant anything about why they are losing your business and provides no opportunity for them to learn what they can't get away with.

Bilboburgler, a steak is not a curry. What applies to one has nothing to do with what applies to another. 'Hot' in terms of a curry is a subjective thing. Rare or medium rare applied to a steak is an objective thing. It is clearly defined.

http://www.recipe4living.com/article..._your_meat.htm

http://bbq.about.com/od/steaks/ss/aa...m#step-heading

I like my steak medium rare. I will accept a steak that veers a little more towards the rare or towards medium but I will not accept a steak that is well done. Nor should I need to explain to a waiter that I want it with 'just a hint of pink' etc.

What constitutes medium rare is a known, not subjective at all. Since you are not much of a meat eater, perhaps you were not aware of that fact.

Regarding your cauliflower comment, I have to ask how it was described on the menu. Otherwise your comment has no context in which to suggest whether there was a problem or not. Cauliflower can and often is served raw after all. If can also be cooked to the chef's taste which may differ from your own.

You write about it as if everyone expects it to be cooked as YOU like it. I have a friend who when ordering lunch frequently asks a dozen questions about the food. Is it pre-frozen or fresh'; do you marinate it; what is in the sauce; etc. etc. He likes to know everything about the food as he is a very good amateur cook himself. He does not hesitate to say, 'no, that won't do. Can you ask the chef to X it for me.'

To suggest that cauliflower is 'too hard' makes no sense to me at all. The question is whether the cook/chef INTENDED for it to be hard or not.