But no matter how bad their behaviour, the customer is still always right. Always. So say the beleaguered restaurant owners and managers who last week spoke to the Sunday Tribune about how to deal with a 'difficult' client.

A rather bizarre incident in Michelin-starred restaurant, Thorntons, last Saturday night, prompted some heated debate last week about the lengths to which a customer can go before being escorted off the premises.

For Kevin Thornton, the limit is ordering a dish of chips that isn't on the menu, and then not eating them because they arrive after the main courses have been cleared away. This offence ended in the customer in question being called a 'dickhead' by the top chef - who marched out of the kitchen to deliver the insult personally - before being ordered out of the restaurant.

Not everyone believes this was the best way to react.

"You just have to astound them with your politeness, " said Kelvin Rynhart, owner and manager of Locks Restaurant in Dublin. "The more irate or aggressive they get, the nicer and calmer I become.

Kill them with kindness, really."

Rynhart said that no matter how wrong a customer is, it is imperative to treat them as if they are right.

"For example, we sometimes get people who are looking for free drink with their meal, " he said. "They'll say that they always get it in their local restaurant, and this means we should give it to them too. So I explain that we only manage to keep our prices low because we don't give away free drink, and that's why we're able to give value for money. There's a way of saying no that keeps everyone happy."

According to the manager at Ely restaurant, Ed Jolliffe, restaurants should encourage people to complain, and take it as a compliment.

"When someone complains it is a golden opportunity to make a friend, " he said. "If a customer is not satisfied with our service or our food, we want to listen to what they say and try to address their concerns to the point that by the time they leave they definitely want to come back."

Jolliffe said he has had cause to remove someone from the premises in the past.

"It was late, and one of our customers went outside for a cigarette. When he came back in, another person followed him in off the street. He was very drunk, and we ended up having to call the garda� to get him removed from the restaurant."

Intoxicated customers have also been asked to leave Shanahans On the Green, according to Martin Clegg, general manager at the restaurant.

"It has happened, I'm afraid.

And I am here to serve people, not be abused by them, so there is definitely a line that can be crossed, " he said.

"These days people can be very rude. Even over the phone, making a booking, they can be so impatient. So if that's the case, I will say to them that I will not accept being insulted."

Using a customer's name when talking to them is a good way of defusing a situation, said Se�n Meade, general manager at Town Bar and Grill.

"Listen to them, talk to them, and calm them down, that's the best way to go, " he said. "We would never let a situation escalate to the degree that we'd have to throw out a customer."

But for Martin Shanahan, owner of Fishy Fishy restaurant in Kinsale, the solution is simple. "Only serve lunch, " he said. "That way, alcohol is not an issue, and it's all about the food, the way it should be."