Ordering a meal in a new restaurant for someone else: can it be done successfully without prior consultation between the two parties?

I tried to cover all the bases by stating:
“Ordering a meal in an unfamiliar restaurant for someone else: can it be done successfully without prior consultation between the two parties?”
but the details were becoming distracting.

Other ways of putting the question:
“Have you ever allowed someone to order for you in a restaurant where you had not seen the menu?”
“Have you ever ordered a restaurant meal for someone in an unfamiliar restaurant without consulting the other person?”

I’m thinking of old movies, where the ‘gentleman’ ordered for both he and the ‘lady’. No gauche ‘back and forth’ between the two was seen.
Film conceit, or actual practice?
Perhaps a throw-back notion from the time when women were same as chattel?