Forum Topic

Eating out

Does anybody else find that eating out seems to have got very expensive ?

John Southey ● 20d37 Comments

Gregs imho still offers superb value and the steak bake is iconic

Tony Antares ● 14d

Well,that certainly clears that up Janice.

Keith Iddon ● 14d

Agree re eating out. Good article in the Daily Telegraph today on exactly this topic- you can stop your hissing now - it's one of many I read, left, right and centre. But you can still find places, you just have to look.  Goats cheese starter, steak inc chips and veg and chocolate dessert and including wine for £45 pp at Chancery Gazette in city last week  although part of a group and food was lovely.

Claire Moran ● 14d

Another vote for Bronzo. We tried it for the first time a few months ago, and thought the food, service and atmosphere were all top notch. Not cheap, but well worth the money.

Mark Edwards ● 15d

I was talking more breakfast than evening meal.

Janice Evans ● 15d

Cannot think of any other reason Keith, but I have veg sausages and if they are not cocked well they taste dreadful.

Janice Evans ● 15d

I don't even know where JJ Moons is Janice,and am so glad they cook their 'things really well',but which establishments undercook food to save money as you suggested in your previous post?

Keith Iddon ● 15d

If you stopped eating out a year ago then you are relying on second hand information as to whether it’s currently worth going out to a restaurant.We’ve had really nice food at Bronzo recently - not bargain basement but we felt it was worth the money - nice food, nice ambience, and not a chain.

Andrew Jones ● 15d

I'm vegetarian so don't have to worry about food poisoning (possibly), will just say JJ Moons which you probably wouldn't use cooks things really well.

Janice Evans ● 15d

Really? Which places, just  so that we can all avoid possible food poisoning?

Keith Iddon ● 15d

I do not think anybody ,so far, has said they are surprised.

John Southey ● 15d

Think some places try to reduce cooking time to the minimum and there is nothing worse than under cooked food, that put me off a few places.

Janice Evans ● 15d

YES! Stopped eating out a year ago I think, dont mind paying extra if the food was half-decent and the service was good. Not even worth taking the effort of going to a restaurant lately.

John Bird ● 16d

Well we didn't a Barnsley chop yesterday but we did have a pleasant evening out with my daughter et al at Fatboys Thai restaurant and very good it was too! We'll go again in the not too distant future!

Peter Tolhust ● 16d

Where can you get Barnsley chops these days?

David Marles ● 16d

There isn’t. Portions in the UK are getting smaller and smaller as restaurants try to make more profit and rip us off more.

Steve Taylor ● 17d

'The creeping in of American size meals with the vast amounts of food on a plate, food waste and encouragement to overeat is just gross.'oooh, where's that, I could do with a pork out?!

Davy Jones ● 17d

Sublime. Never had salt marsh lamb like it and the treacle tart was wonderfully toothsome while remaining light

N V Brooks ● 18d

You are perfectly entitled not to pay the service charge in a restaurant, if you believe the service not to be acceptable. We've done it ourselves, as the service was bad, and the restaurant accepted it - it's certainly not obligatory, and there's not much the restaurant can do either. The trouble is that too many people will not complain as they don't want to make a fuss.

Brian Coyle ● 18d

If the portions were smaller in some places  or there was an option of smaller interesting meals we'd welcome it.  The creeping in of American size meals with the vast amounts of food on a plate, food waste and encouragement to overeat is just gross.  Yes, you can and should be offered the option by the establishment to take the remainder of your meal home to eat another time but we don't want to and why should we feel that we have to.  Remember businesses have to pay for waste collection.

Philippa Bond ● 19d

Was the Walpole any good Nigel? I didn't get around to trying it.

Keith Iddon ● 19d

Net Zero, adding 26.3% on bills. I see we're also going to have the highest inflation of all the G7. Down in large part to Milliband (and Reeves).

Davy Jones ● 20d

There was only one Walpole Keith. Superb. The rip-off joint on Ealing Common was totally unconnected.

N V Brooks ● 20d

My post was a bit tongue-in-cheekIn all seriousness, I don't think eating out is very pricey.Let's take the hound, lovely place, good service, great Guinness, and it's £16-35, average. Pricey?Someone on the minimum wage going once a month would enjoy it at around, I guess 3-4 hrs' money.Maybe it's just me, what is cheap now? You're lucky to get fish and chips as a takeaway for under £15 unless its crap

Julian Pavey ● 20d

The government could help the catering industry by lowering the 20% VAT on food & drink. Does Australasia, France and Brussels penalise diners as much for eating out I wonder.I don't think the public object to the usual 12 plus % obligatory service charge.

Denis I. Fox ● 20d

I agree that the service is usually top quality in Australia but it is no longer cheap to eat out and groceries and alcohol are quite a bit more expensive than here.The quality of fruit and veg in the supermarkets is also sometimes not up to the quality here.There are  generally only 2 supemarket chains most in states,Coles and Woolworths althugh Aldi have opened some outlets.They don't have the competition that we have here so quality and value sometimes suffer.

Keith Iddon ● 20d

Is that The Walpole opposite The New Inn on St.Mary's Rd or is there also one on Ealing Common somewhere?

Keith Iddon ● 20d

But is it overpriced or are you just accepting of the high price because it’s above average and the service is good? We may just be accepting the rip off prices because we are happy to receive slightly higher standards than mediocrity in general. Especially as we get it rammed down our throats that the Hospitality Industry can’t get staff since the Brexit exodus of talented staff.

Steve Taylor ● 20d

I no longer frequent them Keith as I hate being ripped off. Almost every supposed 'fine dining' establishment has a ludicrous mark up on wine. The easiest way to determine a total rip off is to look at two wines. Sancerre and Barolo. The worse example of blatant profiteering was a highly regarded (by some) restaurant on Ealing Common which simply quadrupled retail price (no restaurant pays retail) while a neighbouring establishment simply added 50% on on an identical bottle. The former was liquidated, the latter (The Walpole),sadly, closed when the owner retiredForum Home

N V Brooks ● 20d

It all depends on where you go to eat, as food quality varies. I can't afford KFC, so I have no idea if the quality has changed. The crown does some very nice food, by the way, and the service is good

Julian Pavey ● 20d

Yes, these days, more often than not, I feel totally ripped off when eating out in this country in terms of quality of food and service. We just can’t compare with Europe or Australasia, USA or South Africa.  The lack of service in this country is astounding.

Steve Taylor ● 20d

I probably don't frequent the highfalutin places you do,Nigel.I don't know anywhere that has quadrupled the price of anything including wine.None of us exist in isolation from the cost of living,but what you describe is excessive.Which restaurant do you refer to?

Keith Iddon ● 20d

The cost of staff, fuel and ingredients have increased, in some cases disproportionatly but some establishments are simply greedy and see 'joe public' as an easy target for 'legalised mugging'.The really is no excuse, no matter how wonderful the ambience, to increase the price of a bottle of wine four-fold or more. Equally, no (often half-empty) bowl of soup is actually worth £19 (Ramsay gazpacho with a few 'bits' crumbled in).We are fortunate to have many unpretentious alternatives.

N V Brooks ● 20d

Also the cost of cooking the food has increased so much.

Janice Evans ● 20d

In relation to everything else that has hugely increased in price over the last few years,the cost of eating out is probably near the same as it has always been.The cost of a weekly shop or even for a few items in your basket has to be 20 or 30% more than it was 3 or 4 years ago and that appiles to businesses too.Add that to the increase in wages and NI contributions,cafes and restaurants are up against it,like many other small concerns.I am surprised that anyone is surprised.

Keith Iddon ● 20d

..and smaller 'taster/sharing plates'.

Peter Evans ● 20d

Agree with the big increase in prices, and what is more, the quality of food and cooking generally is not commensurate with the rise in costs.

Denis I. Fox ● 20d