Tipping in London restaurants? need an update...

[RDMcG]

Although I lived in London many years ago, I have lived on the other side of the pond for decades....

In Canada for instance, normal tip is 15% on a restaurant bill, while in Manhattan 20% is normal.

I have seen many posts here from the UK expressing outrage at this.

Now,,,as someone likely to visit London shortly, my question is:..

What do you tip in a quality restaurant?..I would normally add 15% to the bill unless there was a service charge. ( assuming appropriate service)..........

Not talking here about terrible service or exceptional service.

I typically tip on the final bill..i.e. after tax, after wine etc.........

Would be grateful for any updates.

[JKRolling]

I tend to work on the rule that 10% in the uk is a decent tip but if I'm really pleased i add more. So if a meal comes to £200 then £20 but would leave £50 if i felt the service justified it

[TIGA84]

JKRolling said:

I tend to work on the rule that 10% in the uk is a decent tip but if I'm really pleased i add more. So if a meal comes to £200 then £20 but would leave £50 if i felt the service justified it

25% Tip?

Blimey, that must be some service.

[FWIW]

TIGA84 said:

25% Tip?

Blimey, that must be some service.

Happy ending?

[p1stonhead]

10% pretty standard for me. If its not far away to round it up to a whole number I will do that.

Dont think I have ever gone to 20% in the UK. I hate the tipping culture in the US.

[Timmy40]

I don't think there's any hard and fast rule, but I'm a 10%'er, 5% is just mean, and 15% is a bit too much unless there was something exceptional about the service.

There's also the slight nuance of when/where to tip, e.g. do you tip for a bar snack in a pub? I tend to but I know alot of people don't.

[Vixpy1]

10% but only when its deserved, the drunker i am the larger the tip seems to be

[sidekickdmr]

10% unless it was really bad, then nothing.

[hajaba123]

More and more places are doing the discretionary service charge on the bill to save all this. Recently seems to have moved up from 12.5% to 13.5% in London

[bayleaf]

TIGA84 said:

JKRolling said:

I tend to work on the rule that 10% in the uk is a decent tip but if I'm really pleased i add more. So if a meal comes to £200 then £20 but would leave £50 if i felt the service justified it

25% Tip?

Blimey, that must be some service.

I think he's had too much port.

[mcflurry]

UK waiting staff get paid more than $2 an hour, so don't rely on tips in the same way as most American waiters and waitresses.

[ascayman]

12.5% on total bill inc drinks.

[RDMcG]

Many thanks for the information. I will check if there is a service charge and if not will go 10-12.5% on the bill.

[Efbe]

RDMcG said:

Many thanks for the information. I will check if there is a service charge and if not will go 10-12.5% on the bill.

no. 10%

[truck71]

Tipping is dead easy- do what you think is appropriate and don't feel obliged. I tend to hover around 10% unless there is a service charge in which case I round up to the nearest £5.

[Johnnytheboy]

10%

More if waitress is good looking.

If I'm utterly honest.

[Rosscow]

[redacted]

[Sea Demon]

If I was happy with the food & service I'd leave 10% roughly. A lot of places dont pass on any tips at all! A waitress that we had at Pizza Express (bluewater) told us not to worry about tipping as they dont see any of it & said it happens at at lot of places.

[ambuletz]

No tip, if the food is as good as it is I'll probably come back and would tell my friends.

[Efbe]

[redacted]