Restaurants that take the mick with pricing

[ChevronB19]

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

[Jockinthebox]

LOL when I seen the title I was going to say the HnFs, there was a 30 quid creme brûlée at one point.
In the interest of balance, the £35 fish n chips at the Corinthia are the best I’ve ever had.

[bigandclever]

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

So you know what prices can be charged at other 2 star Michelin places then, these ones shouldn’t be a shock

[21TonyK]

I think when you take into account the operating costs and the wastage when you are using the best quality fresh ingredients you can the food prices are justifiable. Wine prices, maybe pushing it a bit.

See the Jay Rayner thread for really taking the mick.

[ChevronB19]

bigandclever said:

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

So you know what prices can be charged at other 2 star Michelin places then, these ones shouldn’t be a shock

Well I guess those chefs have to find the cash for their big watches

Never been to a 2 star, I admit, but me and the Mrs have had several fantastic meals in the lakes at 1* (admittedly for lunch) and got out spending less than £100. This got me about how it was only about a 10% (if that) uplift on a 3 course ‘normal’ pub meal.

[ChevronB19]

21TonyK said:

I think when you take into account the operating costs and the wastage when you are using the best quality fresh ingredients you can the food prices are justifiable. Wine prices, maybe pushing it a bit.

See the Jay Rayner thread for really taking the mick.

Ha, yes, I saw that article. Used to be best buds with a famous restaurant critic, but that was in the days where we had no cash and lived on findus crispy pancakes.

[Bacon Is Proof]

One of my favourite old haunts was Alimentum in Cambridge, before it went down hill.
Lunchtime early in the week you could get a fixed three courses for something silly like £30!
Granted it only had one Michelin star, but in all honesty I'd rather have eaten there than Midsummer House with its two.
I lost some respect for Tom Kerridge when he put his name to some god awful pie for one of Greene King's chains. 80% pastry and the kitchens weren't even equipped with a suitable oven to cook them!

[Gary C]

It does seem a bit over the top

Had a £350 dinner bill at the Ubiquitous Chip for two.

But after staff discount, it came down to £110, plus free brandy.

Was a really, really good night.

Wish our son still worked there.

[bigandclever]

ChevronB19 said:

bigandclever said:

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

So you know what prices can be charged at other 2 star Michelin places then, these ones shouldn’t be a shock

Well I guess those chefs have to find the cash for their big watches

Never been to a 2 star, I admit, but me and the Mrs have had several fantastic meals in the lakes at 1* (admittedly for lunch) and got out spending less than £100. This got me about how it was only about a 10% (if that) uplift on a 3 course ‘normal’ pub meal.

I haven’t checked recently, but I think H&F do 3 course lunch menus for about 40 quid pp.

If you want a laugh, find the children’s menu at Le Manoir for ‘are you fking joking’ mark ups

[RudeBoy]

21TonyK said:

I think when you take into account the operating costs and the wastage when you are using the best quality fresh ingredients you can the food prices are justifiable. Wine prices, maybe pushing it a bit.

See the Jay Rayner thread for really taking the mick.

Wine is a total piss take and in conjunction with the sides it’s in some cases scandalous.
But it’s the customers choice whether they feel it’s worth it.

[21TonyK]

ChevronB19 said:

Well I guess those chefs have to find the cash for their big watches

Never been to a 2 star, I admit, but me and the Mrs have had several fantastic meals in the lakes at 1* (admittedly for lunch) and got out spending less than £100. This got me about how it was only about a 10% (if that) uplift on a 3 course ‘normal’ pub meal.

I can only speak for my local places but the fine dining and M* places I go to use lunches as a hook for new clientel and also to try new dishes for their evening and tasting menus. Even now my local 1* place does a fantastic 3 course set lunch for £30, I can easily rack up £150 a head for dinner though.

[ChevronB19]

Bacon Is Proof said:

One of my favourite old haunts was Alimentum in Cambridge, before it went down hill.
Lunchtime early in the week you could get a fixed three courses for something silly like £30!
Granted it only had one Michelin star, but in all honesty I'd rather have eaten there than Midsummer House with its two.
I lost some respect for Tom Kerridge when he put his name to some god awful pie for one of Greene King's chains. 80% pastry and the kitchens weren't even equipped with a suitable oven to cook them!

Ooh, I forgot! I did go to midsummer house once, but maybe when it was 1 star. I ran a student bar, and we were allowed to spend some of the profit on a posh meal. Doing that made me realise I actually did like wine, just not god awful £4 a bottle stuff.

[Regbuser]

Tom's a
/endthread

[48k]

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

Have you ever watched how he makes the triple cooked chips for example? He cuts one cylinder of potato per tuber. And when I say "he" I obviously mean one of his chefs.
When you are paying for that level of detail it's not hard to see how a portion of chips costs £9. Take off the VAT, then pay the chefs, front of house, the cleaners, the admin staff, the bookings website developers, the utilities, the supplier, the waste management, the tax man, then pay your mortgage and have a couple of pennies in your pocket for disposable income.

[M5-911]

48k said:

Have you ever watched how he makes the triple cooked chips for example? He cuts one cylinder of potato per tuber. And when I say "he" I obviously mean one of his chefs.
When you are paying for that level of detail it's not hard to see how a portion of chips costs £9. Take off the VAT, then pay the chefs, front of house, the cleaners, the admin staff, the bookings website developers, the utilities, the supplier, the waste management, the tax man, then pay your mortgage and have a couple of pennies in your pocket for disposable income.

+1

[ChevronB19]

48k said:

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

Have you ever watched how he makes the triple cooked chips for example? He cuts one cylinder of potato per tuber. And when I say "he" I obviously mean one of his chefs.
When you are paying for that level of detail it's not hard to see how a portion of chips costs £9. Take off the VAT, then pay the chefs, front of house, the cleaners, the admin staff, the bookings website developers, the utilities, the supplier, the waste management, the tax man, then pay your mortgage and have a couple of pennies in your pocket for disposable income.

It was meant as a (slightly) flippant comment, in fact see my second post on the thread about how I don’t know how some great restaurants make money charging 10% above average pub food.

But I would be interested in your ‘lettuce defence’.

[48k]

ChevronB19 said:

48k said:

ChevronB19 said:

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of fine dining, and have been to several amazing restaurants in the U.K. and Europe, including Michelin starred places (get me) - as a special treat.

But £9 for chips, £7.50 for lettuce? Etcetera…

https://www.thehandandflowers.co.uk/menus

Have you ever watched how he makes the triple cooked chips for example? He cuts one cylinder of potato per tuber. And when I say "he" I obviously mean one of his chefs.
When you are paying for that level of detail it's not hard to see how a portion of chips costs £9. Take off the VAT, then pay the chefs, front of house, the cleaners, the admin staff, the bookings website developers, the utilities, the supplier, the waste management, the tax man, then pay your mortgage and have a couple of pennies in your pocket for disposable income.

It was meant as a (slightly) flippant comment, in fact see my second post on the thread about how I don’t know how some great restaurants make money charging 10% above average pub food.

But I would be interested in your ‘lettuce defence’.

Have a go at growing lettuce with consistent quality at Michelen star acceptable quality in the UK and let me know your costs. Not saying there isn't mark up involved at this level, but I would not agree with your OP that it is "taking the mick".

[Jezzerh]

And a 12.5% service charge on top the cheeky monkeys.

[jimmythingy]

Don't forget the discretionary service charge of 12.5% added to your bill.

[FurtiveFreddy]

ChevronB19 said:

It was meant as a (slightly) flippant comment, in fact see my second post on the thread about how I don’t know how some great restaurants make money charging 10% above average pub food.

But I would be interested in your ‘lettuce defence’.

Have you had the lettuce there?
Do you know what goes into the prep?
How many staff work there to deliver the experience?

In any case, you, as the customer, can view the menu in advance of booking and decide if it's worth it or not.
The big difference between the 1* place you mention and the Hand and Flowers is celebrity.

For the record, I've eaten there a few years ago and every course and ingredient was prepared and cooked perfectly and that's not something I can say I've experienced in many restaurants I've visited.

Edited by FurtiveFreddy on Sunday 22 August 20:28