The eight worst restaurant rip-offs!

If you enjoy the odd meal in a restaurant, make sure you watch out for these sneaky rip-offs...

I really enjoy eating out when I can. But when I do get to have a nice meal in a restaurant, there are usually certain things that manage to bug me. So here, I’m going to run through eight of the worst restaurant rip-offs!

The cover charge

You walk into a restaurant, get shown to your table, sit down, take a look at the menu, and then discover you’ve already been charged a fee – and that’s before you’ve even ordered. Yes, certain restaurants have the audacity to charge you for simply placing your behind on a seat.

Of course, some restaurants might try to sweeten the deal by ‘kindly’ giving you a basket of bread to enjoy. But when you didn’t even want the bread in the first place, I don’t see why you should have to pay £5 for it.

I have to say, this sneaky trick has now led me to question everything that gets put down in front of me (if I haven’t ordered it).

Ye old tap water debacle

I really hate having to pay for water in a restaurant. I’m sorry, but water straight from the tap is perfectly adequate for me. I don’t see the point of paying for some fancy spring water poured from a pretty bottle – for which I then have to pay £3.

Why, then, do I always feel like the waiter is going to spit in my food when I ask for some tap water? And why does it always get served in some tiny little glass he probably found at the back of a dusty cupboard somewhere? What’s wrong with a jug full of ice cold water? They manage it in America – why can’t we follow suit?

Paying extra for your side dishes

When I order my main course, I expect to get more than a slab of meat or piece of fish. That’s really not a meal. What happened to the vegetables and carbs? Oh yes, I have to pay for those separately.

Nothing annoys me more than finding out that my £16 main course has now shot up to over £20 because I have to pay an extra £3 for potatoes/carrots/spinach/beans/rice.

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Special occasion menus

I confess that when it comes to special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, I would much rather stay at home than be crammed into a restaurant with thousands of love-sick couples.

But it’s not only the lack of space that gets my goat, it’s the inflated menu prices. Just because they know they will get the customers in, restaurants believe it’s acceptable to push up prices on the menu and rip you off. Grr!

The ‘optional’ tip

If the tip is called ‘optional’, that’s exactly what it should be! I’ll have none of this rubbish about it suddenly being an obligatory tip, when it quite clearly states on my bill that it’s optional.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against tipping if the service has been top-notch. But when we’re talking about a tip in the region of 12.5%, if the service has been shoddy, I fail to see why I should pay the full amount just because it’s the only way I am going to avoid a rather uncomfortable discussion with the waiter before I am allowed to leave.

You should also watch out for double tipping – that’s when you’re asked whether you would like to leave a tip even when the optional service charge has already been added to your bill. I experienced this on holiday in Italy – and given that the service was appalling (and involved a game of musical chairs), I was very disgruntled at having to tip once, let alone twice. Needless to say the waiters went without!

Expensive wine

Wine prices in restaurants are always ridiculously expensive – in fact, the mark-up can be as much as 300%! It’s virtually impossible to get a bottle of wine in a restaurant under £13 nowadays and I really hate knowing that down at the local off-licence or supermarket, that same bottle probably only costs £4.

What’s even more annoying is when you choose a bottle of wine that’s a reasonable price, only to be told by the waiter that a far more expensive bottle of wine would go perfectly with your chosen meal. Whatever you do, don’t let the waiter persuade you to go along with this!

Alternatively, find a restaurant where you can bring your own wine – just watch out for corkage fees.

Small portions

Yes, yes, I know. Small portions with artistic presentation are all the rage, but seriously, do I really have to pay £16 for the tiniest amount of food I’ve ever seen? I know it might look pretty, but that will keep me full for, oh, about 20 minutes. After all, I’ve come here to eat, not admire the artwork.

I say stop trying to show off so much, and give me a proper portion!

Supplements

Another bugbear of mine is when a supplement is charged for certain, more luxurious items, such as lobster, on set menus. If I am paying £25 for my three-course set menu, I really don’t want to then find out I have to pay an extra £3 because I want the slightly more extravagant-looking item on the menu. Either don’t put it on the set menu in the first place, or keep the price the same as for everything else!

So there are my eight top restaurant rip-offs! But if there’s anything else that gets your goat, feel free to post it in the comments boxes below!

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