£100 minimum spend charge for booking
Discussion
I have to admit I don't tend to visit "high-end" (expensive restaurants (we normally go to places where it's usually a max £40 per head) but for people who enjoy fine dining I wouldn't have thought that a £100 minimum spend was a big issue?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs...
t ton of 'influencers' who just want to check-in on InstaFaceBrag at the location whilst nursing a lettuce leaf and a mineral water for two hours. It's to put a stop to that kind of nonsense. First time I saw this was on the sunset strip in Ibiza, I suspect it’s the same issue, with the starters and selfies brigade nursing a soft drink for hours over the busiest time of the day and preventing real diners from getting a table. I found in the case of Cafe Del Mar that a main course and a couple of cocktails bust the minimum spend and made for a very pleasant way to watch the sun go down. Overall, if this is set correctly, it should make things better for the genuine customer without pushing up the actual price paid for dinner.
I think the headline about the wealthy leaving is the usual Telegraph rubbish.
It's far more likely to be as others have said and as the article points to - these places cost a lot of money to run and between no-shows and people turning up and sharing a starter so they can get photos "for the 'gram" I can't say I blame them for wanting a level of committment.
It's far more likely to be as others have said and as the article points to - these places cost a lot of money to run and between no-shows and people turning up and sharing a starter so they can get photos "for the 'gram" I can't say I blame them for wanting a level of committment.
It's a really weird article that seems to be linking the fee to the non-dom thing with little to no substance other than coincidence.
Gymkhana is the one with the £100 fee, it's a 3 month wait to get a table and they get booked out as soon as they release new dates. I've visited twice, on each occasion the main job of at least one of the greeters is to tell people they've no availability and explain how to book. It's that popular. I'd be amazed if "tourists" are going to the trouble of booking 3 months out and then blowing them off so that sounds like nonsense. The influencer thing though of sitting there with a drink and a salad may hold more weight, but honestly I just think it's to stop people sitting on reservations they won't use and to allow people who want to visit a chance to go. They got incredibly popular after the second star. As an aside you'd have no issues spending the minimum there and yes, it's worth it. For a two star place I actually think it's very good value.
As for Hutong I imagine they suffer with the same but need to pay the rent as many will book just for the views. Absolutely not worth the price though IMO and certainly not a challenge to get a booking so probably to deal with no shows and one drink and a spring roll type people.
Both these places have dedicated bars though that do food so if people have an issue with the charge they can just book a seat there.
Gymkhana is the one with the £100 fee, it's a 3 month wait to get a table and they get booked out as soon as they release new dates. I've visited twice, on each occasion the main job of at least one of the greeters is to tell people they've no availability and explain how to book. It's that popular. I'd be amazed if "tourists" are going to the trouble of booking 3 months out and then blowing them off so that sounds like nonsense. The influencer thing though of sitting there with a drink and a salad may hold more weight, but honestly I just think it's to stop people sitting on reservations they won't use and to allow people who want to visit a chance to go. They got incredibly popular after the second star. As an aside you'd have no issues spending the minimum there and yes, it's worth it. For a two star place I actually think it's very good value.
As for Hutong I imagine they suffer with the same but need to pay the rent as many will book just for the views. Absolutely not worth the price though IMO and certainly not a challenge to get a booking so probably to deal with no shows and one drink and a spring roll type people.
Both these places have dedicated bars though that do food so if people have an issue with the charge they can just book a seat there.
C5_Steve said:
It's a really weird article that seems to be linking the fee to the non-dom thing with little to no substance other than coincidence.
Gymkhana is the one with the £100 fee, it's a 3 month wait to get a table and they get booked out as soon as they release new dates. I've visited twice, on each occasion the main job of at least one of the greeters is to tell people they've no availability and explain how to book. It's that popular. I'd be amazed if "tourists" are going to the trouble of booking 3 months out and then blowing them off so that sounds like nonsense. The influencer thing though of sitting there with a drink and a salad may hold more weight, but honestly I just think it's to stop people sitting on reservations they won't use and to allow people who want to visit a chance to go. They got incredibly popular after the second star. As an aside you'd have no issues spending the minimum there and yes, it's worth it. For a two star place I actually think it's very good value.
As for Hutong I imagine they suffer with the same but need to pay the rent as many will book just for the views. Absolutely not worth the price though IMO and certainly not a challenge to get a booking so probably to deal with no shows and one drink and a spring roll type people.
Both these places have dedicated bars though that do food so if people have an issue with the charge they can just book a seat there.
I don't live in London but Gary Eats did a review of Gymkhana recently and quite honestly it was nowhere near as expensive as I expected.Gymkhana is the one with the £100 fee, it's a 3 month wait to get a table and they get booked out as soon as they release new dates. I've visited twice, on each occasion the main job of at least one of the greeters is to tell people they've no availability and explain how to book. It's that popular. I'd be amazed if "tourists" are going to the trouble of booking 3 months out and then blowing them off so that sounds like nonsense. The influencer thing though of sitting there with a drink and a salad may hold more weight, but honestly I just think it's to stop people sitting on reservations they won't use and to allow people who want to visit a chance to go. They got incredibly popular after the second star. As an aside you'd have no issues spending the minimum there and yes, it's worth it. For a two star place I actually think it's very good value.
As for Hutong I imagine they suffer with the same but need to pay the rent as many will book just for the views. Absolutely not worth the price though IMO and certainly not a challenge to get a booking so probably to deal with no shows and one drink and a spring roll type people.
Both these places have dedicated bars though that do food so if people have an issue with the charge they can just book a seat there.
av185 said:
Presumably next time one of the owners of these restaurants needs a plumber electrician or any trade or profession they wouldn't object to paying a rip off astronomical random up front fee first.
That's pretty much what you have to do. For a lot of emergency call-outs there's normally a fixed call out fee.Countdown said:
av185 said:
Presumably next time one of the owners of these restaurants needs a plumber electrician or any trade or profession they wouldn't object to paying a rip off astronomical random up front fee first.
That's pretty much what you have to do. For a lot of emergency call-outs there's normally a fixed call out fee.Was at a place a couple of weeks ago that had to make it clear on their menu that you couldn’t order only a dessert… apparently a favourite of the instagram wannabes.
The Telegraph is getting madder by the day, Non dom's making up just a tiny proportion of restaurant goers.
Minimum spend is not rare and really a non issue at the better restaurants, the only people who need worry are the Social Media crew (many places now request a deposit to combat the multi bookers). Jay Rayner makes a good comment this week about some places becoming a stage for people's night out with little concern to the quality of the offering.
Minimum spend is not rare and really a non issue at the better restaurants, the only people who need worry are the Social Media crew (many places now request a deposit to combat the multi bookers). Jay Rayner makes a good comment this week about some places becoming a stage for people's night out with little concern to the quality of the offering.
Aunty Pasty said:
I hear that some people book multiple places for the same evening so that closer the time, they can have a choice, go to the one they like and just bail on the others.
Yep - there was an interview on BBC R5 (wake up to money) and that's what the owner of Chutney Mary was saying.2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Aunty Pasty said:
I hear that some people book multiple places for the same evening so that closer the time, they can have a choice, go to the one they like and just bail on the others.
I genuinely can't believe that people would be that selfish!There are some twots aboot.
Or a group cant decide where to go so just book 3 or 4 places then decide later and just dont bother calling to cancel.
Happens all the time.
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