Christmas Party Menu - Price Differences

Hi All,

I am soooooo annoyed and just wanted to see what most thing of the following.

We booked a xmas party for 15 people in a well known eatery in Dublin. They sent us a menu choice - a €40 menu and a €50 menu. The only differences between them was that the €50 menu had a sirloin steak instead of the €40 menus ribeye, a different fish for each menu and an additional lamb dish. Both menus had a chicken, pork and vegetarian dish all the same and starters and desert were the same on both too.

When I questioned if we could just tell how many want the 40 menu and how many the 50 i was told you pick one and stick to it. I expressed how i thought this unfair to the chicken, pork or vegetarian eaters, they would pay a surcharge of 10 becuase others wanted steak or lamb..I asked if we could tell them what we were eating before hand to get around this problem - the answer was also no!

When speaking to the people who were attending the meal, we learned that 4 people would like to eat sirloin steak or lamb, and everyone else chicken or vegetarian option - meaning a profit to the place of €110 for really nothing at all.

I just think its is terrible, needless to say i cancelled our booking but not before an email war with the manager, some of her comments suprised me - 'we have never had to explain ourselves like this to any customer', 'other people are happy paying our prices',

Why cant a surcharge be added to steak and lamb, that at least is fair?

I dont feel like I am over reacting, i mean the level of service, standard, ingredience are the same if you order chicken on the 40 euro menu and 50 euro so why would i want to pay 50...

Yes - I think you're overreacting. If you don't like the prices or customer service then shop around for a better deal. Simple.

'other people are happy paying our prices'

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Be the exception.

I thought this type of pricing arrangement was pretty much standard for weddings and functions? If the customer wants a wider choice, they generally pay more for the privilege and basic options within the chosen menu selection are priced at a standard rate. Wider choice menus usually involve higher costs and wasteage for the service provider and they must use some means of recovering this cost.

really? Maybe i am over reacting, i just think its poor to be honest. We arent going to eat there anymore and have found somewhere else with a set menu which has an additional supplement for the more expensive options - steak/lamb

I just think its so bad that the same thing costs more depending on what the other people in your party are eating...

So shop around and tell them why you're going elsewhere.

yep I've shopped around and told them why I am going elsewhere...

I thought at least 1 person would agree with me!! haha

I agree with you. found myself in a restaurant in dublin recently where there was a fixed lunch menu ( very reasonable 4 courses) and also a la carte. normal way or ordering ie starter and main course. when it came to the sweet the two lists were on the one page. all the a la cart prices were the same ( €4.55 I think) and of course the fixed was just listed. about 3 of the choices were the same. so naturally enough this led me to believe the other two had to be the same price and as I prefered one on the a la carte menu I equired if I could have it as part of my meal. yes if I paid the €4.55. I (gently) mentioned that I was merely exchanging one sweet with another and obviously of equal value as all on the a la carte were the same value and 3 of them were on the fixed menu. Nothing doing of course. Not the end of the world in my case as, to their credit, there was plenty of choice on the fixed menu, but I just would have preferred one of the a la carte sweets. (the grass is always greener I suppose.)

On what basis does that experience cause you to agree with the original poster? Completely different scenarios if you ask me. And I can't see anything wrong with the establishment in your case presenting a fixed price menu and rigidly sticking to it.

ok not the same but its pretty obvious that the chicken, pork and veggie meal are valued at €40 and not €50 so anybody opting for the €50 meal and having one of these are paying €10 over the odds . maybe he should have broken his party in two for reservation purposes ie 10 for the €40 nosh and 5 for the €50 nosh and on the night request they have tables together. betcha they woudn't have agreed to that. I was happy with the fixed menu but I just lusted after the creme brulee (?) and basket of strawberrys on the a la carte.

cuchulainn said:

ok not the same but its pretty obvious that the chicken, pork and veggie meal are valued at €40 and not €50

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Perhaps only with the economies of scale that having everybody order from the one menu brings. Otherwise the incremental cost for more choice may be justified. Even if it isn't the proprietor is free to charge it. And those who don't like it are free to take their custom elsewhere. Simple really.

Cuchulainn.........I know where you're talking about, did the same thing myself last week, creme brulee was my downfall also!

It bears some relationship to the original post. If you're ordering from a fixed menu, where all items are priced individually, I don't see a problem in switching deserts which are exactly the same price on the a la carte.

Ok, it's not the same.....OP wants more expensive meats available just in case someone wants to order it...restaurant has to order it in just in case.

liteweight said:

If you're ordering from a fixed menu, where all items are priced individually, I don't see a problem in switching deserts which are exactly the same price on the a la carte.

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You may not but the establishment may. Call it rigid service - insisting that you stick to the set menu with no deviations (other than for a premium) once you choose it - but it's certainly not sharp practice or a rip off as some people might like to think.

What does the term 'fixed' mean to people?

Quite a number of places will allow you to choose a dessert from the a la carte even if you've ordered from the fixed menu. If it's more expensive, they charge the difference, not the full price for the fixed menu plus an extra desert. It's not a rip off if they do the latter but it's not great customer relations either.

not a rip off I agree and the fixed (cc: fix priced) menu was excellent. obviously they scored a few goals by putting extra temptations on the a la carte.