Restaurant prices slammed by host

by Graham Ridout

Licensees have expressed mixed feelings at the prices being charged by some of London's leading restaurants.

Last week, restaurant guide Harden's released its annual guide revealing that the average price of a meal in four restaurants (Blakes, Le Gavroche, Sketch and Umu) was more than £100. The guide also reported that £50 per head was the norm for a meal in most central-London restaurants.

Michael Bell, licensee of the Portobello Gold in Notting Hill, was scornful of the trend: 'I'm amazed that people will pay £100 for a meal it just doesn't make any sense to me, he said. 'The type of people who use places like that are poseurs who think the more they spend, the better value they get. Establishments like that don't deserve to exist they rely on hype, therefore they must have a very fragile business model. People are just charging what they think they can get away with.

Bell, who reckons the spend on a typical meal at his gastro pub is around £20, said he couldn't increase his prices to anywhere near those enjoyed by restaurants. He added: 'There is too much competition.

Hywel Bevan, deputy manager of the Guinea in Mayfair, commented: 'It seems to me that all the restaurant reviews that appear in magazines and newspapers have conditioned people to think that £50 to £60 is a reasonable price to pay. Bevan continued: 'Prices do vary at the Guinea from someone just wanting a pie and a pint to people who will pay around £50 per head for a three-course dinner with wine.

Andreas Alemany, sous chef at the Bull in Highgate, remarked: 'I would pay £100 if the food was up to it. It is a lot of money, but I've had a very good experience at the Square [in Mayfair], which is two Michelin star-rated, where I paid £230 for two.

'The average spend here is around £40. I can't see our prices going up to match the restaurants we have found our market.

Harden's guide also found restaurant bills had risen three times faster than inflation since 2003. 'Top-end venues increased prices by 5.7% last year on top of a 5.6% rise the year before. There's increased pressure on food pubs from the growth in London restaurants numbers. Over the past two years, 275 new venues have opened, with only 149 ceasing to trade a net increase of 126.