The average price of eating out in London has been disclosed today thanks to research published by Harden’s restaurant guide.
And, would you believe it, grub is getting more expensive!
Restaurant prices across the board apparently rose by 4.1 per cent during the year, with the average cost of dinner for one in London being £36.82, compared with £35.79 last year.
But you have to look at the really pricey places to see what's really going on. At restaurants like Blakes, Le Gavroche, Sketch and Umu, a standard meal accompanied by the cheapest plonk (although everyone orders the second cheapest) is creeping up past the three figure mark.
In fact the prices for the top-end restaurants have grown by 5.7 per cent in the past year - that's about three times faster than inflation.
And the really galling thing? These restaurants are flourishing.
Why? Because we're getting used to it:
Bills which would once have seemed remarkable are now becoming commonplace...[and as a result] many top restaurants have 'been able to hike their prices, in some cases significantly'.
And when we say 'we're getting used to it' - we don't actually mean us, we mean "affluent young city people" who "can boast how many hundred quid they dropped at Umu or Nobu last night."
People like the banker who sprayed £26k's worth of champagne around the Mo*vida Club the other night, and had to spend £15,000 cleaning it up.
Something tells us we wouldn't want to go for a pint (or a meal) with him anyway.
