Splitting the bill with extravagant friends

florin0

When I go out with friends I always take cash with me, When it comes to paying I do the math to a round number(If i buy drinks worth £35 I put down £40) and then they can do what ever they want with their bill.

Jagraf

I think this friend is proof that having the relative wealth to pay that much for a meal doesn't necessary extend to the etiquette of ensuring your dining friends feel comfortable.

The absolute point of enjoying a meal out with friends, whatever the cost, is that everyone feels at ease.

Money can be enjoyed as anyone wishes, I don't begrudge people choosing to spend it on restaurants, however, there is definitely something vulgar about expecting others to be able to afford the same.

If I bought a yacht :cool: I would not expect my neighbour to buy one just so that we could bob around on the sea together. If I really wanted his company, I would take him out on mine.

Now, where's my boat.

Georgiegirl256

purpleshoes wrote: »

There was obviously some debate about whether this review was valid or not

Clearly weren't happy with the portions

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2933093/Mother-sends-letter-complaint-Midsummer-House.html

Another attention seeker. :mad: If she had a problem then she should have mentioned it then and there, not go running to the papers.

andygb

Worry_Wart wrote: »

Ah, right, sorry. Blimey that is a lot of cash. I have the occasional hedonistic night out but I don't think I've managed to spend that much in one go!

The most we have ever spent on a night out (the cost for the two of us) converted to £150 in France at a two Michelin star restaurant in Burgundy - three courses, with a bottle of 1er cru Gevrey Chambertin included and a glass of dessert wine after.

onlyroz

lostinrates wrote: »

When I go out and spend money otherwise it is a bit of an occasion,and for me personally to go out to eat food less good than we have at home for more than I spend at home, is a depressing thing, where as by saving at home and splashing on the fewer nights out the experience is more how I prefer to go out.

I'm not disagreeing with you - I don't like spending a lot of money on food I can cook better at home - but it's incorrect to suggest that it's impossible to get a tasty meal and a drink for less than £20. I'm not talking about mega 3-course blow outs with half a dozen drinks in a Michelin starred restaurant - but two courses plus a wine or beer is easily do-able in many places.

My own favourite local meal is the Sunday roast down our local pub. It's £9.95 and comes with about 6 different types of veg plus Yorkshire pudding and "proper" gravy. And then there is the Indian that does a buffet once a week for about £12, and the Chinese that does a set meal for two for around £30. All very tasty stuff - and well above the standard of Weatherspoons or Harvester - and doesn't break the bank.

Jagraf

onlyroz wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you - I don't like spending a lot of money on food I can cook better at home - but it's incorrect to suggest that it's impossible to get a tasty meal and a drink for less than £20. I'm not talking about mega 3-course blow outs with half a dozen drinks in a Michelin starred restaurant - but two courses plus a wine or beer is easily do-able in many places.

My own favourite local meal is the Sunday roast down our local pub. It's £9.95 and comes with about 6 different types of veg plus Yorkshire pudding and "proper" gravy. And then there is the Indian that does a buffet once a week for about £12, and the Chinese that does a set meal for two for around £30. All very tasty stuff - and well above the standard of Weatherspoons or Harvester - and doesn't break the bank.

I agree here. Lots of expensive restaurants you are paying for ambience as the business owner has to pay for the environment, not just the food. We have a local where all produce is locally sourced and freshly cooked. The food is fab and well priced, but you would pay a lot more for it in a grander building.

purpleshoes_2

onlyroz wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you - I don't like spending a lot of money on food I can cook better at home - but it's incorrect to suggest that it's impossible to get a tasty meal and a drink for less than £20. I'm not talking about mega 3-course blow outs with half a dozen drinks in a Michelin starred restaurant - but two courses plus a wine or beer is easily do-able in many places.

My own favourite local meal is the Sunday roast down our local pub. It's £9.95 and comes with about 6 different types of veg plus Yorkshire pudding and "proper" gravy. And then there is the Indian that does a buffet once a week for about £12, and the Chinese that does a set meal for two for around £30. All very tasty stuff - and well above the standard of Weatherspoons or Harvester - and doesn't break the bank.

Loads of places in my area do an all you can eat buffet for under 15 quid and many do them for under a tenner.

There's a pub in Glasgow that does two meals for 6.99, much better food than wetherspoon. It also does a bottle of wine for 7 quid.

My definition of a big night out doesn't involve lots of alcohol because I don't drink much, but it doesn't involve sitting with a starter, a main and a jug of tap water either.

Even in the more expensive parts of the UK plenty restaurants do Groupon deals, no need to spend 200 quid on a night out.

The fact that the op even when she was driving, had to pay the same as the champagne drinkers would be enough to stop me going out with them again.

FatVonD

Jagraf wrote: »

I think this friend is proof that having the relative wealth to pay that much for a meal doesn't necessary extend to the etiquette of ensuring your dining friends feel comfortable.

I agree with this, money sure doesn't buy class.

I remember a story once about a very well off person that had somebody unused to fine dining to dinner and the guest drank from the finger bowl bowl so the hostess did the same so they wouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable.

Glugging back champagne and expecting your friends to chip in for it is just vulgar.

FatVonD

Incidentally, I used to work with someone who only drank champagne, she wasn't being flashy, it was genuinely the only drink she liked. (I tend to agree with her, I don't drink wine but developed a taste for champagne when working in nightclubs and the waitress that sold the most got a free bottle at the end of the night! Fortunately I also like beer but she didn't.)

On work nights out she would opt out of rounds, not accept a drink from anyone else but order her bottle of champagne and sit with it in an ice bucket. She got to drink what she wanted, everyone else got to drink what they wanted and nobody was expected to pay for her champagne, everyone was happy.

Mojisola

FatVonD wrote: »

I remember a story once about a very well off person that had somebody unused to fine dining to dinner and the guest drank from the finger bowl bowl so the hostess did the same so they wouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable.

The story is told about Queen Victoria but I don't think there's any clear evidence that it happened.