large booking at restaurant- how to split the bill?

Spendless

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I'd love to know where you're going that sells a whole bottle of wine for £5.95 :eek:

I often pay more for just one glass in a restaurant and a bottle is usually upwards of £15 just for the standard house wine! I dread to think what it must taste like. That's the sort of price I'd usually expect to pay in a supermarket, certainly not in a bar/restaurant.

I don't want to put the venue up on the internet, but hopefully this copy and paste will work.
WHITE 175ml glass 250ml glass bottle
EL ZONDAZ VERDEJO, MACABEO
(1) SPAIN £2.05 £2.70 £5.95

I'd be more tempted by this one though

TIERRA SAUVIGNON
BLANC (1) CHILE £2.40 £3.25 £7.45
or this
ECHO FALLS WHITE
ZINFANDEL,
CALIFORNIA (4) USA £2.30 £3.05 £6.95

I live in a deprived part of the country. Unfortunately the cheap prices go hand in hand with high unemployment rates.

ETA - Just done a bit more searching, their prices for a bottle of white, rose or red start at this price £5.99. I've never been before so can't tell you if it's part of a pub chain. I can't see anything on the menu. I will update later and tell you if it was any good (or at least drinkable0 or not.

Hemera

It's interesting to see how everyone has different opinions.

Personally, to me the right thing to do is to split the bill if everyone expense's was more or less the same - so for example if out of two people one drank coke and another a small glass of wine; or one had a coffee at the end of the meal and the other didn't. Yes, I'd be "subsidising" a very small amount of their expense, but 1 or 2£ should never be a problem. When deciding whether I can go out, or eat at a certain place I do a rough estimate of the cost anyway, I'd never (for example) look up the menu of a restaurant online, choose a main and bring just enough money for that. If I have to do this, it just means I can't afford to eat out that specific night.

If the difference is more than a couple of quid, I agree that everyone should pay for what they had.
It happened to me as well that by splitting the bill (by someone else's initiative) a couple of times I had to pay a lot more than I was supposed to, and yes I was annoyed. I didn't say anything at the time (in hindsight, I would have :P ), and I was annoyed that they didn't notice that my expense was a lot less than the share I had to pay, but I'm sure it wasn't intentional. If I had the feeling that a friend was intentionally making me pay for their large meal, they wouldn't be my friend for long.

Feral_Moon

Spendless wrote: »

I don't want to put the venue up on the internet, but hopefully this copy and paste will work.
WHITE 175ml glass 250ml glass bottle
EL ZONDAZ VERDEJO, MACABEO
(1) SPAIN £2.05 £2.70 £5.95

I'd be more tempted by this one though

TIERRA SAUVIGNON
BLANC (1) CHILE £2.40 £3.25 £7.45
or this
ECHO FALLS WHITE
ZINFANDEL,
CALIFORNIA (4) USA £2.30 £3.05 £6.95

I live in a deprived part of the country. Unfortunately the cheap prices go hand in hand with high unemployment rates.

ETA - Just done a bit more searching, their prices for a bottle of white, rose or red start at this price £5.99. I've never been before so can't tell you if it's part of a pub chain. I can't see anything on the menu. I will update later and tell you if it was any good (or at least drinkable0 or not.

Not heard of either the first two and wouldn't personally touch Echo Falls. Not a fan of Spanish or USA wines, I'm afraid. Much prefer Italian (Pinot) or Argentinian (Malbec) or a good quality French Bordeaux. I'm not a huge a wine connoisseur though and don't know which wines compliment the food you're eating :rotfl:

Spendless

mumps wrote: »

I don't drink alcohol and neither does my husband, one small drink is all I would have and I find that people who drink alcohol have more than one drink, maybe its just the people I know but I drink because I'm thirsty but people who drink alcohol drink because they like the taste/effect of alcohol. So if we go out with another couple we will have two soft drinks they will often have a beer for him and maybe a wine or something else for her and then wine with the meal and maybe a brandy afterwards. At some places, especially some of the chains, you can have free top ups of soft drinks so even if you want more than one drink you only pay for the one. Even if alcohol drinkers only have one because they are driving they seem to have an alcoholic drink and a soft drink.

After 40 odd years of going out to meals with people who drink alcohol I think I have done alot of subsidising! I don't mind and have never moaned about it but I do notice that some people take the mick e.g. some people I know would go up to the bar and pay for the brandy and some would just add it to the bill and then expect it to be split. We know one couple who will order another drink at the end of the meal, just before the bill, so they can take it through to the lounge where we might sit and have a chat afterwards where other couples wouldn't dream of doing that. I know which one I think is taking the mick.

That's to do with quantity. If someone only ever had one (alcoholic) drink and the other had several soft drinks, the soft drink bill could be higher (obviously depending on what it was). Some of the chains do do free top ups, but there prices tend to be higher to start off with. We went to one such place last week celebrating my youngests 13th birthday. The 'free' refills soft drink cost £2.85.

I think the only time I have ever felt someone wasn't being fair with a meal, was when someone refused to split in the way the rest of the party were; as one of them had skipped a main course. They 'forgot' that they'd spent the night drinking double whiskys. I'd had a main course plus tap water.

Spendless

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Not heard of either the first two and wouldn't personally touch Echo Falls. Not a fan of Spanish or USA wines, I'm afraid. Much prefer Italian (Pinot) or Argentinian (Malbec) or a good quality French Bordeaux. I'm not a huge a wine connoisseur though and don't know which wines compliment the food you're eating :rotfl:

Ok, pino would be this

SOLSTICE PINOT
GRIGIO (2) ITALY £2.75 £3.55 £8.45


and Malbec this

ETCHART PRIVADO
MALBEC (D) ARGENTINA £2.95 £3.95 £9.45

I don't know what compliments a course either. I know my friend doesn't like red.

Lunar_Eclipse

Ok, if we're talking about fine dining/Michelin star restaurants, yes I can manage 3 courses plus drinks. But most people on this thread are not talking about those kind of restaurants.

Anything more typically found on the High Street, from a gastro pub to a local Thai restaurant or any of the well known chains are completely different gluttonous experiences in comparison. I wouldn't be able to consume as much and in my experience, most people can't. Although maybe it's more about choice: who the hell would want to (my dear husband aside!)

We usually have an element of fine dining available on our annual Summer holiday. Whilst I never eat 3 courses at dinner, I always check out the puddings and will have one if I fancy it. The rest of our party (of 9) usually have 2-4 courses, the 4th being cheese. Very occasionally my husband also has soup; he's very slim and I often wonder where he puts it!

Feral_Moon

Spendless wrote: »

Ok, pino would be this

SOLSTICE PINOT
GRIGIO (2) ITALY £2.75 £3.55 £8.45


and Malbec this

ETCHART PRIVADO
MALBEC (D) ARGENTINA £2.95 £3.95 £9.45

I don't know what compliments a course either. I know my friend doesn't like red.

I don't know the brands but the prices are good for a restaurant. I'd certainly give either a try. Hope you have a lovely evening :beer:

mumps

Spendless wrote: »

That's to do with quantity. If someone only ever had one (alcoholic) drink and the other had several soft drinks, the soft drink bill could be higher (obviously depending on what it was). Some of the chains do do free top ups, but there prices tend to be higher to start off with. We went to one such place last week celebrating my youngests 13th birthday. The 'free' refills soft drink cost £2.85.

I think the only time I have ever felt someone wasn't being fair with a meal, was when someone refused to split in the way the rest of the party were; as one of them had skipped a main course. They 'forgot' that they'd spent the night drinking double whiskys. I'd had a main course plus tap water.

Of course its about quantity but have you ever seen anyone drinking 8 pints of coke during an evening? I have been out with people who have had 8 alcoholic drinks, doesn't seem to phase them if you are out for a few hours, maybe a drink while you are waiting for a table, two or three glasses of wine with the meal, a brandy at the end of the meal and then two or three drinks in the lounge while you relax and chat after the meal. Meanwhile I might have had an orange juice at the start which goes into the meal with me and maybe a coffee in the lounge. Of course it might be me as I know I don't drink alot and have been told by the doctor that I do have to try and drink more. I'm not sure what the cost difference would be, I've never felt bothered enough to work it out but I think I am the one paying the subsidy.

When I was younger with less money we tended to pay for our own and as I said before friends who are of a more considerate persuasion tend to pay for their own drinks, or at least some of them, even if we are splitting the bill.

duchy

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

t.

Let's get this straight, I'm not talking about people who only want a small portion, but people who only have the cheapest because they can't afford any more, even though they would like to eat more. In that case, I wish they'd have told me they couldn't afford it before we went, then we could have sorted something out, other than them depriving themselves.

How do you tell the difference ?
Do you check their credit rating ?

Unless there was a really appealing starter I'd probably skip the starter as often there's nothing that jumps out at me -and I tend to not just eat for the sake of it so to have a main and no starter isn't unusual , or even have two or three starters and no main if the starters are appealing the mains aren't. I don't tend to talk about money on social occasions as I was raised to think it's vulgar -I may not think it is nowadays but I also find the endless talk about mortgages, property prices etc not my favourite dinner chat either However as I don't usually talk about money - would you assume my skipping the starter was because I couldn't afford it-and would my glum face be because of your body language caused by you assuming my motives ? I certainly wouldn't feel I had to justify what I was ordering or not ordering in normal circumstances.

duchy

mumps wrote: »

Of course its about quantity but have you ever seen anyone drinking 8 pints of coke during an evening? .

Well yes ...... Years ago I worked for that well known pub chain that serves food and although I worked lunchtimes mainly (I worked school hours) I'd sometimes do overtime on evening shifts and if someone was drinking soft drinks then they'd be matching drink for drink in the rounds -so for each pint ordered the non drinker would be having a coke or a pint of coke. Sounds like a lot - but that to many people is normal consumption -personally I'd burst if I drank eight pints of anything - but yes people do.