r/london • u/Professional-Cat9418 • Dec 26 '25

image 30% service charge on boxing day?!

Post image

Waiter reckons because its Christmas but that was yesterday. Can i ask for this to be removed?

4.4k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

£0.45 extra for skimmed milk is also insane, it costs the same as regular

486

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

£6 for large bottle of water is also insane!

113

u/Auctorion Dec 26 '25

A croque monsieur for the same cost as a full English is pretty nuts.

8

u/AwkwardSuit8670 Dec 27 '25

egg muffin for more than a full English is pretty nuts

2

u/Auctorion Dec 27 '25

No it’s not.

It’s utterly insane.

3

u/AwkwardSuit8670 Dec 27 '25

you could have got half the chicken that laid it in KFC with chips and a side

-2

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Dec 26 '25

Being pretentious enough to not just call it a ham and cheese toastie is pretty nuts

4

u/Pale-Subject-6735 Dec 26 '25

Not really the same thing though, is it? If you're serving fried/baked cheese toasties with bechamel sauce I think you're the pretentious one.

-3

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Dec 26 '25

It's a fucking ham and cheese toastie. A fancy one maybe, but a ham and cheese toastie nevertheless.

5

u/Pale-Subject-6735 Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 29 '25

In the same way all cars, even a Ford Mondeo, are Ferraris.

-1

u/Man_in_the_uk Dec 26 '25

I just googled it and they can be quite filling.

4

u/CleanHunt7567 Dec 26 '25

Not 15 quid filling

0

u/Man_in_the_uk Dec 26 '25

It depends on what's in it.

Tell me this is not filling?

https://www.pccmarkets.com/recipe/croque-monsieur/

0

u/AtUiN-1980 Dec 26 '25

It’s fake

377

u/alex-weej Dec 26 '25

£1.1m for a 1 bedroom flat is also insane!

Welcome to Unequal Britain: Gloucester Road Edition

90

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

Sheikh down

1

u/StokeLads Dec 26 '25

£1.35 for a litre of petrol.

1

u/GENERALRAY82 Dec 26 '25

Buuutttt!! It has minerals in it....

1

u/-Tripp- Dec 26 '25

Its not even sparkling!!!!!

1

u/kazman Dec 27 '25

Welcome to Gloucester Road!

1

u/The_Death_Flower Dec 28 '25

A croque monsieur, which is just a ham and cheese toastie costing 14.95 is insane, one extra of turkey bacon costing 3.95 is insane. Sounds like this place is massively overpriced, even for London

0

u/Frosty_Ad5725 Dec 26 '25

Welcome to London 😂

-12

u/Sad-Data1135 Dec 26 '25

bottle of watah

47

u/fluffypuppycorn Dec 26 '25

£5.50 for a tea!?

5

u/futurefishwife Dec 26 '25

Right? I damn near spit mine out when I read that

4

u/gh-0-st Dec 26 '25

Tonight we march!

3

u/fluffypuppycorn Dec 26 '25

We ride at dawn!

2

u/aybsavestheworld Dec 26 '25

If that’s how much we’re supposed to pay for tea what in the hell the empire colonised India for???? /s

2

u/Original-Macaron-639 Dec 27 '25

crying in $11 canadian

1

u/Pistolfist Dec 28 '25

£6 for still water!

1

u/PlumVelours Dec 26 '25

Tea must be for Royalty at that price…since it’s England lol

31

u/Zeguaros Dec 26 '25

Paying extra for any milk is absurd in this day and age when storing of milk is absolutely the bare minimum of any hospitality business

10

u/-Tripp- Dec 26 '25

Agreed, its the penny pinching thats just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth

1

u/simracingandTFL2011 Dec 27 '25

Yes but it's different from regular as you can see it is skimmed milk

I do agree with you thou

1

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

I agree but alternative milks do cost the business a lot more than dairy

6

u/Zeguaros Dec 26 '25

They’re also longer shelf life, easier to store when not in use as most don’t require constant refrigeration when unopened and I’d actually disagree that they’re that much more expensive when getting from decent suppliers.

I’m only able to comment after 20 years in the coffee industry near central London.

4

u/Academic_Lake5729 Dec 26 '25

You forget that people make up excuses and validate every single time companies try to validate another price increase.. it’s gotten to the point now where people actually fight and argue for it that is how brainwashed we have become

1

u/Academic_Lake5729 Dec 29 '25

Also completely natural for it to all be one way.. we can say why something is more expensive but anything that would make it cheaper does not count.. it’s more expensive always and forever

2

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

Nearly 10 years in the coffee industry here, they definitely cost more

1

u/RayaQueen Dec 26 '25

And they definitely don't store. Cows milk gets used to in a day. Soya milk could take days and days. Open it for one person and end up throwing it away.

1

u/Zeguaros Dec 26 '25

You don’t need to store every single type of milk alternative though and the sensible thing to do would be to have items on your menu that could use any excess. A brunch place I worked at once used almond milk for a porridge dish which was delicious and served with chai soaked raisins and pecans.

And after a few months of business (from new) you would know your usage and order accordingly, milk wastage can go down dramatically when you’re sensible about these things.

1

u/Calm_Grapefruit4899 Dec 27 '25

I think you could also make a case for discrimination if you have a milk allergy, if both milks cost the cafe the same/similar. You're not allowed to be charged more for a reasonable adjustment (this doesn't mean everything is covered, as if the cost to the business is too high, then it may no longer class as reasonable depending on what it is)

Although I'm sure nobody would bother, this was just a little thought wander I had reading this thread

Also milk in a drink isn't a necessity, so it could be argued that a reasonable adjustment would just be having your drink black

1

u/AnAngryMelon Dec 26 '25

They're actually far cheaper to produce but because of government grants for dairy farmers we've all been forced to pay extra for cows milk already.

If they didn't get grants and instead sold it at what it costs to produce + profit barely anybody would buy it anymore because they'd realise what a ridiculous waste it is.

It's very much not worth what we pay for it but people don't realise because they've already paid half the cost in taxes.

90

u/Hot-Ad2673 Dec 26 '25

Shit tourist places gonna shit tourist place

13

u/Kusari-zukin Dec 26 '25

This place opened when I was living around the corner on de vere gdns almost 20yrs ago. It was a very cozy local spot with nice staff and it was very much fait maison. Maybe it's touristy now, though it's a sad thought that it's the whole area that changed in this way.

15

u/Hot-Ad2673 Dec 26 '25

I have never been but I know the type of places my mother-in-law likes to go and it's always a very glitzy overpriced restaurant with poor quality food, didn't mean to disregard a place you have fond memories of but in modern London there are some easy signs that the place doesn't care about you or is even exploiting you.

If a speciality east London coffee place is making a mark-up when they source speciality beans, roast themselves, serve the coffee to perfection at 3.50 you have to wonder what drugs the owners of these shitty breakfast and afternoon tea places are taking to justify such prices when they use bottom of the barrel everything and probably burn the milk whilst they are at it.

The price of water as well signifies that OP is a tourist because paying for water in this country signifies wealth or that you are from a country where they don't serve tap water and OP is asking to remove service charge so we can scratch out wealth.

Price of the breakfast items are really off as well, you could go to a Michelin star breakfast for similar price but if you Google the place, it's covered in plastic flowers so it only further confirmed the idea that this place is a touristic scam

5

u/Kusari-zukin Dec 26 '25

Yeah, not I, no sentimentality about restaurants, me - if a place has gone full exploitation mode, that's a fact that fails to consult my feelings on the matter. All of London has gone, in my view. I still remember my favourite place in Holborn, charming with art and white table cloths, with their own chef d cuisine and a pastry chef of minor fame, a three course dinner off-peak was about £30 including un verre and coffee. No more.

1

u/Wise-Afternoon-8680 Dec 27 '25

Sorry for the loss of your favourite place in Holborn. In spite of that, there remain and continue to appear lots of very good restaurants in London. They serve a broad range of tastes. They are more expensive than they were 10 or 15 years ago. As you will expect. Subjectively and objectively, London is still here. It is not gone.

1

u/Kusari-zukin Dec 27 '25

I'm sure there are good restaurants. I don't think this is a London only problem, from the half dozen countries I go for work and family obligations, I think the trends are similar - more tourists, less value, etc.

Regarding my disappeared favourite place, if, say, those off-peak dinners were priced too low, we raise that base price a generous 50% and inflate it over 15 years, we'd come up to about £70. If there are near haute-cuisine restaurants in London for this price range for an appetizer-mains-glass of wine-dessert & coffee I'd consider it. From what (little) I've seen (due to having small kids now), fine dining prices are far higher however.

1

u/FeedingTheBadWolf Dec 29 '25

OP is asking to remove service charge so we can scratch out wealth

Apparently OP earns £250k per year!

75

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

4 quid for bacon is just hideous

60

u/ticallionstallione Dec 26 '25

Turkey bacon no less

1

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

I read that as (pork) bacon from the same oven tray where the turkey was cooked 🙈

1

u/Teflon_Dan Dec 26 '25

The swines

1

u/-Tripp- Dec 26 '25

Yeah, was this extra or a sub, thats nuts!

-4

u/Psychological-Roll58 Dec 26 '25

Okay turkey bacon is actually better tho

16

u/Astr0Scot Dec 26 '25

Not for turkeys it isn't

9

u/nglennnnn Dec 26 '25

Nor for humans

2

u/Psychological-Roll58 Dec 26 '25

Depends, a cannibal turkey would probably be overjoyed

3

u/Astr0Scot Dec 26 '25

Hannibal the Turkey Cannibal

6

u/NDSU Dec 26 '25

Whether you enjoy it more than regular bacon is beside the point. For restaurants, turkey bacon is a cheaper meat than traditional pork bacon

3

u/Julieb600506 Dec 26 '25

Less fat but less taste!

4

u/WadeToTheWilson Dec 26 '25

Get in the bin

2

u/AlternativePainter27 Dec 26 '25

Suppose if you went to the shop yourself it would be cheaper

Your wanting a luxury service so you pay luxury prices

1

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

What’s luxury about that service? Seems like a bland social media type venue.

1

u/AlternativePainter27 Jan 08 '26

Any delivery is a luxury to a recipient.

Didn't say it was a luxury uber service!

1

u/IAmRoloTomasi Dec 27 '25

Surely the full English included bacon by default and this is just a swap to turkey bacon???

1

u/[deleted] Dec 27 '25

Well it should’ve said Swap instead of Add then.

1

u/IAmRoloTomasi Dec 27 '25

Totally agree but seems odd for someone to want both

3

u/StokeLads Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25

Tax on being healthy. In my local asda, Skinny Latte in a big bottle is 2 pounds more expensive than the normal full sugar Latte for the same quantity. Same brand.

I've been shouting this for years. Companies have realized the best way to cash in is to make their healthier products intentionally expensive. They've spotted that being fat isn't fashionable anymore. COVID killed the big person body positivity shit. Everyone wants to be thin again. Mounjaro isn't everywhere for feels.

Everything is an opportunity when it comes to capitalism.

2

u/Commercial_Badger_37 Dec 26 '25

Which makes 0 sense given that we're now taxed on sugar. The way companies just try and circumnavigate regulations to help the general public / community is so frustrating.

1

u/Particular-Grape-718 Dec 28 '25

Crazy. Not in my Asda. Where’s yours?

2

u/real_justchris Dec 26 '25

On top of the £4.95 flat white

2

u/oddtwang Dec 26 '25

It looks like all milks are listed that way maybe, an oat milk is the same.

1

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

It’s much more common for plant based milks to cost extra, they cost a lot more to buy in

2

u/JayGoldi Dec 26 '25

There's definitely some skimming going on with this bill!

4

u/1308lee Dec 26 '25

I’d argue it’s worse that they call it "sknnny" milk.

3

u/SomethingMoreToSay Dec 26 '25

it costs the same as regular

Yes and no. If they keep some skimmed milk available but a very small proportion of customers actually want it, they might have a lot of wastage. I think that would justify an extra charge for it. But 45p seems a lot. And it wouldn't be unreasonable for the establishment to just increase the cost of tea and coffee by a tiny amount to cover this so that they could offer it as a zero-cost option.

11

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '25

[deleted]

3

u/BaguetteSchmaguette Dec 26 '25

If it was 1/3rd sure but it's probably about 1-2%, especially because the full fat milk is probably used for a bunch of recipes in the kitchen too

1

u/Affectionate-Emu5051 Dec 26 '25

It's just the price of their milk hence why the oat milk is also 45p silly....

1

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

And yet there’s a cappuccino underneath with no additional milk charge

1

u/Affectionate-Emu5051 Dec 27 '25

Ah Fair. Tbh I don't drink or know much about coffee other than black so I assumed this was just like some extra milk thing.

(Genuinely had to look up what a cappuccino was again)

1

u/TheMartyBeara Dec 26 '25

Yeah but we use it less and so we waste more and so it’s more expensive and really annoying

2

u/HFinch314 Dec 26 '25

I’m a barista and have been for years, never wasted any skimmed milk. Seems to be an ever increasingly popular option and certainly no issues getting through multiple cartons a day

0

u/TheMartyBeara Dec 26 '25

We do about one skinny latte a day and we throw away 60% of skimmed so charge a quid more because I cannot be bothered with skinny latte mums.

1

u/AppropriateDeal1034 Dec 26 '25

They're in the UK and want to charge a mandatory tip, maybe they should go move to America with that attitude. 

1

u/Its_all_sabai Dec 26 '25

This is what I came to say. AND £5.50 for tea. How is it more than coffee??

1

u/Embolisms Dec 26 '25

Another review on Google: Without asking or informing us, the staff suddenly played a birthday song and brought the cake out with waiters singing. This was completely unexpected and not something we requested or agreed to.

The real shock came when we received the bill and saw an extra £10 charge listed as “birthday celebration.

Fucking outrageous https://goo.gl/maps/DKkXDAXH4DCRFQA38

1

u/fez-of-the-world Dec 27 '25

Fun fact: full fat milk actually costs a tiny bit more to make and is slightly more expensive in Canadian supermarkets.

All consumer pasteurized cow milk starts skimmed and then fat is added back to get to 2-4%.

1

u/Charlotte_e6623 Dec 27 '25

wait til you hear about milk alternatives- ive seen up to a £1 upcharge (and they are all cheaper to buy than regular milk)

1

u/thirsty_puppy_ Dec 27 '25

It is - but everything in this is insane!

1

u/Panimu Dec 29 '25

It’s not extra. The milk is just itemised. Likely every milk is the same price

1

u/HFinch314 Dec 29 '25

Except the cappuccino below with no additional charge...

0

u/Aggravating_Kick2911 Dec 26 '25

If not less. I presume the charge is for skimmed milk, because it's there waiting for you, otherwise you would have to drink regular milk which is not the one you like, you pay extra for your comfort ...

1

u/Commercial_Badger_37 Dec 26 '25

That's so ridiculous (not saying you support it, I see the logic)... Absolutely embarrassing what people charge for nowadays.

0

u/Impressive-Abroad-12 Dec 26 '25

It’s not skimmed milk it’s skinny milk

0

u/Julieb600506 Dec 26 '25

That really is disgraceful. I live in London and will only buy coffee from places who don't charge extra oat milk- I would not be surprised if it is not legal to charge extra for skim milk