When dining out, is it best to go British?

Recent evidence shows that restaurants serving British cuisine will cost you more on average than those serving other European cuisines. Is this is right?

Recent analysis of dining trends across Europe by Livebookings, the industry faced arm of Bookatable.com, has revealed some interesting statistics.

The Livebookings data of international bookings through its service from January 2010 to March 2011, and its analysis of average bills, revealed that British cuisine is on average 10% more expensive than other popular European cuisines.

The research also revealed that we in the UK are less likely to seek out British cuisine, with less than a quarter of us doing so, in stark comparison with the French who book restaurants serving French cuisine 60% of the time and the Irish opting for their national dishes 40% of the time.

Focusing on British trends

Drilling deeper into its database, an analysis of some 4,700 bookings made through its engine by British people for restaurants in this country, between March 2008 and February 2011, showed a slightly healthier leaning towards British cuisine, with just short of 27% of bookings for restaurants serving our own cuisine. 

So this means that if the data is extrapolated across all restaurant bookings in this country, some four out of every 15 bookings are made for restaurants serving British cuisine.

Currently there are, surprisingly, just short of 1,000 restaurants serving British cuisine on the Bookatable site, rather more than I would have thought, given these are only those restaurants that have signed up to the service.

But taking into account the list includes ‘gastropubs’ and there are a lot of those out there these days, maybe my surprise is unfounded.

The thirty most expensive

The most expensive British restaurant in this country is shown as The Ritz, with afternoon tea coming in at £40 - and to think I used to put these together as a 16 year old trainee chef all those years ago!

This is followed by Romance Restaurant Boat and The Milroy, each having a staggering average main course price of £35.

The average main course costs then fall, with 22 restaurants out of the 30 most expensive having average main courses in the £23 to £27 range, still very painful when it comes to paying the bill.

Personal experience

There seems to be a growing trend towards restaurants specialising in British cuisine - high focus restaurants such as Dinner By Heston Blumenthal, where a three-course lunch for four (including two modest bottles of wine) and choosing from the a la carte menu, set me back a little over £300.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it wasn’t a good experience; the food prepared under the watchful eye of Ashley Palmer-Watts is innovative and excellent. But does it represent good value for money?

I had to go there, for a few reasons, not least because I’ve never before sampled Heston Blumenthal creations but also because it’s taken over the space previously occupied by my favourite restaurant, The Park.

After extensive refurbishment it has been transformed into quite a masculine space, somehow with a lot less warmth. Did I enjoy the experience? Yes, of course. But would I go again? I doubt it, largely based on the cost and difficulty in booking.

More examples

Other notable British restaurants include St John in London’s Smithfield (which has an average main course price of £17 without sides) and The Gilbert Scott at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel (which has an average mains cost of £18 without sides), as well as the eye-wateringly expensive The Fat Duck in the Blumenthal land of Bray.

These also serve to hike the average cost of dining out on British cuisine. I suppose the simple question is, does British cuisine warrant these premium prices?

Some might say yes, you’re paying for the quality of the ingredients used, the skills of those preparing it, the surroundings and quite often the experience. But I’m not convinced these arguments are justification enough for the differential.

Shouldn’t there be parity?

All restaurants gain popularity through the quality of their offering, and value for money, that’s what leads to customers returning to eat again.

Clearly some restaurants command high prices because of their uniqueness, like those I have mentioned. Would I go to one of these because of that? No. Surely we all ought to be able to pay a reasonable price for the pleasure of enjoying our national cuisine and this should be comparable to that of other styles of cuisine available in this country.

Let us know what you think about this alarming revelation by commenting in the comments box below.

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