Hye
Was taken out for lunch yesterday to an italian restaurant. The place was lovely decor and on a Tuesday afternoon it was packed. I ordered mussels but on the menu they were called Thai mussels. I had previously bought frozen mussels in their shells and garlic sauce for around £2 a while back, anyway my boss ordered the house burger.It was quite small but very thick with the tiniest bowl of chips I have ever seen. The burger cost £9. I was going to go to this restaurant for my anniversary next month but when I calculated what that would cost with alcohol I will go elsewhere. Have any of you ever paid over the odds and the restaurant gave something a fancy name to justify the price? Plus do you sometimes come away starving because of the meagre portions?

To be honest - with the current economic climate it seems like business suicide to give out meagre portions. I love my eating out but I'm pretty picky as it has to be worth it both for quality and quantity. I don't think there is any excuse for a restaurant to leave people hungry after having 2 courses!

Not too fussed about fancy names so long as there is an explanation. I don't mind them - dish names seem to go through fashions like everything else.

We went out with another couple last weekend to a 'posh pub' - you know the ones that are more restaurant than pub. It wasn't our choice and when we saw the menu it seemed a bit pricey (we ended up paying £30 a head with drinks (3 soft drinks and 2 glasses of wine). Turned out to be excellent. The food was well cooked, piping hot, plentiful and tasty. I couldn't finish the main course which is rare for me.

So even though it was a bit pricey I would actually go back.

On the other hand I went to a much cheaper place a few weeks back - about £15 a head for 2 courses (no drinks) and the food was obviously just warmed up on request and not home cooked and padded out with a dollop of old looking salad leaves - felt like it was money wasted.

It sounds a bit strange for an Italian restaurant to serve Thai mussels and burgers.

We have a very good local pizza place that has, as a dessert, "Butter Picker". The description on the menu says "Savoiardi, Netherend butter cream, Monmouth coffee, liqueur and chocolate". We had no idea what it was, asked the waitress and she said 'tira misu". So why not just call it tira misu?

By the way it was delicious and not at all expensive, so the pompous name didn't mean a pompous price.

I agree with Inkblot, it is a stange menu for an Italian.

As regards the portion sizes, was your boss happy with theirs (presumably they had been there before)? And are you sure your order wasn't just mussels as a starter. Most restaurants with mussels on their menu will offer them as a starter or main. If ordered as a main it is usually accompanied by a portion of fries.

Finally, price is subjective. If the burger was really good £9 doesn't sound too expensive. However if it was no better than a Big Mac then £9 is far too much.

Generally, I find eating out is relatively cheap these days if you don't have wine!!

my mistake, everyone refers to the restaurant as italian,but it is actually meditaranean. i got a starter because was being curteous as she was paying. it probably seems expensive to me because i usually go gor carverys and buffets.

Sounds like a strange Italian restaurant?

apparently the burger is to die for, her words. i will be getting a main the next time

If it was pretty thick then it could have easily been a 1/2lb burger. Chains will have 1/2lb burgers quite thin with a large diameter because they cook them quickly but in a restaurant they can take a little more time and also determine the doneness as a decent quality burger can be pink or other levels of personal doneness.

If it's a good burger I'd happily pay £9, in fact for a restaurant (not a pub) I'd think that was pretty reasonable. Most restaurants around here main courses are at least £12.

I love eating out and food is something that I don't mind spending money on. If it's good quality then I don't mind paying a little more.

I wouldn't say "house burger" was a particularly fancy name either. Presumably they do other burgers and the "house burger" is just a standard burger. Much like if you ordered a house wine.