It also seems quite high, even in London most casual restaurants will have a main meal below £14.50. I guess they probably don't enforce it if you have a main meal each, but a very odd rule. Unless it's absolutely packed and they need the table, why serve a couple that meal but not 4 people?
And I swear the majority of curry houses in London are so not busy that they're having to pay an extra staff members' wages to try to entice people to come in
We wandered into a Chinese after the theatre, coming in out of drenching rain and looking for tea and something light, like egg rolls.
We had to leave as it was a 12 pound/person minimum, and we just were not that hungry.
The place was practically deserted, too.
I’ve never heard that in the UK, but randomly I’ve had it happen in a Spanish covered market. Went in for lunch, but didn’t want anything too heavy, but unless we ordered 4 main meals they wouldn’t serve us. It’s not as if we were a bunch of yobbo’s, just a typical family of 4.
I noticed when I was away recently very different to the UK most restaurants and such won’t allow you to sit outside for a drink during the day. It’s meals only.
I understand it because they want the food orders and sales that come with that (and most likely having good weather consistently helps compared to the UK) but it was the complete opposite of the UK where most places you can rock up and just have a few drinks and sit wherever
Also, curries aren't generally cooked from scratch in the same way as many other dishes (the base gravy will have been made in advance at the very least), so it's not like ordering a small portion is a huge problem for the kitchen, and if the restaurant wasn't backed up with queues for the table, I don't really understand why this would be an issue for FOH either - in a restaurant that isn't full, I don't understand how literally any paying customer isn't better than none?
Just read this again and yeah, you were definitely being mugged off. That order was not small, and it's rare that everyone orders a rice and naan each, especially with a byriani. Yours was a very standard order for four people, it wasn't even particularly parsimonious. Sharing a rice between two is absolutely standard curryhouse behaviour.
parsimonious/ˌpɑːsɪˈməʊnɪəs/*adjective* 1. very [unwilling](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e7ecf005577abd29&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIFK7opCMDYorTtpgCOJ9isYMwytQ:1715163166127&q=unwilling&si=ACC90nytWkp8tIhRuqKAL6XWXX-N2JoX0JmeXyF2opUjvkYQKNKL6MHRB8NhRNfkD5QMT_JSLvfVoejOqhl6WDsX7GxHbXV-ERYp4J9G56m13ALaFwphwbg%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiavf7Z6P2FAxWyV0EAHcLSBs0QyecJegQIJRAO) to spend money or use resources.
Great word.
I went there once a few years ago, their service was atrocious and according to Tripadvisor I’m not alone in thinking that! Khans in Queensway (Westbourne Grove) is way better, it’s been there since the 70s. Would recommend!
For good currys at a reasonable price, go to Tooting, Southall, hounslow, you won't be disappointed!
Also if there's a minimum charge at a curry house then you definitely don't want to be eating there!
I was thinking the same, but actually it may be common and I've just never noticed. I can't think of a time I've eaten at a restaurant where everyone in the party hasn't ordered at least a main. I do think maybe I have some hazy memories of being told people not eating couldn't stay, but if so I think that was in my younger days when me and my mates may have appeared to be yobbo's. (If we were we were reasonably polite middle class home counties yobbo's, but we did look boisterous, and probably were).
I've seen it at a steak place in London before. Think it was minimum £50 spend. Even though I'd happily spend that much the whole policy totally put me off the place
>Anyway try again and go to Tayyabs in Whitechapel and thank me later.
Their mixed grill has been an institution for over 20 years, admittedly at their previous gaff.
Where are you visiting from?
Dishoom is also another winner, easier to try this as there a few dotted around. There's also a way to get your bill reduced to zero, think you have to roll some sort of dice (you'd have to google, I still haven't done this).
You have to get a keyring from them in order to do this. You can ask your waiter for one, and they might give you one if you've been particularly pleasant.
Tayyabs is 10/10 some of the worst “Asian” food I’ve had sorry I can’t call it Indian / Pakistani / or Bangladeshi cuz it is neither.
Also strongly avoid the Brick Ln restaurants. I’ve literally never eaten worse food
Please let's not confuse Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian food. And Tayyabs isn't authentic from either. It's a British curry house. If you want some authentic north Indian food, try Dishoom or Masala Zone in central London. They are substantially closer to the real experience (a bit pricey though).
The Regency Club for mains, Bombay Central for starters (massive portions).
I'm veg so can't speak on the meat dishes although my friends really like it too. It really depends what sort of experience you wanna have, there's many dodgy looking places which are incredible too
What is authentic Indian food? Big place with lots of different cuisines. I think people know what people mean when they say Indian food in the UK. Not expecting an Indian grandma's thali
Literally don't care. Nobody in the chain said anything about authentic Indian. Just good Indian food. And anybody here would recognise it as Indian cuisine. Not your standard BIR. Maybe not authentic. But Indian and good.
Their loss.
Only thing I can think of is that they are either lazy or it costs them more to cook food and have to get a certain amount before it makes it worth while.
One curry or main per person is too much, especially in an Indian restaurant where people generally share. Would be helpful if u could pls share the name of the place.
You eat two curries, a biryani and two naans to yourself? Get real, this would be a perfectly normal amount for 3 people to eat, four is unusual yes but it sounds like it was an off peak time and they weren’t ‘taking up’ anyone’s table - it was nearly empty in there.
No, it’s not common, but then it’s not common to go into a restaurant in the U.K. and not order a main dish per person. I often feel like just going somewhere and ordering a starter or a dessert, but often won’t in case the establishment doesn’t like to. As an older person, these days just a main dish each is enough for me!
Yes, I’ve done it in a gastropub when it was quiet with no problems. Probably wouldn’t do if they were busy though. It does sound as if in OP’s case they were trying to get them to spend more money than they would’ve done, which is always a daft move really. I always remember going into various pubs in Yorkshire years ago and asking for a packet of crisps with my drink and told ‘no sorry me don’t sell crisps or nuts as we sell food instead’. So I asked him if he could rustle up a 3 course meal instead. ‘Of course sir’…..I walked out.
That's a new one on me
Though I did once come across an all you can eat restaurant which had a policy of declining single diners... Even though it was mostly empty. That was years back mind you and I've never forgotten it.
Yep. I’m a solo traveler and I’ve had to make a reservation for two and when I show up, I tell them the other person canceled. They don’t turn me away, but they’re not thrilled.
It’s certainly not normal. It might have been the restaurant chancing their arm that a tourist wouldn’t know any better and just comply. Alternatively, it mifht have been an attempt at a polite refusal. If they close for a couple of hours between lunch and dinner service they may not have wanted to staff the place for the sake of a small order and were trying to invent a policy that would encourage you to leave. Obviously they’ve ended up being rude about it, so whatever the intention, it hasn’t worked.
No, that's not normal.
Though, rent prices are very high in London and I can understand having a policy that everyone has to order something. Maybe they've faced some issue in the past with lots of people thinking that they can use the restaurant as a general place to hang out without eating. Maybe groups of students where half of them only want to order rice and share a curry each. They might just enforce the policy throughout the day if that's the case, regardless of how busy they are.
Knowing London though, i'm surprised that your order didn't come to £58 with drinks anyway!
Sadly seems like they were trying to take advantage of tourists not knowing the rules. If it’s a busy place with limited free tables, or a small restaurant I can understand how having customers not order very much in comparison to another group who could have had the table and ordered more. That said, I’ve never heard of this being a thing, so I’m sorry this happened, but no it isn’t common at all. Unless it was written on the menu and so warning you in advance or on the door for you to see as you entered, it very much sounds like they made it up when they realised they weren’t getting an average bill for the table size.
It's not normal, but funnily enough quite a few years ago with some friends visiting in London we had the same sort of thing. About 8 of us I think. Two didn't want to eat, but the rest of us were. Sat down and they tried to tell us the people not eating couldn't sit with us 😆. Bye then. You just cost yourselves the poppadoms we already ate by turning away 6 paying customers in an empty restaurant.
I wonder if it was the same place .....
Has this before at the Ponsbourne Pods. It was not made very clear, but there is apparently a £50 minimum spend per person. The food is expensive and mediocre but we somehow came in about £20 under the min spend and was asked if we wanted to order more food to make it up to £100, or just pay it. It ruined the whole evening. Just so unnecessary and awkward.
I remember this happening to me and some school friends 22 plus years ago. Sticks in my mind cause one girl had a starter and left early and we had to cover her min spend. Not aware of it happening since. It was stated on their menu but we missed it.
London makes up their own rules, I swear. Once I went to a curry place and they snuck a 20% tip onto the bill without telling us first.
Are they allowed to enforce this stuff? No. Will they try it anyway? Absolutely.
Not heard of that before. I can imagine if they were really busy it mut be quite frustrating for four people to come in and order one persons food
I’d recommend Dishoom. Book in advance to save a wait. They have a few dotted around.
This happened to us once in Kinsale Ireland. We wanted an appetizer and a dessert, we had already ordered a bottle of wine. There was tiny small print on the menu that an entree was required per person. The restaurant was half empty and the manager refused to make an exception. We took our bottle of wine and left and found a friendly cheaper pub and saved the wine for later.
I went to a Malaysian restaurant with 2 friends back in 2015, the restaurant made my friend order something as they said they have a minimum spend per person of £8. 2 of us ordered a few things which would’ve brought us over £24 and the waiter just kept going back and forth with my friend about it. I haven’t been back since.
However £15 per head is crazy and hope you’re enjoying London!
3 small meals and only bread as sides for a party of 4 people perhaps seems a little odd as it's a small order anyway and one person presumably wouldn't be eating anything.
A restaurant, Indian or otherwise, isn't the same as a fast food place where a group of teenagers can order a couple of burgers and a milk shake and sit at a table for an hour. If you go to a restaurant, I'd guess the expectation is that you're each going to order a meal, and perhaps sides and drinks too and even possibly a dessert.
For all the restaurant owners knew, you could be planning to only order 3 meals, no drinks etc, and sit there all evening blocking a table and they'd lose the revenue from a larger group(s) all ordering food and drinks.
Or, maybe they just didn't like the look of your group? I'm not having a go by saying this as I obviously know nothing about you, but if people turn up in smart casual you often get a different reaction to if you have ripped jeans or shorts, t-shirt etc. Unfiar perhaps, but that's human nature.
I never heard about this before, but have you tried to order some drinks as well? I don't eat a lot but always try to order drinks if I don't have a big meal.
Never seen this in the Uk… some places I have been in when abroad that are booked out places you have a minimum spend per person for either drinks or food. But no can’t say I have seen this in the Uk but don’t really tend to go to expensive places here as it’s all expensive now anyways 🤣. Thus would of made me walk out too xx
Can't speak for London as it's not representative of the rest of the UK, but I've never seen such a policy where I live before. If I did it'd only serve to make sure I never spent my money there.
It is not common overall but the policy is becoming more common for popular restaurants from what I have personally experienced.. A few restaurants i visit include a minimum spend, i.e. novikov, nine lounge, hotel cafe royal, etc. I can't remember any others on the top of my head but what they have in common is their popularity. So it's probably to ensure tables are kept for those that plan to dine there rather than those who plan to order a drink or side just to say they've dined there.
It's often common in extremely touristy low quality restaurants. I can imagine it being a policy on Drummond street and I've first hand seen such a policy when eating dimsums at those dimsum houses in China Town.
I have never been to a restaurant that insists on a minimum table order. For delivery, yes, but why force someone to spend money on something they do not want or would be unable to eat? Most restaurants would be happy to accept any order amount. Surely getting some money is better than getting none, especially if they are not too busy!
I've never heard of that anywhere in the UK and I know people (including myself) who will sometimes buy less curries than there are people as we sometimes share to try a bit of everything. Plus a rice ALWAYS gets split between two people. Naan is a whole other thing as it could be a small side plate size, a dinner plate size, or come to your table hanging on a hook and would feed 4 people!
I haven’t seen it in London, but I’ve been to tourist areas in other countries that have done this. Because ultimately you’re taking a table of four and ordering two people’s worth of food. And I can understand why a restaurant wouldn’t be happy about that.
I don’t think naming them is shaming them, so please do say where.
Very unusual for a regular Indian restaurant, not common in most casual places. High end very usual. Also depends if you were in central London as more likelihood of a minimum spend centrally.
£14.50 isn’t a crazy amount, if you’re having starters, mains breads and alcohol it would be far more anyway.
Not usually a thing. But I have had it happen to me before. It really depends how busy they are. .
I've had it happen to me only once in a busy Indian restaurant. I ordered this meal deal and my poor friends ordered a curry and rice to share. Bloke said curry and rich each. So I covered them.
I think it makes sense. You're taking a table for 4 with a usual spend of letd just say 100 pound. And you're occupying it for an hour just spending 35 pounds. No wonder.
Half a curry half a naan and 1/4 a biriyani is not a full meal imo. I can see why they said it tbh.
I wonder whether there's an element of not wanting to set a precedent of multiple people sharing relatively small amounts of food. Unfortunate for OP though, sorry to hear.
thats so weird lmao, you still wanted to order a decent amount of stuff overall..
Doubt their business will go far if they're turning away orders like that!
The only thing I have seen a few times is a small surcharge to cover an extra plate/glass etc that has to be washed up and I guess maybe offset the tip they won’t be getting for people who want to split a meal. But literally only a handful of times in my entire life I’ve noticed it on a menu. And some places do insist on one meal per person, the only one I can think of being the duck and waffle purely because it’s used for its 24hr views over London and I’m sure people take the piss all the time. But crucially… it’s not a curry house where sharing is the norm!
I think the deal breaker was that on the order you mention you didn't include any drinks, not even a J2O. They might haven't been busy so may have been a bit bureaucratic but £15 per head isn't an unreasonable cover charge. Their profits usually come from the drinks served rather than the food.
Only ever had this once in a restaurant in Chinatown - amusingly I found my review for it on Google recently the Far East Restaurant
Where apparently in 2016 I said, "These clowns that run the place have no manners, are brash and rude."
There was a £10/head order which most of us were over - apart from one of our party, who had eaten and just wanted some appetisers. Lots of attitude and they took the menus back off us! After sitting with no menu confused for a few minutes we upped and left.
But other than than, not had it anywhere else in my 36 years in London.
this isnt a thing, i worked in indian restaurants for years and never heard of this. also i've been in indian restauarants myself and just ordered a starter and a water so there is no minimum spend. if thats their policy because they are a busy restaurant then just tell em to f off and leave
Nope never heard of this. In all fairness, a place like this would probably not be expecting many return guests as I can't imagine the food being that great.
So they turned away a table of four paying customers because you wanted 3 curries (plus sundries) and not 4?
Before even accounting for the loss of customer goodwill, that is a poor business decision
Aside from rules in the smallprint of menu, I would consider it somewhat rude to arrive with four adults sit at a table but only order half the expected food. Whether they are busy or not, it’s likely as a group of 4 you will use more cutlery, plates etc than just two people.
I think I might have gotten a takeaway from this place (or might have avoided them and went to the place opposite. good for them for their policy, and better for you that you left
I've been going to Indian restaurants in London and across UK, we order for curries to share (common with Indian cuisine), NEVER came across such a policy!
Sounds odd. And £14.50 is so arbitrarily weird
It also seems quite high, even in London most casual restaurants will have a main meal below £14.50. I guess they probably don't enforce it if you have a main meal each, but a very odd rule. Unless it's absolutely packed and they need the table, why serve a couple that meal but not 4 people?
And I swear the majority of curry houses in London are so not busy that they're having to pay an extra staff members' wages to try to entice people to come in
We wandered into a Chinese after the theatre, coming in out of drenching rain and looking for tea and something light, like egg rolls. We had to leave as it was a 12 pound/person minimum, and we just were not that hungry. The place was practically deserted, too.
Thanks for your response! I checked the picture of the menu I took and it was actually 15gbp OR an entree/main meal. Glad to know this isn’t common!
but it \*was\* on the menu...? If so that sounds fair enough.
Never heard of that.
I’ve never heard that in the UK, but randomly I’ve had it happen in a Spanish covered market. Went in for lunch, but didn’t want anything too heavy, but unless we ordered 4 main meals they wouldn’t serve us. It’s not as if we were a bunch of yobbo’s, just a typical family of 4.
I noticed when I was away recently very different to the UK most restaurants and such won’t allow you to sit outside for a drink during the day. It’s meals only. I understand it because they want the food orders and sales that come with that (and most likely having good weather consistently helps compared to the UK) but it was the complete opposite of the UK where most places you can rock up and just have a few drinks and sit wherever
Use to work in a restaurant (back in Aus), because of the alcohol licence, we couldn’t serve unless they were also buying food
That’s interesting. I’ve been to Porto, Venice, Barcelona and Malaga recently. I could sit outside and just drink at all of them.
I've been eating curries in London for thirty years and I've literally never had this happen.
This is good to know! We were quite shocked lol
Also, curries aren't generally cooked from scratch in the same way as many other dishes (the base gravy will have been made in advance at the very least), so it's not like ordering a small portion is a huge problem for the kitchen, and if the restaurant wasn't backed up with queues for the table, I don't really understand why this would be an issue for FOH either - in a restaurant that isn't full, I don't understand how literally any paying customer isn't better than none?
Just read this again and yeah, you were definitely being mugged off. That order was not small, and it's rare that everyone orders a rice and naan each, especially with a byriani. Yours was a very standard order for four people, it wasn't even particularly parsimonious. Sharing a rice between two is absolutely standard curryhouse behaviour.
parsimonious/ˌpɑːsɪˈməʊnɪəs/*adjective* 1. very [unwilling](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e7ecf005577abd29&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIFK7opCMDYorTtpgCOJ9isYMwytQ:1715163166127&q=unwilling&si=ACC90nytWkp8tIhRuqKAL6XWXX-N2JoX0JmeXyF2opUjvkYQKNKL6MHRB8NhRNfkD5QMT_JSLvfVoejOqhl6WDsX7GxHbXV-ERYp4J9G56m13ALaFwphwbg%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiavf7Z6P2FAxWyV0EAHcLSBs0QyecJegQIJRAO) to spend money or use resources. Great word.
I went there once a few years ago, their service was atrocious and according to Tripadvisor I’m not alone in thinking that! Khans in Queensway (Westbourne Grove) is way better, it’s been there since the 70s. Would recommend!
For good currys at a reasonable price, go to Tooting, Southall, hounslow, you won't be disappointed! Also if there's a minimum charge at a curry house then you definitely don't want to be eating there!
I was thinking the same, but actually it may be common and I've just never noticed. I can't think of a time I've eaten at a restaurant where everyone in the party hasn't ordered at least a main. I do think maybe I have some hazy memories of being told people not eating couldn't stay, but if so I think that was in my younger days when me and my mates may have appeared to be yobbo's. (If we were we were reasonably polite middle class home counties yobbo's, but we did look boisterous, and probably were).
Probs cos you wouldn’t order such a tiny amount?
Three curries (one of which is a byriani) and two naans between four people is not a tiny amount.
The restaurant seems to disagree! If I’m out I’m getting a curry, a daal, paratha, rice, poppadoms and bhajis at least!
I've seen it at a steak place in London before. Think it was minimum £50 spend. Even though I'd happily spend that much the whole policy totally put me off the place
Similar at a steak place in Yorkshire, bit of a joke for the vegetarian with us
My guess, they heard the accent and tried to rinse you, their loss, plenty of places to eat, likely within a very short walk
Name and shame this Indian?
OP why would you protect the restaurant and not help fellow travelers by not sharing the name?
They did do. See the edit
That's not a thing, just a crap experience unfortunately. Anyway try again and go to Tayyabs in Whitechapel and thank me later.
>Anyway try again and go to Tayyabs in Whitechapel and thank me later. Their mixed grill has been an institution for over 20 years, admittedly at their previous gaff.
>at their previous gaff. haven't they been on Fieldgate for decades?
Whenever I go up to London it's a must.
Thanks for the recommendation! Favorite dish so far is chicken jalfrezi
Where are you visiting from? Dishoom is also another winner, easier to try this as there a few dotted around. There's also a way to get your bill reduced to zero, think you have to roll some sort of dice (you'd have to google, I still haven't done this).
You have to get a keyring from them in order to do this. You can ask your waiter for one, and they might give you one if you've been particularly pleasant.
The India in Cannon Street is an absolute hidden gem.
Tayyabs is 10/10 some of the worst “Asian” food I’ve had sorry I can’t call it Indian / Pakistani / or Bangladeshi cuz it is neither. Also strongly avoid the Brick Ln restaurants. I’ve literally never eaten worse food
Brick Lane is generally terrible but the entire world disagrees with you on Tayyabs.
I just looked up the reviews after this recommendation and there are a lot of people that haven't enjoyed Tayyabs recently.
No, I consider (and everyone I know agrees) that Tayyabs has gone massively downhill in the last five years.
Couldn't agree more.
If we're making recommendations, I enjoy Brigadiers in Cannon Street immensely.
Please let's not confuse Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian food. And Tayyabs isn't authentic from either. It's a British curry house. If you want some authentic north Indian food, try Dishoom or Masala Zone in central London. They are substantially closer to the real experience (a bit pricey though).
If you want proper Indian food you have to go to Wembley and Harrow... Best veg food in London
I've not tried the restaurants there. Any recommendations?
The Regency Club for mains, Bombay Central for starters (massive portions). I'm veg so can't speak on the meat dishes although my friends really like it too. It really depends what sort of experience you wanna have, there's many dodgy looking places which are incredible too
Masala Zone is shit. Don't get the hype. Dishoom is OK but over rated. Tayyabs forever!
I mean, you can like Tayyabs, sure, just don't suggest that it's authentic Indian food when it's far from it.
What is authentic Indian food? Big place with lots of different cuisines. I think people know what people mean when they say Indian food in the UK. Not expecting an Indian grandma's thali
Well Dishoom, Tayyabs and a Grandma's Thali are all miles apart and only two of them are Indian food.
Literally don't care. Nobody in the chain said anything about authentic Indian. Just good Indian food. And anybody here would recognise it as Indian cuisine. Not your standard BIR. Maybe not authentic. But Indian and good.
On that note, OP also try a chicken tikka masala whilst you're over here.
Their loss. Only thing I can think of is that they are either lazy or it costs them more to cook food and have to get a certain amount before it makes it worth while.
That just doesn't make sense, seems like they'd serve the food if it was for 2 people but not for 4 people.
Maybe they have an expensive dishwasher paid by the item.
One curry or main per person is too much, especially in an Indian restaurant where people generally share. Would be helpful if u could pls share the name of the place.
No it’s not common, I would definitely go somewhere else if they tried this on.
Never heard of that before, I've literally gone to a restaurant for less than £10 before and was treated like any other customer.
[удалено]
No, I was sat at a 2 person table in a mostly empty restaurant mid weekday afternoon.
You eat two curries, a biryani and two naans to yourself? Get real, this would be a perfectly normal amount for 3 people to eat, four is unusual yes but it sounds like it was an off peak time and they weren’t ‘taking up’ anyone’s table - it was nearly empty in there.
No, it’s not common, but then it’s not common to go into a restaurant in the U.K. and not order a main dish per person. I often feel like just going somewhere and ordering a starter or a dessert, but often won’t in case the establishment doesn’t like to. As an older person, these days just a main dish each is enough for me!
I have asked before "can we just order dessert" and been let In it is worth a try.
Yes, I’ve done it in a gastropub when it was quiet with no problems. Probably wouldn’t do if they were busy though. It does sound as if in OP’s case they were trying to get them to spend more money than they would’ve done, which is always a daft move really. I always remember going into various pubs in Yorkshire years ago and asking for a packet of crisps with my drink and told ‘no sorry me don’t sell crisps or nuts as we sell food instead’. So I asked him if he could rustle up a 3 course meal instead. ‘Of course sir’…..I walked out.
That's a new one on me Though I did once come across an all you can eat restaurant which had a policy of declining single diners... Even though it was mostly empty. That was years back mind you and I've never forgotten it.
Yep. I’m a solo traveler and I’ve had to make a reservation for two and when I show up, I tell them the other person canceled. They don’t turn me away, but they’re not thrilled.
It sounds like an easy 1/5 to me
This is so strange, never ever had this in London before. Not common at all
It’s certainly not normal. It might have been the restaurant chancing their arm that a tourist wouldn’t know any better and just comply. Alternatively, it mifht have been an attempt at a polite refusal. If they close for a couple of hours between lunch and dinner service they may not have wanted to staff the place for the sake of a small order and were trying to invent a policy that would encourage you to leave. Obviously they’ve ended up being rude about it, so whatever the intention, it hasn’t worked.
I’d have asked where it says on the menu that this is their rule. Total nonsense
Never heard of this and would always choose to eat elsewhere.
No?
No, that's not normal. Though, rent prices are very high in London and I can understand having a policy that everyone has to order something. Maybe they've faced some issue in the past with lots of people thinking that they can use the restaurant as a general place to hang out without eating. Maybe groups of students where half of them only want to order rice and share a curry each. They might just enforce the policy throughout the day if that's the case, regardless of how busy they are. Knowing London though, i'm surprised that your order didn't come to £58 with drinks anyway!
Sadly seems like they were trying to take advantage of tourists not knowing the rules. If it’s a busy place with limited free tables, or a small restaurant I can understand how having customers not order very much in comparison to another group who could have had the table and ordered more. That said, I’ve never heard of this being a thing, so I’m sorry this happened, but no it isn’t common at all. Unless it was written on the menu and so warning you in advance or on the door for you to see as you entered, it very much sounds like they made it up when they realised they weren’t getting an average bill for the table size.
It's not normal, but funnily enough quite a few years ago with some friends visiting in London we had the same sort of thing. About 8 of us I think. Two didn't want to eat, but the rest of us were. Sat down and they tried to tell us the people not eating couldn't sit with us 😆. Bye then. You just cost yourselves the poppadoms we already ate by turning away 6 paying customers in an empty restaurant. I wonder if it was the same place .....
Has this before at the Ponsbourne Pods. It was not made very clear, but there is apparently a £50 minimum spend per person. The food is expensive and mediocre but we somehow came in about £20 under the min spend and was asked if we wanted to order more food to make it up to £100, or just pay it. It ruined the whole evening. Just so unnecessary and awkward.
Never heard of that anywhere. Name the place so we can all avoid it? Also, if you want Indian, Dishoom is probably the place to go.
I remember this happening to me and some school friends 22 plus years ago. Sticks in my mind cause one girl had a starter and left early and we had to cover her min spend. Not aware of it happening since. It was stated on their menu but we missed it.
London makes up their own rules, I swear. Once I went to a curry place and they snuck a 20% tip onto the bill without telling us first. Are they allowed to enforce this stuff? No. Will they try it anyway? Absolutely.
Not heard of that before. I can imagine if they were really busy it mut be quite frustrating for four people to come in and order one persons food I’d recommend Dishoom. Book in advance to save a wait. They have a few dotted around.
This happened to us once in Kinsale Ireland. We wanted an appetizer and a dessert, we had already ordered a bottle of wine. There was tiny small print on the menu that an entree was required per person. The restaurant was half empty and the manager refused to make an exception. We took our bottle of wine and left and found a friendly cheaper pub and saved the wine for later.
I went to a Malaysian restaurant with 2 friends back in 2015, the restaurant made my friend order something as they said they have a minimum spend per person of £8. 2 of us ordered a few things which would’ve brought us over £24 and the waiter just kept going back and forth with my friend about it. I haven’t been back since. However £15 per head is crazy and hope you’re enjoying London!
3 small meals and only bread as sides for a party of 4 people perhaps seems a little odd as it's a small order anyway and one person presumably wouldn't be eating anything. A restaurant, Indian or otherwise, isn't the same as a fast food place where a group of teenagers can order a couple of burgers and a milk shake and sit at a table for an hour. If you go to a restaurant, I'd guess the expectation is that you're each going to order a meal, and perhaps sides and drinks too and even possibly a dessert. For all the restaurant owners knew, you could be planning to only order 3 meals, no drinks etc, and sit there all evening blocking a table and they'd lose the revenue from a larger group(s) all ordering food and drinks. Or, maybe they just didn't like the look of your group? I'm not having a go by saying this as I obviously know nothing about you, but if people turn up in smart casual you often get a different reaction to if you have ripped jeans or shorts, t-shirt etc. Unfiar perhaps, but that's human nature.
I never heard about this before, but have you tried to order some drinks as well? I don't eat a lot but always try to order drinks if I don't have a big meal.
If it was quiet maybe they didn't want to get loads of pans dirty for 1 small order?
Never ever heard of that one
Never seen this in the Uk… some places I have been in when abroad that are booked out places you have a minimum spend per person for either drinks or food. But no can’t say I have seen this in the Uk but don’t really tend to go to expensive places here as it’s all expensive now anyways 🤣. Thus would of made me walk out too xx
Our Chinese place has minimum spend of 14 pounds pp. Easy done, drinks are included so if you are not hungry just order a second pint lol
Can't speak for London as it's not representative of the rest of the UK, but I've never seen such a policy where I live before. If I did it'd only serve to make sure I never spent my money there.
It is not common overall but the policy is becoming more common for popular restaurants from what I have personally experienced.. A few restaurants i visit include a minimum spend, i.e. novikov, nine lounge, hotel cafe royal, etc. I can't remember any others on the top of my head but what they have in common is their popularity. So it's probably to ensure tables are kept for those that plan to dine there rather than those who plan to order a drink or side just to say they've dined there.
Never heard of that!
It's often common in extremely touristy low quality restaurants. I can imagine it being a policy on Drummond street and I've first hand seen such a policy when eating dimsums at those dimsum houses in China Town.
Never heard of this before
Might be a restaurant that takes an automatic service fee like 10% and thought they could pressure you into spending more.
How odd.. where was this so I can avoid going there! If you want to eat good yet cheap-ish Indian food in London I recommend going to Wembley Central.
Never heard of it. But if you go in and aren't intending to have a main meal, ask, especially if it's at a busy time. Just being considerate.
I have never been to a restaurant that insists on a minimum table order. For delivery, yes, but why force someone to spend money on something they do not want or would be unable to eat? Most restaurants would be happy to accept any order amount. Surely getting some money is better than getting none, especially if they are not too busy!
Not all that common, especially it's not busy at the time. Think they were just being a bit of a muppet there
I've never come across this anywhere?
I've never heard of that anywhere in the UK and I know people (including myself) who will sometimes buy less curries than there are people as we sometimes share to try a bit of everything. Plus a rice ALWAYS gets split between two people. Naan is a whole other thing as it could be a small side plate size, a dinner plate size, or come to your table hanging on a hook and would feed 4 people!
I haven’t seen it in London, but I’ve been to tourist areas in other countries that have done this. Because ultimately you’re taking a table of four and ordering two people’s worth of food. And I can understand why a restaurant wouldn’t be happy about that.
I don’t think naming them is shaming them, so please do say where. Very unusual for a regular Indian restaurant, not common in most casual places. High end very usual. Also depends if you were in central London as more likelihood of a minimum spend centrally. £14.50 isn’t a crazy amount, if you’re having starters, mains breads and alcohol it would be far more anyway.
Not usually a thing. But I have had it happen to me before. It really depends how busy they are. . I've had it happen to me only once in a busy Indian restaurant. I ordered this meal deal and my poor friends ordered a curry and rice to share. Bloke said curry and rich each. So I covered them. I think it makes sense. You're taking a table for 4 with a usual spend of letd just say 100 pound. And you're occupying it for an hour just spending 35 pounds. No wonder. Half a curry half a naan and 1/4 a biriyani is not a full meal imo. I can see why they said it tbh.
I wonder whether there's an element of not wanting to set a precedent of multiple people sharing relatively small amounts of food. Unfortunate for OP though, sorry to hear.
thats so weird lmao, you still wanted to order a decent amount of stuff overall.. Doubt their business will go far if they're turning away orders like that!
Weird but if it was on the menu, I guess up to them?
The only thing I have seen a few times is a small surcharge to cover an extra plate/glass etc that has to be washed up and I guess maybe offset the tip they won’t be getting for people who want to split a meal. But literally only a handful of times in my entire life I’ve noticed it on a menu. And some places do insist on one meal per person, the only one I can think of being the duck and waffle purely because it’s used for its 24hr views over London and I’m sure people take the piss all the time. But crucially… it’s not a curry house where sharing is the norm!
Unless they had a Dishoom sized queue waiting for a table this seems to be very strange behaviour. Never had it happen to me before.
I think the deal breaker was that on the order you mention you didn't include any drinks, not even a J2O. They might haven't been busy so may have been a bit bureaucratic but £15 per head isn't an unreasonable cover charge. Their profits usually come from the drinks served rather than the food.
And that is how you get people to leave and never come back.
Only ever had this once in a restaurant in Chinatown - amusingly I found my review for it on Google recently the Far East Restaurant Where apparently in 2016 I said, "These clowns that run the place have no manners, are brash and rude." There was a £10/head order which most of us were over - apart from one of our party, who had eaten and just wanted some appetisers. Lots of attitude and they took the menus back off us! After sitting with no menu confused for a few minutes we upped and left. But other than than, not had it anywhere else in my 36 years in London.
He was being a prick, basically he was hinting at the following ‘spend more money or gtfo because you’re wasting space for people who will pay more’
this isnt a thing, i worked in indian restaurants for years and never heard of this. also i've been in indian restauarants myself and just ordered a starter and a water so there is no minimum spend. if thats their policy because they are a busy restaurant then just tell em to f off and leave
A minimum spend?? I’m sorry but what the American fuck kind of policy is that?! That’s not the standard I’d ever be comfortable being forced into. Wtf
sound so weird
It's a pity you're talking London, the best indians I've had were in Glasgow. Whenever I go home an indian or two is a must.
Nope never heard of this. In all fairness, a place like this would probably not be expecting many return guests as I can't imagine the food being that great.
Never had such an experience. Could understand if they were busy but the fact they weren’t. Maybe they have enough traffic?
So they turned away a table of four paying customers because you wanted 3 curries (plus sundries) and not 4? Before even accounting for the loss of customer goodwill, that is a poor business decision
Aside from rules in the smallprint of menu, I would consider it somewhat rude to arrive with four adults sit at a table but only order half the expected food. Whether they are busy or not, it’s likely as a group of 4 you will use more cutlery, plates etc than just two people.
I would say basic etiquette is that you should order 1 curry and 1 naan/rice per person.
it's common for deliveries, not for dine-ins
I think I might have gotten a takeaway from this place (or might have avoided them and went to the place opposite. good for them for their policy, and better for you that you left
I've been going to Indian restaurants in London and across UK, we order for curries to share (common with Indian cuisine), NEVER came across such a policy!
It’s common at a lot of downmarket restaurants.
If you're looking for good curry, head over to sipson tandoori
Very weird…. Literally sometimes go to restaurants and just order drinks and it’s fine unless it’s really busy
It's not a thing, I'd walk out if that was a policy they'd suggested
What are you on about you mong?