Eating out on Christmas Day. Do we expect too much?

[Nonimai]

We spent £100 a head yesterday on a meal that wasn’t horrible , it was just meh. Expectations are high. People were complaining. Did you have your meal out yesterday? Was it worth the money?
we went to a local gastro pub/restaurant in North England. Usually excellent roasts. Tbh they tried too hard to make it special - chefs only make this once a year - and it didn’t work.

I don't fancy eating out on Christmas day as it seems a lot of food crammed into a couple of hours. When I've had my main course I want to have a break before dessert

We went out for the first time at Christmas yesterday, lovely venue, staff absolutely spot on, food was good and plentiful, only complaint was it could have been hotter…

Within an hour of getting home we were both very sick 🤮

Will cook and hopefully avoid food poisoning next year 🤣

(I’ve previously worked hospitality and worked Christmas)

Nope. They'll be run off their feet by customers with high/demanding expectations because they're paying a premium to eat out on Xmas Day.

£20/£25 an hour minimum considering what the restaurant will be charging should have been paid. Cash.

I paid £34 for poppadoms and chutney, starter, side and main at a local Indian restaurant. I bought a dessert and a mocktail too. It was lovely and the staff couldn't have been friendlier. I was happy to leave a decent tip too.

DS did (barman in gastro pub). He got at least time and a half (said it was a very intense few hours though!).

I think you are 100% in the wrong for trying to do a chargeback on your £250 meal out over a delayed starter, the flavour of ice cream and a missing £7 pudding.

I hope the restaurant names and shames you.

OP I’m surprised you thought that the higher prices on Christmas Day would be due to the higher standard of the food. Eating out costs more on Christmas Day for several obvious reasons.

1. in general staff are paid more to persuade them to give up their day
2. supply and demand - fewer restaurants will open, so those that do can charge more
3. it’s Christmas and a big celebration so people are prepared to stump up more cash for it.

There’s no reason to expect the food to be any different to what you’d normally get.
It’s like holidays - they’re more expensive in July than June, not because holidays are better in July, but because more people want to go in July, so prices can be hiked up.

Ours was pretty good! The roast potatoes were not as good as I make but they never are when you get them from a pub.

All the food was really good quality and was very tasty. I go to this pub often and it is usually very good, but I would definitely say they went even further with the Christmas Day offerings.

Ours was £95 a head, 5 courses (last course was a small truffle, thankfully, as I was stuffed 😂) and included a welcome glass of English sparkling wine at the beginning and a cocktail with dessert. Additional drinks during the meal were priced as normal.

The service was on the most part very good. Only issue we had is that they were running late so had to wait in the bar area for 15 mins. Other than that everything went smoothly. The staff were friendly and were walking around regularly so you could order extra drinks, take away plates etc.

It was well worth it in my opinion. X

You need to report this incident.

https://www.food.gov.uk/contact/consumers/report-problem/report-a-food-safety-or-hygiene-issue

I went out last year for the first time ever. We went to the Harvester. It was meh and I hated not cooking a Christmas dinner. One and done for me
I love cooking and Christmas is the best 🎄

You have just reminded me that our friend Della died after a Christmas meal at the Railway Hornchurch. If you Google its all there 😢

Most people expect a higher standard of food for £100 + per head. But it's just the same bog standard pub grub, but it's served on a day that required staff to work for extra pay.

We went to our local Harvester 😂 paid £60 a head and the food was lovely
Not to much that we were stuffed but more than enough

we ate there last year for Christmas and it was really nice which is why we went back
I’ve also had Christmas Day Lunches at restaurants that are much more expensive at £100 plus per person and not as much

it was absolutely packed
staff were working really hard and we didn’t have to wait for anything
I tipped our waitress £20 as I left and she was really really surprised so maybe a lot of people don’t bother tipping
But she was working bloody hard on Christmas Day and deserved it .

I don't think you're paying for the food when you go out on Christmas Day, you're paying for the convenience of them being open, not spending the afternoon in the kitchen, and the staff (that hopefully get a bit extra) giving up their time on Christmas Day.

I would expect a usual £100 meal, but that said, I'd send back something that was lukewarm.

We don't do it Christmas day but we do Christmas eve and it's always fabulous. Testament to the pub and staff I guess.

And it was £50 a head including booze

I used to work Christmas Day as a student - think chain pub style place. We were paid triple time, drinks and snacks were provided, we only did one sitting and the tips were amazing. It really was the standard fare though - you were really paying for us to be open.

I’m surprised at posters insisting staff would be paid double for working Christmas Day. Some chefs/floor staff will have it in their contract that they have to work Christmas Day or NYE. And I’m saying this again as an event manager. I was very lucky when I worked as an event manager at a venue, they were closed over Christmas but I HAD to work NYE for no extra pay. It was in my contract.

We did it once and yeah it was just a bit meh. Clearly all prepped and kept warm and the next course was on the table as soon as you took your last mouthful. You still had to queue at the bar for your drinks, whilst your food was already sitting there. They couldn't wait to get us out for the next sitting.

Another one here who used to be a waitress and never goes out to eat on Christmas Day or NYE etc. Crazily overpriced and it's just never going to be that good, it doesn't matter how much you pay. The people cooking for and serving you won't be seeing much of that money, after all.

That said, some of the hand-wringing on here for the poor, downtrodden staff is misplaced. As a teenager/young adult I loved working Xmas dates and always requested the shifts - double time, an excuse to avoid my dysfunctional family, free food and drink, generous tips, a fun party atmosphere and very few managers around... I know it's not the same for all, but not everyone working in a restaurant needs to be pitied!

This isn't true.

But I like your confidence.

That's awful

NYE isn’t a bank holiday and so not double time

New Year’s Day, as is Xmas day
but not Xmas eve

We went for lunch to local Indian restaurant , was their normal menu just had to spend a minimum of £25 a head - four of us the bill came to £100 for food and £50 for drinks plus a 20% tip , it was fantastic and today we’ve had cold cuts and traditional trimmings with pickles so best of both worlds for us

Laziness costs money and at Christmas you'll get stung.

Make your own food next year and eat out when it's cheaper.

The roasts you buy out will never be as good as you can make yourself.