Restaurants serve up a Christmas stuffing

IT'S being called the great Christmas restaurant rip-off.

Research by the Evening Standard discloses today how top London restaurants are charging more than double their normal prices for Christmas Day lunch or dinner.

Some try to justify the extra cost by offering more courses and entertainment - but consumer watchdogs condemned the prices as "excessive".

The Dorchester Grill has added as much as Pounds 122 to the cost of a three-course set menu (and is fully booked) while Gordon Ramsay's Maze in Mayfair has raised its prices by 150 per cent.

A Maze spokesman said: "People are prepared to pay for our Christmas menu as they know that they will get the finest food in return."

At the Rib Room And Oyster Bar at the Carlton Tower Hotel prices have almost doubled. A five-course Christmas lunch costs Pounds 140 compared with Pounds 75 for lunch at other times during the year.

Spokeswoman Laura Banares Bonfanti claimed that the entertainment and decorations warranted the extra cost, adding: "Demand is high and so the price is high."

The Windows On The World restaurant at the Park Lane Hilton is offering a fourcourse meal without wine for Pounds 155, Pounds 75 more than the cost of its average three-course meal.

Spokesman Flavien Leyet said: "We are serving the bestquality food - better than usual - and there will be decorations, live music and a gift."

A four-course dinner at the Ritz on Christmas Day, with half a bottle of champagne, will set you back Pounds 200 compared with the usual price of Pounds 89, while a five-course lunch at the Savoy Grill has been increased from Pounds 77 to Pounds 175.

A spokesman for the Consumers' Association said: "There's nothing wrong with people trying to make a profit but the prices do sound somewhat-excessive."

Richard Harden of Harden's London Restaurants guide said consumers were prepared to pay higher prices over Christmas.

"Airlines vary their prices all the time and there's no reason why a restaurant shouldn't be able to do the same," he said. "I really am a consumer champion-but nobody is being tricked into anything here - people who go to these restaurants are prepared to pay these prices. People aren't turning up under false pretences."

Not all restaurants have raised their meal prices for Christmas. The Pumphouse in Hornsey is charging the same

and prices at Toast in Hampstead are lower than usual.

Spokesman Martin Larnach said: "We made the conscious decision to make our prices accessible over Christmas.

Although we see a drop in our profit margin per capita, it is an investment for the future.

It's about bums on seats."

WHERE YOUR WALLET WILL, AND WON'T, GET ROASTED

Fare's fair: Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's is offering a Christmas meal for more than double the price of a standard lunch. His Mayfair restaurant Maze has put up prices by 150%, saying people will pay for "the finest food"

Venue: Dorchester Grill, W1 Christmas package: Champagne reception and fivecourse lunch with wine Price: Pounds 195 Usual price: Pounds 73 Difference: 167% Venue: Maze, W1 Christmas package: Threecourse lunch without wine Price: Pounds 125 Usual price: Pounds 50 Difference: 150% Venue: Savoy Grill, WC2 Christmas package: Fivecourse lunch and mince pies, not including wine Price: Pounds 175 Usual price: Pounds 77 Difference: 127% Venue: The Ritz, W1 Christmas package: Fourcourse dinner with half-bottle of champagne, no wine Price: Pounds 200 Usual price: Pounds 89 Difference: 125% Venue: The Connaught, W1 Christmas package: Fivecourse lunch, wine not included Price: Pounds 160 Usual price: Pounds 78 Difference: 105% Venue: Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, W1 Christmas package: Canapes, four-course lunch and mince pies but no wine Price: Pounds 175 Usual price: Pounds 83 Difference: 111% Venue: Windows On The World, Park Lane Hilton Hotel, W1 Christmas package: Fourcourse lunch, without wine Price: Pounds 155 Usual price: Pounds 80 Difference: 94% Venue: Rib Room And Oyster Bar, Carlton Tower Hotel, SW1 Christmas package: Fivecourse lunch, without wine Price: Pounds 140 Usual price: Pounds 75 Difference: 87% Venue: Maroush Garden, W2 Christmas package: Four hot and four cold starters, two main courses and dessert, plus a bottle of wine and appetisers Price: Pounds 32 Usual price: Pounds 40 Difference: minus 20% Venue: Boxwood Cafe, SW1 Christmas package: Fourcourse lunch and mince pies Price: Pounds 95 Usual price: Pounds 57 Difference: 67% Venue: The Pumphouse, N8 Christmas package: Threecourse lunch, without wine Price: Pounds 30 Usual price: Pounds 30 Difference: 0% Venue: Toast, NW3 Christmas package: Threecourse lunch, no wine or coffee Price: Pounds 27 or Pounds 35 Usual price: Pounds 38 Difference: minus 7% Venue: Beach Blanket Babylon, W11 Christmas package: Two- or three-course lunch, no wine Price: Pounds 35 and Pounds 45 Usual price: Pounds 44 Difference: 2% Venue: Chapter Two, SE3 Christmas package: Fivecourse lunch, without wine Price: Pounds 60 Usual price: Pounds 36 Difference: 67% Venue: Sofra, WC2, W1, NW8 and EC1 Christmas package: Threecourse lunch/dinner, no wine Price: Choice of menus: Pounds 18.95, Pounds 23.95, Pounds 28.95 Usual price: Pounds 29 Difference: minus 2% Source: Harden's London Restaurants, Usual price based on three-course meal with half a bottle of wine and coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

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