Amuse bouche @Petrus
Category: Haute Cuisine (££££) 
About a year ago I participated at a competition posted by the lovely Greedy Diva and won the amazing prize of a £200 voucher to dine at any of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. Initially I wanted to splash it at the 3 Michelin star Gordon Ramsay at Hospital Road,but as I am not organised enough to make a reservation in due time ahead,I decided to try Petrus in Knightsbridge instead (reservation on the day possible).
The food was good but far from being spectacular. 1 of 2 dishes in each course was Michelin star quality while the other disappointed,so in the end I would not go back necessarily for the food. However,in this review I will talk very little about my gastronomical experience,but about being ripped off in high end restaurants.
Pan-fried scallops with granny smith and truffles
I wonder –did I overreact? I don’t know,you tell me…
Here is the story:
At Petrus,we order a £42 wine from the extensive but massively overpriced wine list. It takes forever for the waiter to come back to us with an alternative bottle,as the one we have ordered was apparently out (quite understandable as it is one of the few wines under 50 quid).
The waiter declares that the suggested wine is the same quality to the one we have ordered. We enquire about the price (it happened too often that I ended up with a replacement bottle far more expensive than the orignially ordered one) and it seems the waiter is dodging this question. We don’t give up and in the end he states that he will charge us exactly the same price and says of course. Satisfied and already rather thirsty we go ahead with the purchase.
Octopus Carpaccio (they put mayonnaise on top!!)
Nice wine,nothing wrong with it,but when it comes to paying we have a close look at the bill. Surprise,surprise! We are charged for a £58 wine. Annoying,somehow we felt this might happen but sometimes it’s not nice to be proved right. Now the question –was it an honest mistake or were we being ripped off? We called the waiter over,remarking that there was something wrong with the bill. Without even looking at the bill the waiter immediately apologised for having charged for the wrong wine. Honest mistake? I don’t think so…
As a little thank you we opted out of the service charge and gave the money straight to one of the lovely girls that also served our table (we gave her the benefit of the doubt not to be involved in this scam).
Loin of Venison
What should have been a lovely evening was tainted by this encounter. Apart from finding the behaviour of Petrus’staff appalling in principle,I don’t have a lot of money and if I go to a high end restaurant this means I have been saving for it and I can only afford it on special occasions. To pay 16 pounds more or less does make a difference to me.
I don’t know much about restaurant politics,so I can only guess who benefits from selling more expensive wines. In addition I have no idea whether this is an isolated episode or happens on an organised scale. Are there some black sheep waiters who initiate this kind of scams or is it dictated by the management?
These dodgy waiters rely on people not checking the bill ( I hardly ever did it myself before I started this blog and have been charged the wrong amount too many times) and if customers do check,I am sure a lot of them don’t complain because they don’t want to seem tight,petty or embarrassing in front of their date or their family.
I was so disgusted by this episode that I don’t even want to talk about the food anymore. It could be the best food in the world (which,by the way,it wasn’t) –I seriously lost my appetite. I really wish I had gone to Zucca or Tinello (which is even nearby),one third of the price,equivalent food and the wine bill is always honest.
I wonder,did anything like this ever happen to you? How would you have reacted?
- Food: 6/10
- Service: 3/10 (apart from the rip off the service was good)
- Ambiance: 7/10
- Value for Money: 4/10
- Chances of Returning: 0%
- Verdict: Decent but certainly not Michelin-star quality food with fraudulent staff. I advise against spending your hard earned money there to be honest.
Other restaurants to avoid:
That is SOOO annoying. I always check the bill and,while there are often small mistakes,I haven’t had an experience like this…yet…thank goodness. I think I would be as upset as you.
@Laissez Fare –I’m glad you agree,it”s really not so much about the money but the fact that people are taking advantage of you. Hate it,really. We should create a red list or something with scamming/overcharging restaurants so we know which ones to avoid…
Apart from ripping you off,they also took a dump on your dessert too. Food looked very unceremoniously presented.
At the other end of the spectrum –I got charged for 2 bottles of water at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley last year when I only had one –wrote to them to point out the error and they refunded the cost of all drinks –wine and water…..so not all places are the same….happy eating
That sounds horrible,I know they do that at clubs a lot,charging you lots and hoping that you won’t notice. Personally I dislike all Gordon Ramsay restaurants and have no clue why it have 3 stars. The food at Petrus looked very average! I’ll remember to always check my bill:)
Usually I get annoyed in front overpriced wine list,it sound so pretentious,so unpleasant,and the wine episode is definitely unacceptable. We should check the bill every time,why not?
I agree with SB:the dessert looks a bit scruffy.
Happy 2012!
Ooh..I haven’t experience this yet but had similar encounter with said discount supposedly for Royal China and I don’t like those places who already charge you for service charge on the bill but you still need to cancel the tip option when given the credit card machine to enter your pin.
How disappointing to hear –it sounds like in this case the waiter hoped you would not notice or were in a fancy restaurant and so would not want to spoil the experience by bringing up a £16 overcharge (which is sometimes what I feel,it has been a good night so why ruin it,etc,etc –but very much the cowards approach I admit). Good on you for standing your ground.
@TheGreedySheik –so that’s nice! That just shows that there is a way of dealing with mistakes if they happen that make the customer feel satisfied and respected.
@Joyce –I quite liked York &Albany,unpretentious and good food. But I agree with you on a whole re Gordon’restaurants…
@Katia –Happy New Year to you too,Katia and a lot of great blogging
@Kay –Oh I hate this too! This is such a rip off,I am sure about 1/3 or 1/4 of people add service charge again. This should be prohibited and I also think service charge should NEVER be included in the bill.
@Gourmet Chick –I know what you mean…this episode definitely destroyed our evening. I am just so annoyed with restaurants that take the piss that I rather sacrifice an evening than letting them get away with stuff like this. Having said that –you have to be with people who don’t mind that you embarrass yourself in front of an entire restaurant/ staff….
I always check my bill and always have,even more so when there have been a fair few drinks involved –I think there’s a hope that tipsy customers won’t notice a glass of wine charged at a bottle or 3 bottles charged instead of 2. And if they do notice,there can always be the pretence of it being an accident.
I have occasionally found errors but I think one can get a feel for whether they’re genuine or not. Funnily enough,I’ve found drinks errors most often strike me as dodgy,wonder why…
@Kavey –I agree,drink errors (unless they are made in a chaotic and crowded bar) are dodgy and I wonder how much extra money is made in restaurants all over the world with gullible customers (not with us because we are shrewd