Restaurants rip off diners with price of water
Most diners think the price of bottled water charged by restaurants is too high, believing tap water tastes no different to an expensive bottle, the Good Food Guide has found.
A survey launched by the Guide found that while Claridges’ special water menu, offers a bottle of Berg costing the equivalent of £30 per litre, tap water costs establishments the equivalent of 0.22p per litre, adding to speculation by the public that they are being ripped off by restaurants.
Half the respondents to the survey said they couldn’t tell the difference between bottled and tap water, with 18 per cent saying they even preferred the taste of tap. But despite the availability of free tap water in restaurants nationwide, a product that restaurants are not legally obliged to offer, a fifth of diner still feel embarrassed asking for water when they eat out.
Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor for The Good Food Guide, said: “People looking after the pennies could easily save pounds by drinking tap water when eating out. We think that all restaurants should provide free tap water without customers having to ask.”
A Shropshire company has just launched what it claims is the most expensive bottle of water in the world. Love H20 have created six special Christmas editions of its regular best seller at £1k each, made with natural spring water from the Shropshire countryside, and presented in a ‘bling’ bottle covered in 6,500 Swarovski crystals.
