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It wasn't the fact there was no lunch special on a Sunday. It was the 10 per cent surcharge printed in a tiny font at the bottom of the menu.
To the dismay of the waitress, we upped and left, finding another restaurant which didn't charge extra for taking your money on a Sunday.
A Sunday surcharge is a relic from that bygone era, when Australia shut down on the dot of midday on a Saturday and grilled cheese and tinned asparagus on toast was fancy cafe fare.
In this age of tight discretionary spending, the surcharge is probably self-defeating for those restaurants which still impose it. I suspect the diners who didn't read the small print left that establishment with a sour taste when they were slugged. No one likes bill shock.
Eating out these days is a rare indulgence in our household, restricted to restaurants which have kept their prices reasonable and their food honest. These are small, family businesses, which operate on a shoestring and are attuned to the ebb and flow of customers in their regional, holiday destination settings. They simply close when there aren't enough customers through the doors.
It's not so easy in the big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, where the restaurant industry is in the grip of an existential crisis. Hardly a week goes by when the metro media doesn't lament the closure of another "iconic" (don't you hate that word?) establishment. With the prices they charge it's hardly surprising.
When Melbourne chef Teage Ezard closed his Gingerboy restaurant last month, he said diners should be prepared to pay $60 for a main course if they wanted their favourite eating venues to remain solvent. As restaurants face increasing costs - gas, electricity and wages - profit margins tumble. These days, breaking even is a cause for celebration.
But there's fat chance of cash-strapped diners forking out $60 a main in this economic climate.
In just two years, I've watched Tramsheds, a dining destination in inner Sydney, become a desolate ghost town. Where a collection of interesting restaurants once buzzed with customers, there are now sad hoardings.
In the December quarter of 2023, insolvencies in the restaurant and hospitality sectors jumped by 92 per cent over the same quarter in 2022. Dining out in expensive and even mid-range restaurants is simply beyond most families with mortgages and other cost of living pressures, especially in the cities.
So here's to those modest dining venues - the local Thai, Vietnamese and Indian joints - which keep their businesses going and our taste buds engaged with affordable menus. They mightn't have big name chefs working the kitchens and might take a while to get the order to your table, but they remain within reach.
These unpretentious restaurants are best placed to weather the whims of fashion and the economy. And if they don't demand a Sunday surcharge, chances are they'll be around a bit longer.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Does the Sunday surcharge annoy you? Have you cut back on eating out? Is there a favourite restaurant in your neck of the woods that you can recommend? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Australians' travel plans could be thrown into chaos as the federal police union moves towards industrial action over pay and conditions. Thousands of travellers could be left on the ground if Australian Federal Police officers walk away from their posts at airports in the proposed industrial action.
- A western Sydney council that banned books featuring same-sex parents could reverse its decision after two weeks following major backlash from the public, state and federal politicians. Cumberland City Council will vote at the next council meeting on May 15 on a motion to alter or remove the May 1 amendment to the Cumberland Library Strategy.
- After a long stint of above-average business conditions throughout the pandemic recovery, the slowing economy has caught up with Australian companies. Employment, trading and profitability - the three indicators of business conditions tracked by National Australia Bank in its monthly survey - all fell back to their long-run averages in April.
THEY SAID IT: "I despise formal restaurants. I find all of that formality to be very base and vile. I would much rather eat potato chips on the sidewalk." - Werner Herzog
YOU SAID IT: Let's face it, with so much information drip-fed ahead of time, budget night - and the reply speech which follows - has become a tedious talk-fest with few surprises.
"No to both speeches," writes Stuart. "Vera has always taken precedence in this house, regardless of how many repeats."
Maggie writes: "The budget speech reveals little these days, and it's so loaded with slanted opinions that it's boring and mostly worthless. The real news emerges in the following days, when the interest groups that weigh down the inboxes of journalists point out the details that will affect them, and sometimes us. The budget speech is not an executive summary; it's a hagiography."
"I can't bear to watch," writes Trish. "I wait and see what's reported the next day. In my family we have a range of people in different financial situations. I'll check later, see what's applicable to each. Then try to calm my blood pressure. As for anything for pensioners, the tinkering drives me mad. I'm betting already the 'help' will be so targeted, it'll be no help at all to us. For God's sake, have one universal pension and make it a decent amount. Surely that will make it easier to administer."
Arthur writes: "I gave up watching the budget saga several years ago. It contains no real information and is distorted by phrases such as $X spent over several years when the present government is no longer in power and the project quietly forgotten."
"Unlike you journalists, who have to watch, I can avoid the whole shemozzle," writes Sue. "Worst drama ever! I can select a summary from a trusted newsfeed and skim through it and can choose not to even look at the pictures. As there is absolutely nothing I can do about any of the decisions, except perhaps change my vote next time around, I am only really reading for a heads up on any unexpected and really damaging consequences - prices will go up anyway!"
Bill writes: "As a former public servant, I had to have my head in the budget fine detail on the following Wednesday. As a financial adviser ASIC require me to study what's in the budget, even though I am strictly a life insurance adviser only - no investment advice. I hate this pre-budget shit! I walk away when the TV shrieks at me what might be in the budget. And, yes, every government massages the message with pre-budget drops. But every year you and your mates in the media allow yourself to be treated as chooks, as Joh used to say."