Sir, – This week, I visited a café and garden centre for lunch with my sisters.
My sisters ordered warm goat’s cheese salad with toasted sweet walnuts. When they arrived, the leaves were limp and there wasn’t a walnut in sight. I ordered a chicken caesar salad and when it arrived it was smothered in a gloopy, thick mayonnaise, definitely not a caesar dressing. When I brought this to the attention of our server, she agreed immediately saying, “Ugh, way too much mayo” and suggested some carrot cake, on the house, with our coffee. There didn’t seem to be anyone in charge so we accepted her offer. When we were leaving, everything was included on the bill, except for the one slice of carrot cake. The caesar salad cost €17.50, the warm goat’s cheese salad cost €17.
Fine Gael is offering VAT relief, once again, for the food-related hospitality sector, if they are returned to government. I do not believe that this will fix the real issues these establishments face and I suspect many will not pass the savings on to their customers. In order for any food establishment to survive, customers have to leave believing they have had lovely food, with great service, that is also value for money. This applies across the board, from Michelin-star restaurants to ordinary, local cafés. Value for money, great service and great food do not have a place on a balance sheet; however, consistently providing them will ensure that food establishments retain a loyal customer base who will return again and again. – Yours, etc,
MARY CLARKE,
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Dublin 3.