You spot the prices, we ask the questions
Dick O'Rafferty from Dublin writes to complain about what he believes are excessive prices for food in a well-known pub and restaurant in Galway City. He and a group of friends went into the Quays on Quay Street recently "to get what we thought might be some good-value pub food". They ordered drinks and had a look at the menu.
"I don't know if it's possible to be collectively gobsmacked but we were. The prices were absolutely amazing, especially for main courses, all of which were just under or slightly over €20," he says.
The menu includes omelettes, cold meat platters and vegetarian quiches for €18.95, while the steak and seafood vol-au-vents cost €20.95. It was raining outside but O'Rafferty's group "decided that there was no way we should have to pay these prices for food served in a pub environment. So we left. I suppose we should have said something to the staff but it wasn't as if a mistake had been made with an order or the food was of poor quality. Presumably though they do get enough customers willing to shell out mad money like that."
When contacted, a spokesman for the Quays pointed out that the food part of the business was franchised out and was "independent from us in the sense of pricing".
PriceWatch then contacted Don Cullinane, the chef who runs the franchise in the pub. He said it was unfair to say his prices were excessively high and pointed out that the food was served in "a sit-down restaurant" which, he says, is located in a separate area of the pub. "It is a totally separate environment and it is totally set up as a restaurant. I wouldn't consider it expensive."
He pointed out the prices in the Quays hadn't gone up in two years and that all the main meals on his menu included portions of vegetables. He said his overheads were "colossal". "I think it is good value and I don't see how anyone can do it cheaper. It is a restaurant, it's not a pub," he reiterated, saying he was not aware of any complaints made about food prices in the Quays.
What's more . . .
Katie Roche from Dublin got in touch to alert readers to the cost of a glass of the house white wine in the Ice Bar in Dublin's Four Seasons hotel. She asked for a glass of wine, "anything but chardonnay", she says, and was alarmed to be charged €8.50. A spokesman for the hotel said that the cost of a glass of white wine in the Ice Bar starts at €6.25 but that one happens to be a chardonnay. The wine Roche chose was from a bottle of Weather Hills sauvignon blanc, which costs €34 per bottle in the bar and €8.50 for a glass. He said that it was good quality wine and that the price for both the bottle and the glass were carried clearly on the bar menu.
Air travellers will need to look hard to find value in Aer Rianta's so-called Travel Value shop in Dublin Airport, writes PriceWatch reader Kevin Cahalane. One litre of Glenfiddich Special Reserve 12-year-old single malt whisky will cost people travelling within the EU €51, he says. "The exact same bottle costs €30.20 in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and in a small seaside town called Moncofar about 50km north of Valencia, the 70cl bottle costs only €18.55! If one compares the price per cl, then Aer Rianta's prices are a whopping 88 per cent dearer than the local supermarket in Spain." It's not really Aer Rianta's fault, however. The duty-paid price of the whisky is €51 in Aer Rianta's shops in the airport but the duty-free price is just €26, meaning the tax man is taking €25 from each bottle of the Scotch sold.
Hats off to the Aston Deli on Dublin's Aston Quay which has been running an excellent promotion in recent weeks. Up to 11am each morning all coffees, no matter what size, are being sold for a single euro. It gets better. At lunchtime the deli is offering all its pre-packed sandwiches, also for a euro. When contacted earlier this week, a spokeswoman could not say how long the promotion would continue but confirmed that it would last at least until the end of next week.
