Asking for the bill in a restaurant and paying up to 72.5 euros for a bottle of water? “Crazy” prices raise suspicions in London

Pay up to 60 pounds (around 72.5 euros) for a bottle of water? It is happening in some of the most sophisticated restaurants in London, which industry experts considered “crazy”, according to ‘The Independent’ this Tuesday.

Londoners usually pay around 8.18 euros for a bottle of water when they eat out – however, according to the British publication, prices can reach almost 10 times more. If it’s no secret that the restaurant sector makes a large part of its profits through drinks, the rising cost of bottled water has raised suspicions. According to some experts, the tendency of Gen Z and Millennials to drink less alcohol has contributed to the exorbitant prices of non-alcoholic drinks.

According to Victor Garvey, chef-patron of the Sola restaurant in Soho (with one Michelin star), a bottle of premium Hallstein water costs 25.7, minus the restaurant’s 20% service charge. “We give options. We understand that people may want to spend more than a thousand euros per head and this is absolutely normal. But you can also dine here for less than 120 euros per head. Our normal water costs from 5.8 euros, with or without gas, but our water is also very expensive.”

“It’s no joke, it’s a limited production from a natural source in Austria,” continued the chef. “That said, we also offer filtered tap water if customers don’t want a bottle. And that’s free. So there are three price points that anyone would be happy with.”

However, food critic Giles Coren highlighted that charging high prices for what he considered to be a fundamental human right was an attempt “to condition people”. The critic, who usually gives restaurants a zero rating for sustainability if they don’t offer tap water before bottled water, said that those responsible “get very upset with me”. “They tell me, ‘This is how we make our money’ – water profit. It shouldn’t be the pricing model for a restaurant.”

“You shouldn’t try to condition people with the price of water. It is a fundamental human right. It’s crazy, and in some ways the people who buy them deserve everything they get,” he pointed out.

“People say things like, ‘Oh, it was filtered through a million layers of volcanic rock like billions of years ago,” Coren said. “That’s what water is. It was rain, it fell to the ground, was filtered by the stones due to gravity and then placed in a bottle. It’s all sh*t.”

Another problem is that bottled water doesn’t always appear on food and drink menus, meaning customers often have no idea how much they’re shelling out until the bill arrives at the end of the meal. “It’s a way to make money,” explained an employee in the hotel sector. “It’s just a strategy. The first thing we ask is ‘with or without gas?’”, he stressed.

According to a UK hospitality industry spokesperson, free tap water should always be available, even in expensive establishments. “Essentially, restaurants (and other hospitality venues) are under no obligation to list all items available to order; in fact, there are often items available to order that are not on the menu and this may include water,” he said. However, “restaurants are required to provide free tap water to customers.”