Lunched at QH today. I have to report that things haven't altered all that much from last years disappointing experience.
One good thing though - I noticed they now have a (cheaper) lunch menu on. I was very interested to see that they now offer the following Pub Grub at lunch time only:
Lamb Shanks $12
Chicken Schnitzel $10
Rissoles $10
Crumbed Scallops $ 12
Irish Stew $10
Rump Steak $11
Flounder Fillet $12
Seasonal veg or salad extra on all above for additional $2.50
Spagetti Bolognese $10
Meat Lasagne $10
Ham Steak $10
Sausage, eggs & chips $10
Roast Pork or Lamb vegs/gravy $12
As you all would know from reading these blogs, costs are rising daily so I see this as a smart way to attract the punters. The above menu and prices are ones you just can't argue with - if you're not fussy about the quality or origins of your food/meals.
I had a Caesar Salad. It was priced at $10.50, and was a standard pub Caesar complete with anchovies, poached egg, (gritty) cos lettuce, parmesan, croutons, and bacon. No big deal. I felt like a salad, and that was what I got.
The service was mega slow and some of the meals for our table of 14 weren't what was ordered when they eventually came out. Most people were only moderately happy with their meals. It really didn't have anything to attract me to return. So sad.
And another gripe - what's the deal with $4 for a yummy chokky brownie at Kaos, but stinging me an extra $2 for one scoop of ice cream? The brownie was BEEWDIFUL. I'd have paid $6 just for the brownie on its own. But I struggle to see where the costing of $2 for a scoop of vanilla ice cream was justified. They didn't have to do much else apart from pick up the scoop, expend the energy on filling scoop with ice cream, and emptying ice cream-filled scoop onto brownie. Fair suck of the sausage! NOT!
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
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28 comments:
You're right on with those prices, Rita, they should bring people in.
NOW, about ice cream, Rita....was it just A Nonymouse ice cream or a nice scoop?
The ice cream thing is worthy of a whole Rita piece.
I like that stuff from down the Huon, the organic suff I can't remember the name of, and Valhalla etc.
What do the ice cream lovers think? Vanilla is the level-setter.
Got to say Valhalla vanilla bean is quit a nice scoop.
On the costings front then it depends on the size of the scoop in question.
On an earlier piece discussed in blogging when the question of mark up was considered, the general consensus was that many restaurants use the 60% mark up. If a scoop of valhalla is at cost 70c to serve, then $2 would be in keeping with this.
On the other hand a serving of extra toast, mushrooms or egg with your breakfast at $2 is a considerably higher mark up, but is perhaps not percieved as excessive.
Maybe as Rita suggests, the cost should be covered by a higher brownie cost to disguise this. Although on reflection, they would have to really sell me the benefits of a $6 brownie in order to convince me before hand that it was worth it.
I recently paid $8 for a small ramekin of chocolate mousse. But as they said 75% lindt chocolate etc, I could see the reason why it was going to be better than those normally crap mousses you often get. And yes it was deliciously light and utterly decadent.
Cartouche.
Oh by the way, generally if I see a Peters or streets sign, I don't bother with that Airated shit. I love the smaller independents. If any of you ever get the chance to hold a tub of Valhalla, next to a tub of Peters you will notice how much more dense the Valhalla is, not full of air, full of ice cream instead, absolutely more bang for your buck, and its Tasmanian.
Interesting points gentlemen. You're right about the ice cream issue, Sir G. I have to say I'm not the world's biggest ice cream fan, but am the world's biggest sucker for an ice cream that is mega-sweet with bits of butterscotch in it!
I don't really like Valhalla, but it's way better than, as Cartouche says, Peters or Streets - and as he also says, it's Tasmanian.
I don't know if it was Valhalla, or not, sorry. And I'm glad you got the message that it definitely wasn't the $6 owed that I was moaning about, because the brownie definitely worked and was fabulous.
Hey Cartouche, arithmatic is not my strong point, but if i remember some of my primary school lessons, then a 60% mark up on 70 cents is more like a final amount of $1.12 (rounding up to $1.20 might be fair enough, but rounding up to $2 would be a bit steep. I would be as indignant as Rita, unless of course the icecream was one of those really sublime items that costs way more than 70c per scoop.
Susannh
oops - looks as if typing/spelling is not my strong point either. I meant to refer to my "arithmEtical" weaknesses!
Susannah
Iusd wrry abot my spling 2 Susnah, then smonee pinted owt it ws me tiepin.
Ok Rita
What do you see as a fair price for the ice cream ... remember staff cost,electricity,washing up,delivery charges,depreciation on plant and equipment,rates,landtax advertising,rent,repairs,toilet paper... the list goes on.
You loved the Kaos made brownie at $4 why complain about the icecream charge - if you are happy to pay $6 for the brownie but get it for $4 then you got a bargain - don't fall into the trap of slamming a place because you don't understand how the markup is worked out. When we cost out an item we sometimes happily accept a reduced margin for lots of reasons - maybe the brownie is a loss leader cos we know that you will order a coffee and a scoop of icecream - so we manage to get the average spend per person up a little - we make far more money on the second coffee than the first, thats why the waiter hassles you to order another one... The brownie will draw you back to kaos to spend more money on diffrent things. In previous posts you complain about small out of town places not likely to survive unless we support them .. how about the places in town ... we all struggle against the odds to pay the bills. We collectively need to moan about the the things that matter - you ate a Caesar Salad - did you ask if the eggs where free range ? was the bacon free range. did the chef get the mayo out of a bottle - did the lamb shanks come in a snip and serve cryo pack pre cooked - the chef only has to pre heat and serve - are they australian lamb shanks, was the seafood imported from egypt???
Ask you self is it any better because its cheap ??? = NO
How bloody stupid moaning about a $2 scoop of icecream. Debate the things that really matter.
I don't own or work for Ann at Kaos.
Cool Room
WOOHOO someone standing up for us ..the ones who have to charge more for the little stuff coz some of you (not you rita) dont give us enough support!! thanks coolroom for maybe making some other things that people didnt know come into the frontline!!
Standing up for myself and my business ... and maybe just making a difference in this town.
Unless people think past the item cost and actually think about the quality of the food item ...we are all doomed to eat the pre cooked snip and serve bags like those used in hogs breath - cooked in a factory and re heated and served to you here in hobart or Singapore and tasting just the same. Don't you believe it ... places in Hobart use the lamb shanks in cryo packs - they don't even need to be refrigerated until opened, great use by dates as well.
No we don't use them nor would we consider doing so.
If more people questioned the supply and quality of the food we wouldn't see stuff like this on menu.
$2 for a scoop of icecream ???
Focus on what is important.
Back to defrosting the freezer.
Cool Room
God, Cruel Room, talk about losing your cool!
Rita should be the last person to feel your blast. She and Gobbler are the two blogging away and reminding us of what's out there and the costs of day-to-day business in the food game.
What I took as a casual observation on the price of the ice cream you took as a red rag to a bull.
Touchy, touchy.
I don't think $2 is a lot. But objectively you could say that when a tub of said stuff retails for $5 to $6 it seems a lot then.
Come on old boy, don't bite the hand that feeds you. No ice cream for you today.
Grump .. come on ... milk retails for around $4 for 2 litre and a coffee cost $3.5 a latte ... so by your accounts it seems a lot to charge for so little milk.
Think about how we can improve the food quality in this town. Bag the bad and bland by all means but leave the trivial stuff in doesn't further the cause ... it muddies the finger bowl.
I'm cool - the temperature isn't rising in the cool room.
Sorry susannah, maths is not my strong point, perhaps I meant two thirds plus of the unit cost, or twice the cost, or 30% of the total charged is its original unit cost.
Costing is an emotive subject it would appear for both the consumer and the business operator. Just remember that in order for the wheels of industry to keep turning and for people to earn a decent wage, costings need to be realistic not necessarily understood by all.
Cartouche
I get the stuff about the upcharging, but if the icecream was a relation to the totally divine icecream that I ate on the peppermint bay trip it would have been worth at least $3.00 ..or $4.00 for a scoop.
Can anyone help with the brand.
Rita..that food was seriously too cheap. If it was ok, and they are making money from other sources fine. I tasted a friend's caeser at a previously good place in the loveliest location recently. It was ghastly!! My own food (my food memory automatically deletes bad food...some kind of seafood from a box, I think) was disgusting. We were overlooking the pacific ocean, about 4 kms from a good fishmonger. Not blogging at the moment..TFB and a little gutted by the lack of response.
Whew! Rita goes to bed early last night and look what happens when she's sound asleep!
Cool Room - you are, as usual, loyally getting stuck in there. You ask what I would consider a fair price for the ice cream? You mentioned staffing, power, plant depreciation etc etc. Hadn't all those costs already been factored into the brownie cost? Or do you cost stuff out individually, so that the brownie becomes:
flour + staffing, power, plant depreciation etc; eggs + staffing, power, plant depreciation etc; butter + staffing, power, plant depreciation etc
You get my point?
Regarding the QH food and my Caesar - I think I said in the post that nearly all at the table were only moderately happy with their food. I would say they were a very average cross-section of society in regard to eating-out.
If that many people weren't raving about the food, I am a reasonable enough judge of mankind that I can tell when someone LOVES something or is feeling mediocre about it, and this lot very definitely weren't standing on the chairs at Queens Head doing the slow clap for the chef to be bought out and applauded!
My Caesar was simply a mixture of the ingredients. I love Caesars. I make them for myself often. I can make an average one (like at QH) or I can make a splendid one which actually tastes like maybe (may I be so bold as to say?) Paul Foreman made it!
Yes, it was a complaint, but more along the lines of a question - I believe my actual words were: what's the deal with Kaos charging me $2 extra for the ice cream... etc
I actually love Kaos. This is a blog. I have taken on board that I'm mostly a 'fence-sitter' on many issues! I have just proven that if I genuinely "speak" on the blog like I would to you in real life, I get castigated for asking a question!
I love it that you care enough to respond. I love it that you are passionate about your industry.
Sir Grumpy is correct in his comment in my defence. It WAS merely a casual observation. And don't I spend most of my time here on the blog exhorting everyone to query the provenance of their food, and to keep patronising the outer area cafes etc?
I think you have lost perspective on this particular issue.
We DO debate many larger issues here. You yourself were the main debater on the 'crisis in Hobart hospitality' issue a while back - for which I was extremely grateful.
Yes - this was one of the lighter subjects in regard to substance, but if it raised the question in my mind, why shouldn't I ask the question here?
If Anne wanted to respond, I would love her to. That's what blogging is about. Go back to the Cool Room and chill out for a minute. Please don't storm out in rage.
And no, I didn't ask about the eggs or bacon or mayo history. I didn't need to, at their price. You mentioned all the additional costs that need to be factored in to an item so obviously you yourself also know that there's no way QH could put any of those items on the menu for such a cheap price whithout them being of the most cheap and basic origins.
That was my point! (AND, BTW, all those cheap lunch menu items were served with either mash or chips).
What I was basically saying was that it's a great idea to put the cheap stuff on the menu to draw in the public, at a time when we're all tightening our belts financially because of this recession we get told about every day on the news. BUT - what does that say about the food quality there?
You were actually agreeing with what I didn't actually voice!
I'm trying to move between lighter and more heavy subjects for discussion here. I think I've been way too serious of late.
Want to debate that?
Cool, I have never had a latte....so wouldn't know how much milk was in it!
Yes, someone who hasn't had a latte....I'm not a coffee liker (medicinal only).
And I think it sounds too girly for me...``OOH, thanks big boy, fetch me a latte. there's a dear''.
Nah, can't happen.
I am being a bit obtuse, but you were being sillier than me!
I know the amount of milk in a coffee bears no main relationaship to the finished product. The other things are way more expensive anyway.
But I don't think $2 is too much for a scoop....the only reason I waded in was that it was a minor observation by Rita and you were far too acid in response.
we all have bad days.
Just remember the old Chinese proverb:
``In the midst of great joy do not promise to give a man anything.
In the midst of great anger, do neot answer a man's letter.'' (Or a nice blogger's blog!).
Anyway I'll have a boysenberry ripple in one of the good cones. Ta. Fuck Me, $3 for this.....come on
Sir Grumpy - you have me laughing every time! Certainly NOT "Sir Grumpy full of latte anyway"!
I'm giggling now thinking of the mind picture of you telling the waiter, "OOH, thanks big boy, fetch me a latte, there's a dear"!!!
Come on Cool Room - let's kiss and make up, eh?
I shouldn't have responded to your comment. I should have just left it. And now Gobbler will call me and tell me off for it when he gets back and reads this!
I'm in DEEP SHIT now!
Sir G - can you shout me a boysenberry ripple too please?
Too expensive, Rita....there's a scoop going for $2 but at Cool Room's.
Rita - et al.
The point of my gripe was that their are far more pressing culinary injustices taking place in this town - We can add a couple of bucks to the price of a dish just by choosing verbose language (like that used by Grump) but does it improve the taste of the food (or Sir Grump). I suggest not. All I ask is that customers question the quality of the product they consume.
Don't let "them" get away with substandard food - return it or get your money back. If it's a reasoned complaint you have the moral high ground.
If more people seek dishes with quality ingredients then more places will serve such fare.
Ask Luke and Katrina, George Foreman etc...
Cheap food can be quality and taste good too.
Lets not get bogged down with $2 icream charges.
And Grump - the milk in the Latte is the single biggest ingredient cost of a cup of coffee (takeaway cup excluded)
Rita its health to disagree and I guess we will in the future as well. But I enjoy reading your Blog - I don't always agree with things posted but like anyone else I have my particular hobby horses and like riding them long and hard, but not often lately.
Oh ...and can I have some ripple too?
My rant is finished.
Cool Room
Looks like Sir G isn't cominmg to the party with his shout! I'll have to resort to snacking on the Easter Egg I bought for him!
Happy Easter to you too Cool Room.
PS Sir G - the venue I alluded to last week which is closing down is Seafood de Mayne. Owner (Travis) said I could mention it on the blog after Thursday (yesterday). So sad about that. I know it was one of your favourite places.
Bugger...I did, do, love that place.
Seems Cool Room is still the only one hung up about us and dairy prices. I think he must be blind or have tunnel vision not to notice all the other topics on your and Gobbler's blog.
They ``deal'' with those ``far more pressing'' items almost day in, day out Cool Room.
Shut the door mate and sit inside for half an hour, there's a chap.
The world isn't out to get you...it's out to get me. I know because the little voice inside me head keeps telling me so.
grumpy you are a sad little creature........
Sir G - you are definitely NOT a sad little creature!
Thanks, Rita, I ain't sad and I certainly am not little. But I can take it on the chin when I deserve it.
Wow! That was great! Hope trainers for Rita, Cool Room and Sir Grumpy have been able to stem the bleeding-a good dousing with cold water and back into the ring, please!
On that point about sending back inferior food, I strongly agree. I know some genteel folk who are capable of smiling and indicating approval when asked by waiting staff to comment on their dish, only to complain bitterly on leaving the restaurant and promising never to return. When I comment that perhaps their response was inappropriate, they tell me it would be rude to complain. A case in point - I ate at Flathead on Tuesday night last. This place is a favourite with me. My friend and I decided on the dessert special, bombe Alaska, to finish the meal. It had been partly thawed in a microwave and the cake base was still hard and dry. We politely sent it back and received a good natured thank you for alerting them and deletion of the item from the bill. The food otherwise was excellent and we shall return.
See how excited you get when there's the promise of a dust-up here, Anon2?
Seriously - re your Flathead experience, what you explain they did there when you 'complained' was great. That's the way one would hope every establishment would deal with an issue like that. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen like that.
Hope you are having a lovely Easter.
Hey Fool-room did you mean to say Paul Foreman or George Foreman?
I didn't know the former boxer & health-grill spruiker was cooking at Marque iv.
Oh & let Rita decide what she wants to discuss on her blog & have a Bex and a lie down, theres a good chappie.
Hi Anon 9.16. Yes, I noticed Cool got his George and Paul a bit mixed up, but we knew what he meant!
Hopefully he's had a lie down and is still checking in to make sure I tow the line! He makes some very good points and I'd hate to loose him.
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