02/09/2010 - Top restaurants charge £1 a minute
"Table-turning" policies are forcing people dining at top restaurants to spend more than £1 a minute for their meal, a survey by lastminute.com has found.
About 15% of leading restaurants admit that, at peak times, they insist on table-turning - the practice of asking diners to leave their table after a set time so that another group can take their places.
This means that customers are charged more than £1 for every minute they are at the table.
According to the survey, the most expensive on a per minute basis is Hakkasan in London, which charges £1.23 a minute for a £148 meal for two over two hours.
The second most costly restaurant is Midsummer House in Cambridge where customers have to pay £1.16 a minute for a £174 meal for two over 150 minutes.
Zuma and Hibiscus in London as well as Simpsons in Birmingham also charge more than £1 a minute.
With over half of diners finding the practice the most annoying, Lastminute.com spokesman Mark Bower said: "We're urging diners to check table-turning policies when booking and to negotiate just how much time they have for their meal to avoid feeling rushed."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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