Expensive meals out

maples180

Hi all

I'm just back from Italy as my younger brother's girlfriend is italian and they invited me there in the north of italy for two weeks. I find now very hard going out again for meals in Ireland with our outrageous prices.

I was hanging out with her brother who speaks very good english most of the times and he brought me out with his friends two nights for meals and drinks

We went to a few of these spotless, beutifully kept rural restaurants called aggriturismo, where normally only local people go and stayed all evening. From 8 in the evening until midnight eating and drinking. I was with him and about 10 of his friends. It was a funny night...seeing 11 male friends out for a meal and it wasn't a stag party (-: The price was fixed at around 30 euros! Wine included! One night we had a 6 course meal, with a lot of wine. We must have had at least 10 bottles or more of really good wine among us all. I was stuffed after the 3 courses but everyone else had 5 or all the 6 big courses. Then in the end they brought all these locally produced spirits called grappas and another made with lemon. The waitress just came and dropped a few bottels on the table and brought the frozen glasses.

Still when we left half locked, I couldn't believe the price was just 29 euros per head for everything or the full evening.The week after we went to a similar place for 32 euros.

My brother's girlfriend told me then that rural areas in Italy are quite cheap. She told me that problably the same meal in a standard restaurant in a big city in Italy would have been double the price or more. But here in Ireland is not the same. I'm myslef from a rural part of Mayo although I live in Dublin and don't find a huge difference between Westport, Castlebar and Dublin. Restaurants there are maybe 10% cheaper than Dublin more. The same 6 course meal with all the drinks we had in Italy, in Ireland would have cost at least 120 euros per head rather than 29. I don't believe we will ever have wine included in a fixed price restaurant (-:

She also told me anyway that wages in italy are less that the irish wages in general and people would not be prepared to spend too much money eating and drinking out. I can take that but I don't believe italian wages are 25% the irish wages ??? the meals are anyway....

Maples180

Faith

Eh... not to be rude, but what's your point?

Is it just a general complaint that Ireland is more expensive that Italy?

dudara

I won't get involved in the argument of why things are so expensive in Ireland. But your post did bring something to mind for me.

I'm from rural Cork, but live in Dublin. It's really annoying when I go for meals at home that cost a fair bit of cash, often more expensive than an equivalent meal in Dublin. And it's the same in a lot of rural villages/towns all over the country. Meals can be quite pricey.