Fish & Chips

colsa · Senior Member

Fish & Chips

Nomad246 · Senior Member

That's a disgusting price for lunch, I take it the prices were not on the menu?

Happywanderer · The Master

Only ever been there once in Hervey Bay. Always wanted to go as did my daughter, 2 families went, cost a fortune and none of us were impressed or feel the need to go back again. Very overated and very expensive.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

WOW ..... You should have suggested you were not interesting in buying the restaurant - just wanting to pay for a meal biggrin

I would have asked for an apron and volunteered to wash dishes and the floor.

Your story prompted me to Google their menu - here is the seaford menu (fish & chips $24.50) -

http://www.hogsbreath.com.au/our-menu/spectacular-seafood

All prices seem to be on the "high" side I guess they won't see the inside of this ole tightwad's wallet

cheers - John

glassies · Guru

Graeme and i went but we went when they had the special at the time till the 31 st october was a bargain
Steak plus a whole lobster chips n salad i think it was like $ 36 per meal but as i say it did fill the plate
With a steak and lobster and was yummy but i dont think ide be impressed with your bill for fish n chips

gordon_adl · Senior Member

'I digres, it's a chain restaurant across all of australia. How could you be 'caught out'? Yes it's expensive, and probably not worth the price. Hogs breath is known for meat. I go to a steak house to order meat. Who goes to a seafood restaurant to order a steak? I say you made a mistake by not looking at the menu and prices. Your failure to look at prices was not their fault. You were not 'caught out'. Their prices are readily available on the menu. You made a mistake. There are plenty of other places that charge far more than that for fish. Just another example of laying blame on others and not taking responsibility for ones own actions.

colsa wrote:

We went to Hogs Breath for lunch the other day, Col has been wanting to go for ages so off we trot, found the menu very confusing so the couple next to us had a very nice looking meal asked them what it was, fish & chips we are told so ordered that.The meal was lovely fish chips a little salad, 2 softdrinks garlic bread & Col had a sundae when we went to pay imagine my suprise $79, had asked if they have senior or pensioner discount when we ordered but no was the reply, lets just say i should have asked the price when we ordered won't be caught like that again.

jimricho · Guru

I agree with Gordon.

While Hogs Breath is not a five star restaurant it is not a "greasy spoon" take-away either. Those prices aren't cheap but they're about normal for a full table service restaurant.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

What sort of fish I ask, GOLD fish????

brickies · Guru

When I buy fresh Fish it cost more than good red meat , Once a time fish was cheap not no more

Santa · Guru

Had an evening meal at HB in Mildura a few months back, how did I find it? expensive, ordinary quality, poor service.
What most impressed me about the place? the fact that I didn't have to wait for a seat when I walked in (read, the place was deserted) didn't take me long to work out why.

Never again.

PS Noticed a poster today, HB are doing a $10 lunch now, reality must be starting to bight.

-- Edited by Santa on Thursday 15th of November 2012 07:26:58 PM

aussietraveller · Guru

I think it would need a butler not just table service for me to even think about paying that much for fish and chips and then I would go elsewhere and look for realistic prices.

Duh · Guru

colsa wrote:
We went to Hogs Breath for lunch the other day, Col has been wanting to go for ages so off we trot, found the menu very confusing so the couple next to us had a very nice looking meal asked them what it was, fish & chips we are told so ordered that.The meal was lovely fish chips a little salad, 2 softdrinks garlic bread & Col had a sundae when we went to pay imagine my suprise $79, had asked if they have senior or pensioner discount when we ordered but no was the reply, lets just say i should have asked the price when we ordered won't be caught like that again.

I have never had a meal at a Hogs Breath, but I think I would have baulked at those prices too, I mean they are not exactly the Hilton from what I have seen from the outside. Sometimes these little extra's add up, so say two softdrinks at $5 each ($10), one garlic bread maybe $6, Sundae maybe $8 and Fish and Chips $15 each ($30) so I would probably think about $54, even raising the price of the Fish and Chips to $20 each (extra $5 each added to $15 each) still only $64, so seems a bit of a rip off to me at $79.

Anyone could assume the prices would be a bit lower than that compared to other prices around the Perth region, one pub dining room meal that is great for pensioners is the Lynwood Arms Hotel in the norther suburbs which have great fish and chips;

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/338/1713388/restaurant/Perth/Lynwood-Arms-Tavern-Langford

Sizzlers in WA great value for money too and I am sure there are others that offer good value for money, such as Fast Eddy's.

I sympathise with you and suggest you shop around on prices next time for places not too far from home and of course vote with your feet where Hogs Breath is concerned next time.

-- Edited by Duh on Thursday 15th of November 2012 08:19:28 PM

Cupie · Guru

gordon_adl wrote:
'I digres, it's a chain restaurant across all of australia. How could you be 'caught out'? Yes it's expensive, and probably not worth the price. Hogs breath is known for meat. I go to a steak house to order meat. Who goes to a seafood restaurant to order a steak? I say you made a mistake by not looking at the menu and prices. Your failure to look at prices was not their fault. You were not 'caught out'. Their prices are readily available on the menu. You made a mistake. There are plenty of other places that charge far more than that for fish. Just another example of laying blame on others and not taking responsibility for ones own actions.
colsa wrote:
We went to Hogs Breath for lunch the other day, Col has been wanting to go for ages so off we trot, found the menu very confusing so the couple next to us had a very nice looking meal asked them what it was, fish & chips we are told so ordered that.The meal was lovely fish chips a little salad, 2 softdrinks garlic bread & Col had a sundae when we went to pay imagine my suprise $79, had asked if they have senior or pensioner discount when we ordered but no was the reply, lets just say i should have asked the price when we ordered won't be caught like that again.

Gee you're a bit tough Gordon ...

gordon_adl · Senior Member

I agree. In rereading it, I didn't mean for it to be that harsh. I apologise for that.

There just seems to a fair bit of blaming everyone else rather than accepting ones own actions lately. Not just this web page, but seems like it's australia's new passtime. It's grating on me.

I still don't understand how someone orders something from a menu without looking at the prices first. Had poster just said meal was overpriced I would of agreed. Being 'caught out' to me implies being surprised. When I go out for tea, I look at the menu and prices before I order and then upon receiving the bill there are no surprises.

Happywanderer · The Master

Have to admit when I go out for a meal I look at the menu and order depending on the price.

In saying that you can go to a really nice fish restuarant on the river in Bundy and get a full fishermans basket for a bit over 20.00.
Just because Hogs Breath is known for their beef doesn't mean they should charge double for the fish.

Duh · Guru

Asked SWMBO to take a guess at what price those items might be without giving any other details other than the food/drink items, she came up with $82 total.......hmmmmm......maybe I've been going to McDonalds too often! confuse

Same price as you for the fish Brickies, assume we looked at the same menu;

http://www.hogsbreath.com.au/our-menu/spectacular-seafood

-- Edited by Duh on Thursday 15th of November 2012 10:06:40 PM

Gerty Dancer · Guru

We dont go our for dinner very often nowadays, seems anywhere nice is always expensive... well more expensive than we want to pay.
We've found a nice fish place where you can buy a fresh piece of barra or whatever you want for $7 each or less, and we bring it home and have it with home-made salad. Yum!

brickies · Guru

Agree 100 % Gerty we must remember has we get older prices always seem to be to high because of limited income dose not not mean we can't get fish and chips , We need to remove the labour cost with young one's on big money can afford to pay

justcruisin01 · Guru

We went to one of these restraunts yesterday for lunch, first time in years & just had the $9.95 smokey BBQ wrap with chips, absolutilty beautiful & very filling.

Will have another again one day.

JC.

03_troopy · Guru

I think Hogsbreath is more like a slightly up-market Macdonalds than a restaurant. Last time we went there were young kids serving and stuffing up orders all over the place and whinging kids to put up with as well. The meals weren't bad, but nothing to make a to-do about. And yes, for the type of restaurant, I didn't think they were great value. Reminds me of Sizzlers when it was still down here in Newcastle.

Cupie · Guru

IMHO it is just another of those fast food places that the Yanks call 'resturants'. In Australia they think that they can charge real resturant prices for their fast food product.

Since I passed in my expense account credit card (15 years ago), I have become a stingy bastard. I am very careful about the 'resturants' that I frequent & look closely at the menu before I enter or order. No nasty experiences for me!

Fortunately I live in an area awash with resturants of all origins & a very large overseas (eat out) student base to keep them in business. Easy to find one that meets our budget & taste without having to resort to the franchised USA ones.

ps. Must say that we love Starbucks when traveling overseas

brickies · Guru

Look at Hog Breath menu and Fish and Chips are $ 24 .50 , and they don't have Pork on the menu so why call it Hog Breath

deb-gary · Senior Member

gordon i dont agree that a lot of places charge more than $24.50 for fish and chips and colsa did agree that it was their mistake for not looking in 1st place.(we buy basa fillets from woolies and abt $5 for 2 fillets )

Happywanderer · The Master

Everytime I see the heading on this thread I get really hungry. Fish and Chips yummmmm!

Duh · Guru

deb-gary wrote:
(we buy basa fillets from woolies and abt $5 for 2 fillets )

A lot of fish and chips shops use Basa, and one Holiday Inn I went to used it also, suspect it was bought from Coles as it was on sale there.

See these links on Basa with different viewpoints, bear in mind some who knock basa have vested interests in promoting/selling their own fish;

http://www.theage.com.au/national/alarm-at-antibiotics-in-fish-imports-20120529-1zhfw.html

http://www.ourpatch.com.au/coffs-harbour/users/spida/blogs/2221-truth-about-basa

http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t45039743/basa-or-pangas-fish-warning/

jimricho · Guru

It must have really hurt to have to open up the purse to pay for a nice meal in a full table service restaurant! The clasp hadn't rusted closed had it? Did you find any old pennies and ha'pennies while it was open? wink

Nicholstones · Guru

I find it hard sometimes to work out what reasonable prices are. Find my mindset is stuck at what prices were when I first started buying things, and everything comes as a shock. So every now and then I try and do a 'reset' and update my thinking to whatever the current prices are. After all, when I was working I never had a problem adjusting my thoughts to expect whatever my salary had risen to over time!

rockylizard · Guru

jimricho wrote:
-SNIPP- a nice meal in a full table service restaurant! -SNIP-

Gday...

I really doubt you could call the Hog's Breath Cafe franchise a "full table service restaurant" ..... La Porchetta is the same, as an example .... neither is a what I would expect to consider a "full table service restaurant".

Cheers - John

Happywanderer · The Master

Have you ever been to a Hogs Breath Jimricho. No way is it a full table service restaurant. Its no more than a casual family dining restaurant.

jimricho · Guru

I haven't been to a HB Cafe for yonks but I seem to recall back then that the order was taken at the table and served to the table. Maybe that's changed in recent times and now one has to order and collect at a counter like in some pub/club bistros.