Does "too cheap" put you off?

[DaveyR]

Don't get me wrong I'm no snob when it comes to food but if something appears really cheap it makes me wonder why. Or at least it did.

A new Cuban restaurant opened in our village a few months back and I checked out the menu one day walking past. The prices were ridiculously cheap compared to everywhere else and that put me off. It set alarm bells ringing.

In the last few weeks lots of people have been talking about how good it is so we went with friends to check it out. Absolutely first class. :smile: Four excellent meals (no way could you eat it all) a few drinks and a couple of rounds of barraquitto coffees €43.00

Although tourism numbers are at there lowest ebb here with bars and restaurants really struggling you have to book well ahead for a table as the place is mobbed every night.

I've learnt my lesson about keeping an open mind on stuff like this. They obviously have a good business plan of which low price and margins is a part.

So back to my original question. Does or would "too cheap" put you off and why?

 

[Industrialsize]

Interesting question. I run a Bed and Breakfast and we try to keep our prices reasonable. One of the questions we get the most often is,"Why are your rooms so cheap?"

 

[vince]

How expensive can rice and black beans be?

 

[DaveyR]

How expensive can rice and black beans be?

So you think that's all Cuban food comprises?

 

[Ethyl]

Too cheap doesn't put me off if it's a new restaurant. They want business and the best business comes from word of mouth. If they offer inexpensive and tasty meals to woo customers, good for them I say. There's a Peruvian restaurant next door to my place of work and their food is outrageously good and their lunch specials are quite cheap. They make their own yummy salad dressings and sauces and won't divulge the secret when asked. Intelligent marketing, IMO.

 

[vince]

So you think that's all Cuban food comprises?

No man.. joking. I love it. There's a Cuban restaurant in Tampa that we use to drive all the way across the state for. I forget the name, but it's been there forever.

I'm not put off by cheap. Some of the best food around is done up in little hole in the wall places. Like "The Only" in Vancouver. Amazing seafood served up super fast in the heart of skidrow. Everyone sits at two big U-shaped counters and watches the cooks.

Or here where I live now, the best places to eat lunch are in the Saniye, or industrial zones. They have to make good, really cheap home style food. Lunch costs less than 5 dollars. Turkish cooking is very complex, yet you'll get some amazing food in the most unlikely places.

 

[DaveyR]

No man.. joking. I love it. There's a Cuban restaurant in Tampa that we use to drive all the way across the state for. I forget the name, but it's been there forever.

Well it's my first time eating Cuban food and I'm well impressed. :smile:

 

[D_Tim McGnaw]

See ,now normally I would agree that cheap can mean poorer quality, however that's not always true. One of the best restaurants I've ever eaten in, and I say this as a devoted foody, was one of the cheapest I've ever eaten in. It was in Bologna in Italy, a little place called Teatro Danio, it was extremely simple but extremely delicious and some of the sweetest service I've ever had anywhere. Their Mozzarella di Bufala was completely heavenly, and the home made ravioli and Lasagna al Forno was exquisite, and Bologna is the home of all those particular Italian delicacies so there's some pretty stiff competition. I think a meal for two of three courses ( their Cassata was out of this world ) and a bottle of wine came to like 50 euros, amazing.

 

[_avg_]

Must be a European thing... :wink:

 

[DaveyR]

Must be a European thing... :wink:

I think it's probably more because I live in a tourist resort rather than a European thing. I've had a lot of experiences here where cheap has meant cheap and nasty. Most of the population is transient and too many business owners seem to think that repeat custom doesn't matter too much here. Wrong - they need the residents too to keep afloat when the tourists are thin on the ground.

 

[Principessa]

In a restaurant or bar no; in a man, YES! When I saw the title of this post I thought you were referring to exceedingly frugal men. :redface: :biggrin1:

Back in New Jersey one of the best seafood places I know started out as a fish market on an inlet in Keyport. After a while they started serving fried and grilled seafood dinners at crazy, low prices. They don't have tables so you see people eating in their cars and sitting on the pilings in the parking lot eating out of polystyrene containers, with plastic utensils. They don't even sell cokes, you have to walk up the block to the sub shop, next to the post office to buy a soda. :biggrin1: The portions are so large I always have enough left over for lunch the next day. Three people can eat there for $40 or less depending upon what you order.

How good are they? I HATE driving in traffic, yet I will knowingly and willingly brave summertime Garden State Parkway traffic, on a Friday night just for the promise of one of their fried shrimp. :biggrin1: Yes, they are just that good.

 

[Principessa]

I think it's probably more because I live in a tourist resort rather than a European thing. I've had a lot of experiences here where cheap has meant cheap and nasty. Most of the population is transient and too many business owners seem to think that repeat custom doesn't matter too much here. Wrong - they need the residents too to keep afloat when the tourists are thin on the ground.

I understand that. The Jersey Shore definitely has it's share of cheap, tourist traps; as well as overpriced ones too. As a local you just have to sample them or depend upon word of mouth from other locals to find out what's good and what isn't. :redface:

 

[DaveyR]

I understand that. The Jersey Shore definitely has it's share of cheap, tourist traps; as well as overpriced ones too. As a local you just have to sample them or depend upon word of mouth from other locals to find out what's good and what isn't. :redface:

It's exactly the same here NJ :wink:

 

[luka82]

Well, I certainly don`t expect from a daddy to be cheap!!!!!:tongue:
( And I wonder when someone calls me a whore, LOOOOOOL)

 

[B_theOtherJJ]

I hate cheap, and always live by the old motto, "You GET what you pay for"...

Seems to usually hold true.

 

[Sergeant_Torpedo]

In the haute cuisine "trade" one charges 5 times the cost of the ingredients. That is too much, Gordom Ramsey! Least the recession will clear our high street (but not our tv screens) of poncy untalented egocentric gastrotwats.

And for those wimps and pretensious "men" who daren't tip less than 30%, may I ask what are you doing in a restaurant that is so exploitative of its underpaid staff? And so contemptible of its clients.

 

[vince]

Well there's cheap, and there's inexpensive. There can be a world of difference.

Same as quality doesn't necessarily mean expensive.

I've eaten lots of very average, ho-hum meals at quite expensive restaurants. That's why it's such a treat to find great food and friendly service in unexpected places.

 

[Viking_UK]

Some of the cheapest restaurants I've eaten in have turned out to be among the best, like a little family-run taverna in Paelokastritsa where Granny did the cooking, Mum did front of house and the sons were the waiters. Went there once halfway through the holiday and ate there every night afterwards till we came home.

 

[SilverTrain]

See ,now normally I would agree that cheap can mean poorer quality, however that's not always true. One of the best restaurants I've ever eaten in, and I say this as a devoted foody, was one of the cheapest I've ever eaten in. It was in Bologna in Italy, a little place called Teatro Danio, it was extremely simple but extremely delicious and some of the sweetest service I've ever had anywhere. Their Mozzarella di Bufala was completely heavenly, and the home made ravioli and Lasagna al Forno was exquisite, and Bologna is the home of all those particular Italian delicacies so there's some pretty stiff competition. I think a meal for two of three courses ( their Cassata was out of this world ) and a bottle of wine came to like 50 euros, amazing.

I've had similar experiences. As a general rule, one gets what one pays for. But there are exceptions, i.e., "cheap" restaurants that blow the doors off other places that charge five times more. This is why it's fun to hunt out new "finds".

 

[whatireallywant]

No man.. joking. I love it. There's a Cuban restaurant in Tampa that we use to drive all the way across the state for. I forget the name, but it's been there forever.

I'm not put off by cheap. Some of the best food around is done up in little hole in the wall places. Like "The Only" in Vancouver. Amazing seafood served up super fast in the heart of skidrow. Everyone sits at two big U-shaped counters and watches the cooks.

Or here where I live now, the best places to eat lunch are in the Saniye, or industrial zones. They have to make good, really cheap home style food. Lunch costs less than 5 dollars. Turkish cooking is very complex, yet you'll get some amazing food in the most unlikely places.

Me too. I love the little hole in the wall places! Plus I'm on a super tight budget so these places are best for that anyway. And I generally prefer the Mom & Pop kind of restaurants to the national and international chains, although I eat at all of the above. Partly why I prefer the Mom & Pop places though is that I don't like how chains have taken over everything and every place you go is so homogenized. I like local differences in places I visit!

And I've eaten really good food in cheap (inexpensive?) places, and bad food at rather expensive places, so price doesn't really mean all that much. (I've also had bad cheap food and good expensive food so there you go - you never really know until you try the place!)