When budget doesn’t mean budget!

by Rachel Robson on 17 August 2009  |  7 comments
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I always used to think the Little Chef was a place you visited when you wanted a quick and cheap bite to eat. However, last weekend I discovered my assumption was completely wrong.

Call me stupid but I always used to think that the Little Chef was a place you visited on your travels when you wanted a quick and cheap bite to eat.

However, last weekend I discovered my assumption was completely wrong.

I was staying in a Travelodge and the only nearby place for breakfast was a Little Chef. I hadn't been to a Little Chef for years, so thought it might be fun to do some reminiscing from my childhood. And anyway, at least it wouldn't break the bank - or so I thought.

But when I went to pay I nearly had a heart attack. For just two people, breakfast came to a whopping £18!

Now I wouldn't say we had a tiny breakfast, but it wasn't exactly huge either. Here's the break-down of what we had:

1 scrambled egg on toast

1 portion of toast and preserve

1 portion of pancakes

1 coffee

1 tea

2 apple juices

So how exactly did this little lot come to £18? Well, for a start, it didn't help that we asked for a black coffee and got a cafetiere instead. At first I thought this was rather nice, until I realised when I was paying that that little cafetiere had cost £2.65!

Meanwhile, the apple juice cost a very pricey £1.99 each!

And don't even get me started on the portion sizes. There was certainly nowhere near enough scrambled egg to cover my toast - in fact it was the tiniest amount of egg I have ever seen - definitely not worth the £3.99 I paid for it. And then we had to ask for the preserve that was supposed to come with the toast - and guess how much we got? One teeny tiny plastic pot - enough to cover half a slice of toast. If I am paying £2.20 for toast and preserve I'd expect at least two pots of jam! Surely that's not too much to ask?

Anyway, it made me realise that the Little Chef certainly isn't the 'budget' restaurant I thought it was. So if you're going to try to save money by staying in a budget hotel such as a Travelodge, you're better off either bringing your own breakfast with you (or simply going self-catering), or paying a tad more for a slightly pricier hotel and getting your breakfast thrown into the bargain!

And if you're looking for a spot of lunch or dinner you'd be better off finding a local pub or restaurant!

So I guess what I am trying to say is don't be fooled into thinking 'budget' locations are always going to save you money. Because having paid out £18 for breakfast for two, it's pretty clear that budget doesn't always mean budget!