Tonight:
5°c
French cut the cost of eating out
Ed Harris28 Apr 2009
French ministers were today holding talks with restaurant industry chiefs on plans to cut VAT in a campaign to lower the cost of eating out.
Diners can hope for a cheaper meal if restaurants agree to reduce VAT for customers from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent from 1 July - reducing the cost of a typical plat du jour by 10 per cent.
It would make eating out in France easier for Britons, who have been hit by the strong euro. The pound has slumped by 30 per cent against the currency in 18 months.
Tourism minister Hervé Novelli and economy minister Christine Lagarde met leading chefs today.
The government has put pressure on restaurateurs to make a list of a dozen everyday items that will benefit from the cut.
Mr Novelli said: "A customer should be able to order a meal entirely subject to the full VAT reduction."
Reader views (19)
Daniel - I don't know where you're eating out in London but thanks to the Internet and places like Top Table you can get fantastic value for money in London nowadays - I've eaten in some great places at very little cost - if you're happy to do a late booking. The only people who think London is prohibitively expensive are those who don't live here and do not know where to look for a great bargin!
- Stephen, London, 29/04/2009 10:22
Report abuse
It won't get passed on.
I went to Paris once, an almost forgetable experience. After looking around for something I could afford to eat I came across this back street newsagent/mini supermarket.
Finding this big packet of cheese and onion crinkly crisps for 7 Francs, I then spied another one, same brand, except it was 10% bigger and said 10% free.
Putting the packet on the counter the shopkeepers said,
"Seven Francs, Seventy Centimes".
I saved my breath, putting the packet back on the shelf as I walked out.
The VAT 'saving' will NOT be passed on, that is for certain.
I bet you Seven Francs, Seventy Centimes on that!.
- Tim Rathbone, Milton Keynes, UK., 29/04/2009 10:09
Report abuse
One of my daughters was a dancer at the lido years ago; and when I visited her; we ate at the restaurants the French ate at; avoiding the tourist joints.
I can’t say I liked their food much; I prefer Italian myself; but the toilets were good fun; one large hole in the middle of the room; where you had to fight for your life to stop yourself falling into the hole in the middle.
That was easily remedied; we ate in the French Restaurants; and used McDonalds toilets.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 28/04/2009 17:48
Report abuse
Well I all hope that you will agree on this one: I bet anyone a Penny if any restaurant in France brings its prices down by 1 cent !
- Terry. B, Toulouse, France, 28/04/2009 16:39
Report abuse
Poor Mikey, no idea where you have spent all your time in France but as a compatriote living in london and loving it, I really have to say that when it comes to value-for-money, France offers the better alternative. Agreed, some restaurants in France are not good and some in London are excellent but all you have to do in France is avoid the bad ones. Unfortunately, here in London you cannot avoid expensive restaurants, they all are!
- Daniel, London, 28/04/2009 15:40
Report abuse
oups Mickey: did I say I had been living in France for 51 or 59 years, I can't remember...its 59 years of course.
- Terry. B, Toulouse, France, 28/04/2009 15:38
Report abuse
Oh Mickey ! I'm French, born in Biarritz and am 61 yrs old...okay I did go to school in the UK for a few years (to learn English of course)from when I was 8 until I was 10 ! I currently drive some 50 000 kilometers per year in France. But arrogance is not my style..I like English, real English food...which is very difficult to find in England ! Last time I tried to find a steak and kidney pie....impossible ! You lost on the two year stint living in France ! I' now lived here for 59 years !
I see Escobar got the wrong meaning too from what you wrote: he also tells you to leave the 'toll roads'
- Terry. B, Toulouse, France, 28/04/2009 15:36
Report abuse
I'm all for that let them introduce it over here...those cheese eating surrender monkeys have got it right for once.
- Rosie, watford, 28/04/2009 14:33
Report abuse
Hey Mikey, thank you for letting me off lightly! 
- Marianne, SW France, 28/04/2009 13:29
Report abuse
...should have added, even when taking into account the dire exchange rate, holidaying and eating out in France (that is France the country, not Paris the capital city), is still far better value for money than in the UK.
I would suggest to Mikey you stay off the toll roads, take a bit more time and enjoy your journey through France on your way to the "English Pubs" and "Full English Breakfasts" of the Costas.
- Escobar-Alop-Lop, Camden County, 28/04/2009 12:48
Report abuse
But didn't they say that cutting VAT was a silly idea when our gov did it.
Oh, silly when they think it's no use for them, now they must think it's a brilliant idea if it can help their catering industries 
- Nabil H, London, UK, 28/04/2009 12:42
Report abuse
Marianne, ça va pas, non?
By air, or by ferry to Bilbao or Santander - cutting out 700miles of expensive French petrol and tolls, and pretty mediocre French hotels and restaurants! But admittedly missing out on some lovely countryside.
Bébête!
- Mikey (French And Uk Taxpayer!), Guildford, 28/04/2009 12:38
Report abuse
"Mikey, I'm sitting here looking at a map of Europe scratching my head .... how do you get to Spain WITHOUT passing through France?"
Brittany Ferries?
Marianne, SW France
- Escobar-Alop-Lop, Camden County, 28/04/2009 12:25
Report abuse
Terry in Toulouse - what arrogant assumption!
FYI I lived in Paris for years, my family is French, I know the French country probably far better than you do, having travelled all over virtually every region over many many years much of it for my French company.
I always used to drive cross country very little on a motorway, staying in small auberges and eating in "cheap" (for France) cafes and restaurants.
Things HAVE changed over the last 25 years. Standards are lower, prices are higher, and the Euro makes it worse, and the French have become much less welcoming. There is a huge preponderance of manufactured meals served up in the vast majority of hotels, and it has become really VERY difficult to find a genuine restaurant where everything is cooked on site and of high quality. And yes you can find it occasionally, but when you do, sadly it is generally very expensive. Yes there are the odd gems hidden away which folk like me tend to keep quiet about, hoping that they don't become too well known. But they are the exception, NOT the norm.
You almost certainly know less about France than I do, but you obviously think because you currently live there, (probably for a year or two?) you are an expert.
Desole, mon ami.
You make yourself look very foolish.
- Mikey, Guildford, 28/04/2009 12:08
Report abuse
Mikey, I'm sitting here looking at a map of Europe scratching my head .... how do you get to Spain WITHOUT passing through France?
Terry, it's even cheaper up my way: 11 euros (10 pounds) for some very good fare at most village restaurants - including wine!
- Marianne (Uk National And Tax-Payer), SW France, 28/04/2009 11:45
Report abuse
Mikey and Frank !! Here come the comments from France: Frank restaurants even with 19.6% VAT are 4 times cheaper in France than in England.
Mikey : Obviously you never left the Motor Way....any very good restaurant 5 miles off any Motor way in France is £14 (VAT included at 19.6%. Next time you drive through France drop me an e-mail and tell me whereabouts you will be around meal time and I will tell you wher to eat !
- Terry. B, Toulouse, France, 28/04/2009 11:13
Report abuse
Silly boy Frank - you should get out more ! Going to a French restaurant is always a joy, the service is excellent, food wonderful and the price almost half of what restaurants in London charge.
How sensible of the French to scrap VAT to encourage people to keep the restaurant trade going - much better idea than Gordon Brown's recent stupidity where VAT is concerned.
- Kathy Doyle, London - England, 28/04/2009 10:30
Report abuse
I used to drive regularly to Spain via France. I loved the drive through France. But for 2 years now I have cut France out of the journey. You can eat excellent set meals in Spain for as little as half the price of France.
France has become too expensive, and it is no surprise if their tourist sector is hurting.
And many modest hotels have become a bit scruffy and complacent.
They need to try harder!!
- Mikey, Guildford, 28/04/2009 10:18
Report abuse
So they will only charge twice the price instead of three times the price!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 28/04/2009 09:32
Report abuse
