This issue has become a divisive one in culinary circles over recent years but officially, from April 2010, restaurants and pubs in England and Wales have to provide diners with tap water when requested,and at no charge. One would have expected that a glass of tap water would not be a problem for a restaurant to provide – diners generally purchase bottles of wine, glasses of beer and spirits with a meal – and unless you are particular about the type of water you drink you would be happy with a sample of the same H2O that the chef is washing your seafood in and using to boil your vegies in as well.
This is where I have a problem with the excuse given to many diners, that they cannot have a glass of tap water due to ‘health and safety reasons’. Right, so you cannot have the tap water to drink…but them in the kitchen are using it to cook with.
In France a carafe of tap water is commonplace on your table and is even topped up – if you want speciality H2O you order fizzy mineral or still water and pay accordingly. Fair enough. Here in Northern Ireland, and as far as I have experienced in the Republic of Ireland, diners wont have a problem getting a glass of tap water however in England and Wales the law will be behind you if some restaurant manager or waiter/ress gets hoity-toity with you and refuses. Having run a hotel/restaurant myself I can understand that restaurant owners these days are anxious to make a profit and selling only meals makes that difficult – they depend on you buying drinks to reach that margin. Of course you would not sit and demand carafe after carafe of tap water, if you do why bother eating out at all, but after half a bottle of plonk – and pricey plonk at that – plain ordinary tap water should be available on request. Maybe if all restaurants and cafes simply provided a carafe of tap water on each table at the start of a meal it would avoid the difficult situation of the diner needing to request – it wont stop most people from buying alcohol or soft drink and seeing as restaurants need bums on seats now more than ever it makes for customer-friendly policy.
Better still, when reserving a table simply ask…and have a small bottle of water in your bag if they sound fussy.
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2 users responded in this post
Hi,
Just wanted to tell you that I was recently told by by husband (of all people!) who works in a 5-star institution, that I should not ask for tap water, especially in expensive restaurants because, he claims, I would be laughed at. You can imagine my wrath when he uttered these words and I will certainly continue to do exactly as I always do.
Needless to say, I think he now sees my points:
1) The reason I would be ‘laughed at’ is a form of ‘snobbery’ from the very people who do the laughing.
2) Every person has the right to FREE tap water (and a ‘bale of hay’ which is, I heard, stipulated in a UK article of law….not sure)
3) Bottled water does not contain the bacteria that naturally occur in tap water. The result? A more sensitive stomach which means frequent runs (no pun intended) to bathrooms when one travels, especially to third-world countries.
4) It’s better for the environment (less plastic and glass bottles even if they are recyclable.
5) A huge savings!
Even if I had all the money in the world, I will continue to exercise my rights to free tap water!
He can say all he likes, tap water is often better than bottled which you pay far too much money for with a meal. They wash and cook the food in tap water so it is good enough to drink. Your husband is talking utter rubbish.
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