Aussie diners cry 'robbery' over $14 potatoes

A customer's gripe about a dish served at a bar has divided Aussies over how much half a plate of potatoes should cost. The astonished diner paid for $14 for the high-end wedges.

In an image of the offending meal, 13 pieces of potato can be seen laid out on one side of a plate. "Here's what $14 Twice Cooked Potato, Gruyere, Rosemary looks like," the Reddit user wrote.

But if he was looking for sympathy, he came to the wrong place because the internet quickly shut down his complaint about the Melbourne eatery, which is described as a local wine bar that offers seasonal small plates.

"It's a f**king wine bar, what did you expect?" one testy user wrote back. "Seriously people — either cook it yourself or STOP WHINGING," another responded. "We know. Food is expensive when you pay someone else to make it for you."

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Someone else pointed out that it wasn't just the price of the food that the customer was paying for, commenting, "Now add in the cost of staff, electricity, rent, insurance, etc."

But there were some who sided with the patron, pointing out the small amount of food on the plate. "14 bucks for that is a robbery!" one user wrote, while the customer declared: "It's not the size, but the cost. $14 for 13 small potato wedges is a joke no matter how you look at it."

Bars and restaurants in tough spot

Rising restaurant prices have been ticking off customers across Australia in recent months and we're not just imaging that costs are going up. ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that the "price of restaurant meals rose 6.5 per cent year-on-year to the June quarter while the price of takeaway food rose 9.1 per cent over that time".

She explained that businesses have been left with no other option than to lift prices due to a mix of factors within the hospitality sector "including the higher price of inputs like food, electricity and transport, as well as labour shortages which have likely impacted productivity in the sector". She added that rising wages in the industry may also be adding to the rising cost of dining out.

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