Costly mineral water in top restaurants sticks in customers' throats

A mineral water which is tasteless is usually considered to be of a high quality. But customers at top restaurants are often left wondering why they should pay the same for a tasteless bottle of water as they would for a more expensive beverage.

Gulf News spoke to restaurant owners and customers to find out why so many people had been left with a sour taste in their mouths after checking the size of their bill.

And one restaurant customer went as far as claiming that restaurants were fixing bottled water at an inflated price. Another urged people to enquire about the price of water before they agree to have it at their table.

"Restaurants at five star hotels are really exaggerating the prices of water," said Salim Bounajm, a gourmet who is familiar with many of the best restaurants in the country. "A bottle of water can cost up to Dh24, where is the sense in that?

"I checked my bill at a five star restaurant and thought there must have been some mistake. They are charging hugely inflated prices for water."

The most popular mineral waters distributed at five star restaurants are Evian and Gulfa. Prices are generally as much as Dh24 for a 1.5 litre bottle of Evian, while a 1.5 litre bottle of Gulfa is about half the price.

The same waters are a fraction of the price at neighbouring supermarkets. Although package sizes vary, a 1.5 litre bottle of Evian usually costs about Dh4, while the 1.5 litre bottle of Gulfa can cost as little as Dh1.

Marcus Renaldo, manager of La Focaccia Restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, explained that pricing policy for imported mineral water is similar across all five star hotel restaurants.

William Dewell, Food and Beverage Manager at the Rotana Hotel Towers, explained that customers at the hotel's restaurants are always given a choice whether to have an imported mineral water at their table or not.

While the hotels' management blame suppliers for the high prices and invite customers to make an informed choice, the mineral water representatives say they are not responsible for the prices applied at restaurants.

One supplier of a foreign mineral water, who asked not to be named, said: "Some restaurants have a surcharge of up to 700 per cent on imported and local mineral waters. But we are in a free market and we cannot interfere with the restaurants and their pricing policy."

Shirinian Yeghi of Evian, said Evian in the UAE is actually supplied at very reasonable prices. He said: "As far as we are concerned, we are making all efforts to curb the increase of prices despite the unfavourable moment."