No such thing as a cheap lunch as diners urged to snub discount food

RESTAURANT industry leaders have attacked the growing trend for cut-price offers, claiming they harm long-established eateries.

Concern is growing about the impact of a prolonged economic downturn on the trade following the demise of two well-known restaurants in Edinburgh last week.

The owners of many independent restaurants claim rising costs and VAT bills mean they are unable to offer the kind of deals - including two for the price of one offers - that big chains can.

Senior figures in the Edinburgh Restaurateurs Associations and Glasgow Restaurant Association have urged loyal diners to back "high-quality" in favour of being tempted by bargains.

Malcolm Duck, chairman of the Edinburgh Restaurateurs Association, yesterday urged diners in the capital to support independent operators who were unable to provide the kinds of offers being made available by the large chain restaurants.

He told The Scotsman: "If you are running a business you should set a realistic price and stick to that price.

"Your priority should be looking after your regular customers. You don't do that if you start running cut-price offers.

"However, it's becoming very difficult to compete because of the number of offers that are running at the moment."

He warned: "There have been a lot of casualties and I think there will be a lot more.

"A lot of these restaurants that are offering deals like this are run by big chains that can afford to underwrite a deal like that.

"Others are being run by people with no background in catering who will probably only be there for a short while." It emerged on Monday that eateries in Edinburgh city centre, Atrium and Blue, had closed suddenly last Friday, with owner Andrew Radford blaming the impact of the economic downturn, bad weather at the end of last year and building work on the adjacent Usher Hall.

Other recent high-profile casualties in Edinburgh include Abstract on Castle Terrace, Bella Mbriana on East London Street, Jackson's on the Royal Mile and Roti on Morrison Street.Fran James, owner of Creelers in the capital's Old Town, said: "I understand that people don't have as much money in their pockets, but I don't understand why people think they will get something of the same quality when you are paying for something that is much cheaper."

Ryan James, chairman of the Glasgow Restaurant Association, and owner of the Buttery in Glasgow, said: "If a business jumps on the discounting bandwagon there is no way it is going to be able to start charging full-price again.

"The key thing for independent restaurateurs is that there should be no compromise on quality.

"There's no way you are going to get the same quality with somewhere that offers this kind of discounting.

"Just because something is cheaper it doesn't mean that you are going to get the same value for money. These kinds of offers appeal to a different kind of customer."

Seamas MacInnes, owner of Caf Gandolfi, in Glasgow, said: "You are never going to build up a loyal clientle with the kind of people who take up these offers.

"The other issue is that often they only apply at inconvenient times."

Award-winning chef Tony Singh complained last year that the number of rival businesses offering cut-price deals had been a major factor in him closing down one of his two city centre restaurants.