How to get a good table at a restaurant (without paying £35 for it)

Tempted to pay extra for a good table in a restaurant? Stephen Jardine explains why we shouldn’t

This weekend I’m in London. There is a lot to see and do but one place you definitely won’t find me is in the Darwin Brasserie in the Sky Garden skyscraper. Fun as it is to watch people teeming like ants in the streets 36 floors below, I’m not prepared to pay £15 for a seat by the window. That’s before you pay £25.50 for your salmon fishcake (without chips).

Charging to guarantee a certain seat is the latest trend entering high-end hospitality. This summer a new restaurant will open in London’s Paddington Square offering diners the opportunity to choose their preferred table… for £35.

With the now ubiquitous service charge, eating out is already expensive in the UK. In 2023 it soared by 15 per cent as restaurants struggled to cope with increased staff, utility and ingredient costs. They have to be passed onto consumers but it’s also leading restaurants to look for additional revenue streams.

Getting a good table at a top restaurant has been an age-old struggle (Picture: Tunbridge/Tunbridge-Sedgwick Pictorial Press) | Getty Images

Best table, best evening?

When you fly, you pay extra to choose your seat in advance. Those towards the front cost more, those with extra leg room cost even more. So why not have a premium price for the best tables in the house?

The flaw in this is the belief that the best table equals the best evening. We’ve all been in restaurants where a couple at the prime table in the window sit in silence, nursing their wrath to keep it warm.

A fabulous table doesn’t guarantee a fabulous experience. That’s down to the company, the wine and the food.

Years ago I was asked to help judge some restaurant awards with the great and much missed Scottish chef Andrew Fairlie. In one shortlisted restaurant, we were plonked on a table right next to the toilets.

It was a busy night and they were in constant use but despite the inconvenience of the conveniences, we had a brilliant evening and, based on the food and service, it scooped the top award. If you are having a good time, does the choice of table even matter? It might be nice but is it really worth paying for?

How to play the table game

It’s also against the rules of the restaurant game. That’s where you arrive on time at a restaurant and someone then searches for your reservation as if they are verifying the nuclear launch codes. They then lead you to the worst table in the restaurant, probably next to the loos.

“Can we please have that table?” you ask, pointing to the nice one near a radiator. “No, it’s reserved,” you are told. You think about pointing out that you have also reserved but then you realise the restaurant game is in play.

This is where the first people who are first to arrive are given the worst tables. Unless they make a fuss, that problem has been resolved and the front desk staff can now concentrate on giving out the nice tables, holding a couple of the best back for favourite customers or the slightest chance that Jay Rayner might just pop in.

So if you really want a good table, don’t make an early evening reservation. Or book using the name Jay Rayner. The disappointment will be palpable when you walk in the door but your table will be ready and it won’t be by the loos.