The Dorchester hotel in London charges £16 for a bread basket – and customers aren’t happy

An expensive London hotel charges £16 for a bread basket and you can imagine how well that goes down.

The Dorchester’s rooftop restaurant, Polo Lounge, based in affluent Mayfair, London charges guests the hefty sum in exchange for a Sea Salt Pretzel, Butter Brioche and a Garlic and Cheese Baguette. Cajun butter and chive cream cheese are also included in the price, so that’s fine then.

People are outraged by this but this is just one crumb in a wider tale of anger, triggered by a viral review of the restaurant that was published at the weekend.

Restaurant critic Jay Rayner eviscerated the hotel on Sunday in which he listed the astronomical prices of some of the menu items and provided damning images suggesting that it wasn’t even that nice.

Writing in The Observer, he branded the hotel’s offering as “cack-handed food that’s a gross insult to good taste, manners and commercial decency”.

He added: “The bread basket is £16. The salads start at £28. A bowl of pasta is £38. A steak is £135. Certain items are described as Polo Lounge “signature” dishes. Prime among them is the McCarthy salad.

“It costs £38, and arrives looking like someone with an organising compulsion has been at the Garfunkel’s salad bar.

“There are separate sections for chopped beetroot, skinned tomato, bacon minced to a paste, chicken breast with the texture of value-range cotton wool, cubes of sweaty, squeaky cheese, shredded egg and, on top, an avocado that’s been halfway through an egg slicer.

“Once it’s been mixed with an over-emulsified, over-sweetened balsamic vinaigrette that looks like congealed gravy, I know where it should be tossed.”

Damning stuff.

So, having elevated people’s awareness about the prices, people on Twitter reacted to the various horror shows, £16 bread included.

If you fancy eating at the Dorchester, you can also enjoy a bowl of soup for £16, or a side of chips for the same amount. Terrifyingly, the menu also declares that “all dishes are designed to share”.

We’ll pass.