HK$3,500 for a no-show: Hong Kong restaurants try to make reservations stick
Fed up with diners cancelling or not turning up, restaurants in the world's dining capitals demand reconfirmation of reservations and punish late changes and no-shows
On a recent trip to New York I was looking forward to dinner at the Gramercy Tavern, an institution for nearly 21 years. I'd made the booking online, setting my alarm for the minute it would become available: 28 days ahead, 10am East Coast time. When the day came though I was surprised to receive an email at midday informing me my reservation for that evening had been cancelled.
Taking a closer look at the confirmation email I noticed I'd been required to call the restaurant before noon to reconfirm my reservation. Nothing bar a freak accident would have stopped me from going, but the restaurant wasn't taking any chances.
"This policy has become necessary due to the proliferation of services that make multiple reservations and guests who make reservations and have no intention of cancelling," says the Gramercy Tavern's spokeswoman. "No-shows have a detrimental impact on the industry and this system has been put in place to protect the restaurant."
Other restaurants in cities from London to Sydney have similar policies (although some say they "reserve the right to cancel" rather than steadfastly cancelling your booking if they haven't heard from you).
Matt Moran's restaurants in Australia couldn't be more upfront. When you book online a pop-up window states: "We will contact you 48 hours prior to confirm. If this does not occur please call us. We reserve the right to cancel any unconfirmed reservations."