‘Absurdity’: Debate erupts over paying extra for condiments while dining out

An innocuous surcharge listed on a menu at a newly-renovated Sydney pub has sparked a dining-out debate.

Under a list of condiments on the relaunched menu at Social House, located in The Prince at Kirrawee, were the words “chicken salt” beside a surcharge of $3 for members and $5 for non-members. While the venue has since told nine.com.au the addition of chicken salt to the condiments section was a “menu-entry error”, the initial condemnation came thick and fast.

Commenters on community Facebook page Everything Sutherland Shire labelled the “saltage” charge “disgraceful” and worse, “un-Australian” while some even threatened a boycott.

Error or not, this would hardly be the first time a venue has charged for a condiment, nor the last. Many eateries have surcharges for condiments, including tomato sauce and tartare sauce, while at least one fish and chip shop in Sydney’s eastern suburbs even charges extra for salt and pepper sachets.

As debate rolled on, we asked the burning question in an exclusive poll of nine.com.au readers: Should customers have to pay for condiments, like sauces and salts, when dining out?

A resounding 90 per cent of the 1226 readers who responded to the poll answered ‘No’ while just 5 per cent said ‘Yes’. The remaining 5 per cent said it depended on the circumstances.

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“Dining out is expensive enough without having to pay for condiments and sauces,” said one reader.

“Customers should not have to pay for sauces or condiments regardless,” said another.

“Condiments should never, ever be an added extra when dining out. Just absurdity to expect customers to pay more,” wrote another.

Some readers suggested venues should add the additional cost of condiments into the price of the dish.

“I would much prefer that restaurants increased costs of meals than start charging for condiments,” said one.

Others felt that with costs continuously rising, restaurant owners might be trying to find ways to “recoup costs and try to make a profit”.

However, some argued that if a restaurant started charging fees for condiments, they would simply bring their own.

“Condiments [are] all part of the service, otherwise how can they charge you for salt grains or pepper?” one reasoned.

“I think paying for sauce on top of the meal cost is a rip off. Should bring a bottle of tomato or barbecue sauce in my handbag,” said another.

And this: “If a restaurant asked me to pay for condiments I would never go there again.”

Back at The Prince, chicken salt is no longer found on the list of condiments. However, Social House still charges $3 or $5, depending on if you are a member, for other condiments including salsa verde, tartare sauce, toum, spicy mayo and chicken gravy.

Ben Auricht, group marketing director of Feros Group, which owns the venue, told nine.com.au chicken salt was the standard seasoning used on chips served at Social House and had always been included “at no additional charge”.

He said they were surprised the issue had gained “so much attention”.

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“A chicken schnitzel served with chips and salad comes with chicken salt as part of the meal,” he said.

“The confusion arose because chicken salt was mistakenly listed as a separate item in the condiments section of the menu.

“This was a menu-entry error that was missed during the approval process and did not reflect how the item was being served at the venue.

“Once we were made aware of the mistake, it was removed. Our intention is to always deliver quality at value to our customers, and we work really hard to deliver this across all of our food and beverage offerings.”

*The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the nine audience on 9Nation, which is an online community of our readers and Nine viewers.