If you think about it, there are hundreds of thousands of combinations of wine labels and vintages from thousands of producers. Some people who collect the wine and store it at home will want to enjoy the wine they have with a professionally prepared meal, and will bring that wine to a restaurant, and enjoy the entire service aspect of it (pouring into nice glasses, etc.).
It doesn’t make much sense for ordinary bottles of wine. So the people who do this usually bring special, hard to find, significantly aged, or sentimental bottles. And because the restaurant still provides the service of opening and pouring the wine into nice glasses that they’ll clean, there’s usually a per bottle charge added to the bill.
So it’s not super common, just also not super rare, either.
Does that curry house have an alcohol licence? Because some don’t (either for religious reasons or cost, I’m not sure), but they’re still providing glasses that will need to be washed.
Generally this is done for cost reasons by the customer. Wine in restaurants is expensive, corkage doesn’t make up the difference, so people looking to save some money will bring their own, pay the fee and still come out on top. Fancy restaurants with sommeliers don’t advertise this (idk if that means they don’t do it though)
If you think about it, there are hundreds of thousands of combinations of wine labels and vintages from thousands of producers. Some people who collect the wine and store it at home will want to enjoy the wine they have with a professionally prepared meal, and will bring that wine to a restaurant, and enjoy the entire service aspect of it (pouring into nice glasses, etc.).
It doesn’t make much sense for ordinary bottles of wine. So the people who do this usually bring special, hard to find, significantly aged, or sentimental bottles. And because the restaurant still provides the service of opening and pouring the wine into nice glasses that they’ll clean, there’s usually a per bottle charge added to the bill.
So it’s not super common, just also not super rare, either.
but why would you bring that kind of wine to an edinburgh curry house (which is where i first saw it mentioned)
Does that curry house have an alcohol licence? Because some don’t (either for religious reasons or cost, I’m not sure), but they’re still providing glasses that will need to be washed.
Generally this is done for cost reasons by the customer. Wine in restaurants is expensive, corkage doesn’t make up the difference, so people looking to save some money will bring their own, pay the fee and still come out on top. Fancy restaurants with sommeliers don’t advertise this (idk if that means they don’t do it though)
Sometimes you can bring a cheap bottle of wine and even with the corkage fee it ends up being less than the cheapest bottle of wine at the restaurant.
someone said 30€ fee? that’s insanely expensive.
Maybe the wine at the curry house was shit and they knew it so they brought their own.
It’s just a really easy thing for restaurants to do. Even if it’s not listed many will do this.
I have only ever encountered it in the context of wine though. I wonder what would have if I brought a bottle of whiskey.
or one of those plastic jugs of vodka
If you were a wino and that was your favorite restaurant, why wouldn’t you?
idk if i could afford eating at a restaurant if i was a wino