Message 32407 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> "Boy, you know the price of everything but the value of nothing"

Granted it was a very nice drink served in a very nice way in what I'm sure 
was a very nice place. No argument.

And maybe I wasn't in the 'if you have to ask you can't afford it' league when 
I was there. I certainly wasn't on a bottomless expense account (lucky you), 
and even when being treated out by my hosts I felt the urge to try and shout a 
round to try and be fair. (OK, that prediliction is a cultural thing of mine)

I'm not a fan of silver service or constant 1:1 attention from a 'servant'.The 
rigmarole that sometimes surrounds choosing, opening, sniffing, corking, 
tasting, polishing, rinsing, pouring, sipping, approving a wine at a fancy 
restaurant makes me distinctly uncomfortable and I'm more likely to give a tip 
to make the 'sommelier' GO AWAY and stop fussing than to enjoy the procedure.
But some folk apparently quite like it.

As a customer, part of my experience when buying a drink at the bar - as well 
as the decor, service, presentation, quality and appearance of the drink - is 
value . Maybe that makes me a heathen, but it is a factor in my enjoyment of 
the experience. Even if someone else is paying.

I simply asked because I was wondering what drink prices are like over there 
these days. It's part of the backstory, and for me, part of the context.

If I ever arrive in the 'money is no object' club, maybe I'll stop paying 
attention to insignificant details like that. Having crunched the numbers for 
a number of bars accounts, I doubt it, because it's still something I'm 
interested in, even if only academically.

A short google seems to tell me the current range in downtown Tokyo is between 
Y600 for a beer and Y2000 for a top martini ($US 5-17) ... so that's not at 
all as bad as I was expecting! I was interested to get an idea if this video 
was representative of the norm as you say it is, or something a bit special. 

.dan.