For food lovers, a dinner in Paris is always going to be a special occasion, especially when you can let the budget go out of the window. However, on one occasion, my wife and I found ourselves in the city after a particularly punishing spending period, so we decided we’d be a little careful on the spending at dinner.

With this in mind, we were scanning the set menus in our chosen restaurant when a trolley holding rather tempting Champagne bottles held in ice was rolled up to our table, and without enquiry or consideration of cost, my wife ordered two glasses of the vintage rosé. This is how set menus can look like a bargain, but the bill at the end of the day can be somewhat larger! 

This can certainly work in favour of the restaurant, of course, but the fundamental objective of these menus is for hospitality businesses to offer access to their venues at an affordable level, thereby broadening the target market. I’ve long been a massive fan of the set menu and will invariably choose it, regardless of the occasion and irrespective of whether I’m feeling flush and could push the boat out. There is something comforting in not having to make decisions and simply leaving it in the hands of the chef who has devised the curated prix fixe menu.

We’re all feeling the pinch right now, and the cost of eating out feels like an increasingly expensive pastime. Even for those people (like me) who are genetically engineered to have a high pain threshold to their spending levels in restaurants, it has felt like the cost of a meal out has seriously ratcheted up in recent years. For me, the more budget-conscious scenario we are now in has very much thrown the spotlight on to set menus. I’ve probably never eaten so many as in the past year, and thankfully, there have been a growing number of restaurants using them as a device to attract in more diners.

Within London, I’ve enjoyed some seriously good set menus recently, including the unbeatable £16.95 for two courses and £19.95 for three courses at Brasserie Zedel. No wonder this cavernous venue is busy from the early evening onwards the whole week. This deal was created by restaurant supremo Jeremy King, and even though the Thai owners made the mistake of ousting him over his broad strategy for the group, they were sensible in one respect – keeping the bargain set menu. 

King knows the value these menus add and has replicated the trick at his new place, Romano’s at Simpson’s on the Strand, where critic Giles Coren recently raved about the quality of the dishes on the £21 for two courses and £24.75 for three course menus. Rival reviewer Jay Rayner was also on the bargain trail when he had the “proper deal” of three courses for £39 at Michelin star joint The Cocochine in Mayfair.

I’ve also been pleased to see the Plat du Jour appear more prominently. At Josephine Bistro in Marylebone, the Wednesday dish on my visit was a knockout braised Beef Bourgignon with mushrooms, bacon lardons and red wine for £18.50. With some fries on the side, I required little else other than some decent red wine.

It is good to see such volume-driving set menus and dishes-of-the-day strategies are being adopted across the hospitality sector. Cote Brasserie uses both at its venues. The latter has the likes of steak frites (Monday) and confit pork belly (Thursday) priced at a mere tenner, and the prix fixe has made a comeback, with two courses for £19.95 and three for £23.95. The group has gone even further by also opening the first of its Petite format outlets, which have a more focused set menu objective.

Ashley Palmer-Watts, co-owner of The Devonshire, clearly got it right with the menu at his perennially packed pub in Soho and has stated: “These are tough times, but it can be an excuse, so don’t just pass on the costs to your customers. How can you make it better and accessible? Always have a lower accessibility point. Hopefully, we will never have to change our £29 set three-course menu. You can have it just with water, a pint of Guinness or a glass of wine for £8. Think about who your customer is and the diversity you need in today’s market. Make it for everybody.”

With my set menu mission well underway, I was extremely pleased to see my local pub, The Great Northern Railway Tavern, introduce a plat du jour menu earlier this year, which included a bavette steak and fries with peppercorn sauce for £14.50 on Monday nights. Having successfully used it to draw in more diners at the quieter time of the year, I’m very much hoping it will be brought back again. My wife and I might not have washed it down with vintage Champagne this time, but I can assure you that we did it justice with a couple of pints of beer and some juicy red wine.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider

This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Retail Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.