The trend is deal dining

Fancy a romantic three-course dinner for two, plus wine and coffee, at Melbourne's magnificent Windsor Hotel restaurant with its triple-domed ceiling, chandeliers and famed chefs for just $99?

Or a quick tapas, paella and jug of sangria for two at the bustling Simply Spanish bar at the South Melbourne market for $39, a breakfast-for-two in inner-city Sydney for just $19, a seafood lunch platter for four at bayside Manly in Brisbane for $149 or a nine-course banquet at one of Australia's best teppanyaki restaurants for $69 a head?

For the gourmet diner tired of paying $100 a head for a night out, these offers may sound too good to be true. Especially to anyone who has been alarmed by the spiralling cost of lunch and dinner bills as restaurants pump up wine prices and add on "extras" such as bread, vegetables and "sides" that were once included.

Melbourne chef Maurice Esposito with coupons brought in by customers

But for the savvy consumer, such bargain dining deals are all available to be snapped up.

The trend is called voucher or deal dining. For the diner, it allows cheaper eating, more experimentation and the ability to eat out more often. It involves, predictably, the internet, social media and the increasing use by restaurateurs of last-minute offers or discount deals to bring more customers through their doors.

This new way of experiencing great restaurants at as little as half or a third of the usual price has been quietly, and quickly, evolving in the past two years. Using websites such as deals.com, Groupon or Livingsocial.com.au - which offer discount buying of everything from pillows to travel, cheap flights and weekends away via emails and website offers - the restaurant trade is finally getting in on the act of what experts call "yield management".

This means getting as many bums on seats as necessary to cover fixed costs such as rent, fit-outs and staff, and maximise profits, even though the final 10 or 20 per cent of vouchers needed to fill the venue might be sold at a deeply reduced price.

Melbourne restaurant consultant Frank Wilden says consumers now have a "laser-like" focus on value. There is also an oversupply of restaurants, pubs, cafes and bars. Enter, daily special offers.

"In the old days, restaurants could afford to take the view that all they had to do was serve good food with good service, open their doors and people would come," Wilden says. "Many have realised they have to do something different ... in order to fill their seats and attract new customers."

Not that discount meal deals are entirely new. In Melbourne, top St Kilda restaurant Cafe di Stasio has been offering its famous $25 lunch with a glass of wine for years. And many school parents and sports club members will be familiar with the Entertainment books that allow purchasers to get two-for-one dining at various eateries.

But the popularity of online shopping, website booking and daily email special offers for last-minute deals has taken the concept and availability of cheap restaurant dining to a new level.

The perception that a restaurant - especially an upmarket one - offering a cut-price voucher deal is somehow desperate has also waned.

"It used to be seen that if you reduced the price of your meals, it meant you were struggling to survive," says Wilden. "Now it is seen as a sign of smartness and good yield management; about restaurants saying 'we have vacant seats at certain times that we cannot afford not to sell'."

Top chef and restaurant owner Maurice Esposito turned to the internet this year to fill slow winter seats at his two Melbourne restaurants, Saint Peter's and Cucina de Esposito.

As a regular internet shopper for restaurant deals over the past two years, I was one of 800 customers who bought a voucher though the Melbourne Groupon website to dine at Cucina de Esposito in trendy Carlton.

Esposito also sold a whopping 1500 vouchers for meals at his Saint Peter's CBD trattoria, all within just a few days.

The deal I bought was for a two-course dinner for two with a glass of sparkling wine each for $49 at Cucina de Esposito. Normally such a night out would cost me $151, according to Groupon.

The offer was valid for dinner any night of the week at the restaurant until the end of winter. It also had to be booked via telephone, with staff appearing to offer Groupon voucher-holders dinner arrival times only before 7pm or after 8.30pm.

The deal's fine print also made it clear that any meal on the menu was available, with the only exception, strangely, the affogato dessert. Diners could choose entree and main or main and dessert.

It was a first-time, and not always positive, experience for Esposito. "The restaurant industry is struggling and we were finding it very difficult to get new customers," he says.

"But you have to be clear from the start these deals are not about making money - you break even at best with these offers - so it's solely about marketing, getting the word out and hopefully attracting new customers to dine with you who enjoy the experience, tell their friends and come back again paying full price."

For the record, I had a great dinner at Esposito's. My friend and I dined on crab ravioli entree and veal shanks from the standard menu. We also purchased extra wine, salads and desserts.

But obviously other diners hadn't always felt the same. Reading the Urbanspoon restaurant review website before I booked left me apprehensive.

Many similar Groupon voucher holders complained of turning up and being treated like second-class citizens, complete with grudging service, small servings, grumpy waiters and half-empty champagne flutes.

Esposito admits the experience has been a learning curve for him. He concedes he should have been clearer in the wording that what he was offering was a "tasting experience" in a fine dining restaurant, not entirely equivalent to the full restaurant menu.

"So it's not a bulletproof way of marketing but it is certainly a better way of attracting new customers than spending $1000 a week on an ad in The Age that gets very little response."

Wilden says: "If you can't offer these deals and welcome these customers with graciousness, hospitality and open arms, I would say, don't do it in the first place."

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Always read the fine print so you know exactly what is included.
Best offers are simple and easily understood; such as a two-course meal and a glass of wine for two for $49.
Be wary of "tasting" plates; they may be under-sized meals.
You should be free to choose from the standard full-price menu.
Some restaurants restrict voucher dining to certain nights.
Check for restrictions on menu choices.
Make sure there are no obligations other than what's on offer; you should not be forced to buy wine or desserts.
Before booking, check out website reviews of the restaurant.
Lock in an offer only if it's a restaurant you would dine at if you were paying full price.
Act fast; good offers can disappear in hours.

WEBSITES FOR DEALS

• Groupon.com.au
• Deals.com.au
• Livingsocial.com
• Dimmi.com.au
• Urbanspoon.com
• Travelzoo.com
• Ourdeal.com.au

Source: The Australian, 3 September 2013