Chennai - The cost of drinking out in India
Old India hands would probably know this already, but this post is for those who're first-timers to India. Drinking out can be expensive - especially at hotel outlets. For e.g., see our drink bill at I-Lounge, Asiana Hotel below:
Note that the original amount (as per menu prices0 was INR 1754.20.
Then, we add the taxes, including 58% VAT for Wine/Liquor tax, on top of 14.5% VAT for food, etc.
Final bill? INR 2835.00!
-
vanderb
May 3, 2012 05:04 AM
I was shocked by this when I visited Chennai as well and gave my co-workers back in Bangalore "hell" for not pre-warning me. I almost got into an argument at the first place we had dinner and a bottle of wine when the bill came... until we figured out it was the tax. Bangalore didn't have a similar level of taxation on alcohol.
When I got back to Bangalore I was told alcohol production and tax was a massive source of revenue for the Tamil Nadu government... which makes sense.
-
klyeoh
Apr 26, 2012 05:04 PM
To their credit, bars in India served good drinks, unlike the watered-down stuff I get in many, many places in Singapore or KL.
›4 Replies-
-
-
re: klyeoh
huiray
Apr 27, 2012 04:32 PM
Huh - apparently toddy/toddy-tapping is currently banned in Tamil Nadu! (Various articles etc can be readily found via Google) Wikipedia claims the ban there varies according to politics :-) . It's available in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, etc... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_wine :-D
-
-
-
-
huiray
Apr 26, 2012 05:36 AM
Interesting.
Yes, spending 1/10th of the monthly salary for that young chap starting out (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8449...) would be pretty up there for that chap. By comparison, how much is a fine dinner at the hotel restaurant? How much was that dinner you had at Dakshin or Southern Spice?
Of course, those same drinks in the US would be quite a bit more in a hotel bar or nightclub (2-3 times as much), a bit more to x 1 1/2 to x2 times at a "bar bar" or pub...
›1 Reply
