charging for ketchup
 

Hi,<BR><BR>fyi.<BR><BR>Just wanted to inform fodorites that some restaurants in belgium charge for ketchup.<BR><BR>I went to a restaurant in Brugge called La Dentelliere. Not only was the food not very good but they even charged 50 belgium francs for ketchup for the french fries (frites).<BR><BR>Soon after, I was told that this is not an uncommon practice.<BR><BR>john<BR><BR>

In Portugal, you also need to be aware that bread, olives, butter, and other condiments or appetizers that are automatically brought out to your table are NOT free. You will be charged for whatever/how many you use/eat.<BR>The charge is not necessarily outrageous, but just something to be aware of.

Sounds similar to charging for cheese on a hamburger, or sour cream on a baked potato to me.<BR><BR>

My God! Ketchup on french fries? I wouldn't even serve you, much less charge you.

Hi Rex:<BR>I was wondering where you were today.<BR>I find you most entertaining...<BR>Keep me gasping and laughing out loud!<BR>Have a great day. We have our "Rex" on the cruise boards. His name is "Greg" have you met? Oh no...you don't "do" the cruise boards do you?

Hi, Oaktown...<BR><BR>No, I don' think I could ever do a cruise.<BR><BR>Two problems:<BR><BR>1. The boat as an "edge"<BR>2. Other passengers.<BR><BR>:)<BR><BR>R<BR><BR>

Catsup or ketchup on french fries?<BR>Try that in France and you might be deported, or confined to quarters and served Scottish food for a year. (Back to Hagis in a tube.)<BR>I can see why Rex would not a cruise.<BR>The other passengers would throw him overboard.

Some people see a glass half full; others see it half empty. You see that they charge you for the ketchup; I see that they give you mayonnaise free. <BR>I seldom eat French Fries at home, but if I did, I think I'd want to ask for mayonnaise they way they serve them in Belgium. I wonder if our restaurants would charge extra for the mayonnaise?

We were in Brugge (what a beautiful place) a few years ago and went into a wonderful resturant for some lunch. We both ordered moules (mussels) &amp; frites me with a glass of wine and the hubbie ordered a strawberry milkshake...I thought the waiter was going to throw us out! He groaned, grimaced and said "no way"...he said he would serve it to him for dessert...we still laugh about it to this day. <BR>p.s. we weren't charged for the ketchup.

I was dining in a pretty nice restaurant last night in New York, which happened to serve french fries. So, since I was already chatting with waiter, I asked him what types of things people ask for with fries. The number one answer (almost always from Americans) was Ketchup. Second was gravy or vinegar or both (Canadians), then Mayonaise (several Europeans), then Salsa (Mexican), and a variety of others including italian dressing (seasoned oil salad dressing), barbeque sauce, ranch dressing (oniony mayo-based dressing), and tartar sauce. I found it quite amusing.

Anna: where is mustard(dijon)? I love moutarde and frites....mmmmm, Judy

Isn't vinegar on fries typically British as well as Canadian? Personally, I love it! I really like the Belgian frites places popping up around Manhattan where one can buy fries served in a cone with an assortment of sauces, ranging from another favorite of mine - mayonnaise - to really funky stuff. I just wanted to add blue cheese dressing to the nix, though... mmmmm...<BR><BR>Lizzie<BR>

While dining in France, my son ordered a Coupe Danemark (chocolate sundae) for desert. Since he doesn't like whipped cream, he ordered it without. The waiter was shocked. "But Sir", he said, "it will no longer be beautiful!"

While in Germany we ate at (yes, I will admit it) a McDonalds!! Anyway, they charged for the ketchup there also.

<BR>In Australia, I have been charged for 'tomato sauce' several times. <BR><BR>To add to my displeasure, the packets were so small that you needed to buy about ten of them for a sufficient amount.

I remember one time going to McDonalds (yuck gross) with a coworker and she asked for McChicken sauce to dip her fries in. One way to make McDonalds even more disgusting!<BR><BR>And as a Canadian yes I put vinegar on my fries but Malt Vinegar not the white stuff.

I just returned from the UK and everytime I asked for ketchup for my chips (that's what they call fries) I was charged 5p per tiny little packet.

Are any of you old enough to remember "The Great War" in the 40's? I recall being charged for catsup in Portland, Oregon. Seems tomatoes had gone to war. I remember being charged about half the price of the hamburger for the catsup. We used to wonder if that entitled you to take the rest of the bottle home with you. J/K

My grandfather tells me of stories, before prohibition, of a beer for 10 cents, and a ham sandwich came with it for free. Eventually, I guess they started charging for the ham sandwich. I'm sure they were shocked about that in the beginning too.<BR>

En France, we say<BR><BR>Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.<BR>

I too have been charged for ketchup in Australia. Thank God for this post. Next Wednesday (April 11) we are travelling to the UK. Thanks to this forum I can now to act like a traveller instead of a tourist.<BR>John

Canadians love their poutine - french fries smothered in melted cheese and then in case your arteries aren't clogged enough, a generous helping of gravy on top!! Yummmm

Guess they were like reagan and thought it was a vegetable.

Jumping into the fryer on the ketchup debate....unlike my Canadian cousins who DO have the vile "poutine" another poster mentioned, I guess I'm your average American who enjoys ketchup with my fries; so much so that before I begin a trip I take packets of it with me (along with mustard & mayo - you never know...and I like a picnic now & then too) :) I put them in a ziplock baggie and have them with me in my backpack for those "food emergencies".

That's really wierd, John, because the norm for fries in Belgium is mayonnaise, not ketchup, and we've never been charged for either. I think you were ripped off.I've been to Brugge a half-dozen times in the past 20 years and never paid anything extra for ANY condiment.

Its funny you should mention that StCirq as I was going to say exactly the same thing abnout being ripped off to the guys who got charged for tomato sauce here in Australia - I've lived here all my life & never paid for any condiment either. <BR>Just for the record I LOVE hot chips salted, with vinegar, with tartare sauce, mayo or tomato sauce...very easy to please!

It's quite common for cheaper restaurants across Belgium to charge for any kind of sauce, whether it's ketchup, mayonnaise, or so on. 50befs is on the high side, though--generally, places charge 25 befs at most. <BR>"Regular" restaurants usually don't; if you were eating at a restaurant with full service, rather than a fast food or budget place, it was against the norm to charge you. Unfortunately, there are a lot of rip-off restaurants in Brugge and looks like you wandered into one of them. <BR>BTilke (Brussels)

Ate in Switzeralnd once 30 years ago. They charged for the catsup. It was so much that my father watned to keep the whole bottle, but then realized that we didn't have a good way to carry it (glass - not plastic)

Amsterdam charges for ketchup too.

Poutine, yeah, i had it ones in Montreal. <BR>Being Dutch i had to try this on my fries. It lookes like something the cat throws up, but i have to admit, i loved it. <BR>Hated the vinegar though. <BR>Cheers

At a pub in Oxford I used to get a huge basket of burn-your-mouth-fresh steak fries with a little pot of garlic mayonnaise and a pint of Cameron's Ruby Red for under GBP 3...ever since they got a new "fancy" chef who doesn't do that any more, I've been searching for a place that can satisfy my cravings...haven't found it yet...

While I admit that I do get tweaked when I encounter unexpected charges, in this case shouldn't we be appreciative that these restaurants have made an adjustment to American tastes by providing a condiment that they wouldn't otherwise have? And from their point of view, if they have to invest in it, why not charge for it? Just because we are used to seeing it thrown in for free doesn't mean that it has no cost or value. <BR> <BR>Just call me Pollyanna...

Actually, such an experience has been a great lesson for me. <BR> <BR>When, as a teenager, I went for the first time to Belgium, in some restaurant the waiter refused to provide free tap water. I felt somewhat ripped off but said nothing. However, one of my friends acted indignantly, saying that "in France, one doesn't pay for tap water". When the waiter replied in a stern voice that we WEREN'T in France, I felt ashamed by my friend's comment. I immediatly got it. <BR> <BR>Since, I never again questionned the local habits, as long as I've no serious evidence of it being a rip-off intended for tourists, some serious moral objection or something like that.

By the way, it was possibly actually a ripp off, since I don't remember having paid for tap water in Belgium since. But anyway, it was a good lesson for future travels.

I would've thought that you Americans would be glad to get away from lard saturated food - obviously not! Try some local specialities, or if you have to indulge in fat, to keep your figure, don't be tight in doing so.

Mince pie with chips and (free) brown (or "broon") sauce.... mmmm... feel the vinegar... mmmm... feel the oil... mmmm... feel your chest.... wait....

As an American, I love to visit European countries. I love to experience the differences...and would never expect them to provide "Things American". I love french fries, and love to mix catsup and mayonaise together and dip, dip, dip!! So if I have to pay for something I want because it is a "side order", so what?? I understand that we all have different ways of eating, etc. So, enjoy!!