Taro

• TIPS: Bills come with 10% service charge added. None of this goes to the waiters/waitresses, though best to confirm with the manager rather than the staff (some of them are new; others don't speak very good English).
  
• DO: Eat here. The food is great. Order the salted mackrel; drink the plum wine; get a table away for the window (it can get drafty).
  
• DON'T: Pay the service charge. Though the manager doesn't seem to understand the word "discretionary", you can ask for it to be removed from your bill and then leave a tip of the waiter/waitress.
  
• Two other issues to bear in mind: you get served by several different staff, so it's hard to know who you should give your cash tip to at the end; it's a family-run business, so the money probably ends up in the same family pot anyway!
  

Nobu

• Tips split between army of waiters (you're never served by just one person), maitre d', kitchen staff, bar staff: basically everyone except management. Waitresses reluctant to confirm this, but manager will*.
• DO: Go with someone who's picking up the tab (it ain't cheap), order the bento box and the papaya & carrot juice - it's £6.50, but it's yum!
• DON'T: Pay the discretionary service charge of 15% on your card; better to leave a cash tip. The more senior the waiter, the more of a share of the tip he/she gets.

*there are philosophical arguments as to whether your "tip" should go to kitchen staff, bartenders and the like. Why should the waiter be the only one to receive a gratuity? If so, pay the service charge at Nobu with a clear conscience. If not, then you may have to go somewhere else.

IT'S THE LAW

In my first post, I wondered aloud whether it was legal to do what some of these restaurants are doing: namely, taking the tip from waiters and waitresses.

Turns out, that the law changed just a month ago. So, if what the waitress at the The Diner said is true, then the restaurant is breaking the law. The others are merely being amoral.

To see details of the change in law, governing tips, please click here (you may have to use Safari on a Mac). Pay particular attention to page 8, where it says the new law came into force on October 1.

Ping Pong

• Tips shared between waitresses, bartenders, kitchen staff and....management!
• DO: give cash tip to waitress; I left cash instead of paying service charge, but fear it may have been snaffled anyway.
  
• DO NOT: expect speedy service
  

The Diner

• Tips used to top up waitresses salary, to ensure they get mininum wage.
  
• DO: order fresh orange juice, give cash tip to friendly waitress.
  
• DO NOT: order spicy beanburger - it tastes of nothing (not even beans or spices), and gave me stomach cramps the next day.
  

Met Su Yan

• Tips divvied up between waitresses, kitchen staff and "the house"
• Excuse: to protect waitresses in event patrons leave no tip at all.
  
• DO: order the £25 set menu
• DON'T: pay the service charge on your card; ask for a jug of water (they only have one); order the sweet and sour soup (it tastes of vinegar).
  

TAKING THE TIP

I've just stumbled upon a scandal that seems to be taking place every meal team, in every town, in every village in the land: restaurants, when they add "service charge" to your bill don't always hand over the aforementioned charge (usually 10% to 12.5%), to the person that has just rendered you the service: i.e. the waiter/waitress.

I learned this on Sunday night. I don't know why, but when I received the bill from Met Su Yan in Golders Green, I asked the waitress if the 12.5% service charge was her tip.
"No," she said.

I asked to speak to the manager. A fish-breathed, bearded man came over and told me the kitchen staff got some, the waitress got some, and "the house" kept the rest.

"That doesn't seem very fair," I said.

He replied that it was partly to protect the waitress, as sometimes people left no tip at all.

"But it's a voluntary service charge, right?"
"Yes."
"In that case, I'd like it removed from the bill, please. I'll give my tip to the waitress. Thanks."

I received a new bill, and my friends and I left the tip - about £15 - to the waitress.

I thought that would be it. But no. The next day, I ate at The Diner in Shoreditch. The spicy beanburger was tasteless, but the waitress was friendly, offered us water when our glasses ran dry, and was generally fully-deserving of her tip.

The bill came, complete with 10% service charged added on.
"Is the service charge for you?" I asked her.
She hesitated and smiled awkwardly: "No," she said.
"Who gets it?"
"They use it to ensure they're paying us to ensure we get paid minimum wage."
"But if no-one paid it, they'd still have to pay you minimum wage, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Can you please remove the service charge and I'll give you the tip in cash."
She smiled, less awkwardly. "Sure."

I thought that would be it. But today I ate at Ping Pong in Liverpool Street (I don't normally eat out this much!). Same again: divvied up between waitress, bar staff and "management". Management! What on earth has "management" done to deserve a tip from me! Did they welcome me to the restaurant? Did they hang up my jacket? Were they even there?

So I on my way home, I asked myself this very simple question: does every restaurant in the land do this? Is this legal? And if so, is it moral or ethical that some of our most popular - and far from inexpensive - restaurants charge for service that's been rendered by somebody else?

I don't think so. So henceforth, using this website, I shall be naming and shaming restaurants that take the tip.

So, whether you're a disgusted diner or a downtrodden waiter/waitress, please send me details - and a weblink - for any restaurant committing such culinary crimes.

Thanks for reading.

DC