Mantra Corkage Fee

[fm2002]

Wanted to give everybody interested in the Mantra to be aware of the corkage fee they are charging. Below is an email I sent to them about a week ago that remains unanswered.

[To Whom it May Concern

I wanted to give you the opportunity to respond to a complaint I have concerning your corkage fee. Recently I had the pleasure of being invited by some friends to join them for Sunday Brunch at Mantra. As I'm a wine collector I thought it would be nice to bring along a nice bottle. We had a very nice meal and we asked for the bill. When I checked what the corkage fee was (950 baht) at first I thought it was a mistake. After we questioned the charge we were surprised that in fact it was correct. Let me say I was fully prepared to accept a reasonable corkage charge. I have eaten and paid corkage fees all over the world including Thailand and I have to say I have never experienced one as high as yours! The typical charge being $8-15 USD up to maybe $20 USD at the top restaurants in New York, San Francisco.

I think the venue and food is superb, but unless you lower your corkage fee I'm afraid I will not return.

Frank

Pattaya Resident]

Now I understand the amount to compare is dependant upon the country of exchange you use and as the USD is being pounded right now, is the extreme. However whatever denomination you may use or if you compare with other top Thailand restaurants, I still feel it is excessive.

Honestly I would love to return, but as anyone that enjoys wine would attest Thailand is a terrible place to find value. I myself find it impossible to justify the high cost you must pay to enjoy a good quality wine when eating out. So I'm left with the choice of no wine or bringing my own. Most of the top restaurants in Pattaya; Au bu Coin, Mata Hari, Casa Pascal etc. have reasonable corkage fees. Perhaps those that agree with my assessment with the corkage fee being charged at Mantra also emailed them they may reconsider.

You can email them your comments here:

[email protected]

(if posting their email is not allowed moderator please remove, but please do not delete the remaining content)

[HowardJohnson]

That does sound very high. How much do the other restaurants you listed charge for corkage?

Out of interest, how much was a comparable bottle of wine to the one you took?

[vegas]

I just hide my bottles under the table.

[fm2002]

That does sound very high. How much do the other restaurants you listed charge for corkage?

Out of interest, how much was a comparable bottle of wine to the one you took?

Most around 250 baht - 500 baht tops.

It's funny you ask about comparable bottle. I brought a Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc which I purchased for around $26 USD or about 858 baht. It just so happened that when I finished the bottle they asked if I would like another ? They obviously thought I had bought it from them. I replied you have this wine and they responded yes. I asked how much and I think it was around 3000 baht !!!

Edited July 30, 2008 by fm2002

[HowardJohnson]

If they are double or treble the cost of other comparable restaurants then I think you are quite correct to feel aggreived.

Lets hope the management take notice.

I wonder how much that bottle of wine actually cost the restaurant and what their mark up is?

3000 seems a bit steep.

Anyway good luck and please let us know if you get a response.

HoJo

[Humphrey Bear]

Normal mark-up on wine is 150%, but it depends on turnover of the cellar and the number of high-end bottles being stored.

Thus a 900 baht bottle (retail) should be 2,250 baht maximum. If they have a wholesale supplier the pice should be around 1,800 baht.

[Jingthing]

I am not exactly surprised by such a corkage fee at a place like Mantra.

Thank you for exposing yet another case of over the top greedy batards operating here.

http://nocorkagefees.com/ncf/index.php

Edited July 30, 2008 by Jingthing

[Bel Mondo]

Harsh Reality – Frank!

It costs to live in “Beverly Hills” and “Miami Beach”

When you want to be seen in “all the right places” among all the top socialites, politicians and captains of business who abound in “Beautiful Pattaya” you have to pay the price.

Remember – Pattaya is no longer a place of dirty beaches, working girls who inhabit Soi 6, Walking Street and Beach Road.

Pattaya is a place of elegant night spots and very expensive condominiums – thousand of them, to be sure.

Barely an hour goes by that I don’t see people driving by on Pattaya’s beautiful, tree-lined streets with Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Mercedes.

And just look at the quality of tourist and local resident! These are upper echelon, wealthy people. I venture to say that any tattoo they sport would cost no less than 20,000 Baht. Now that speaks of quality!

So, Frank – you have decided to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world populated by some of the most wealthy and important people who live on our planet.

You just have to pay the price!

[CHdiver]

Soon we will have the highest residental Building in Thailand, so the highest Corkage fee is just in line with that. Oh and don't forget the higher Oil prices. Well, Pattaya is clearly going upmarket.

[Jingthing]

Easy solution. Don't go to Mantra. Let them stew in their own au jus!

[moo9]

Wanna be HiSo, pay HiSo!

[thaiman]

I am not exactly surprised by such a corkage fee at a place like Mantra.

[/url]

Me neither. Just another attempt at greedy thais trying to stick it to you!

[bergen]

It would have been smart to check the corkage fee before bringing and drinking your own wine, would'nt you say?

But I do agree that the fee is way out of line

Edited July 31, 2008 by bergen

[Beacher]

<br />It would have been smart to check the corkage fee before bringing and drinking your own wine, would'nt you say? <img src="style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> <br />But I do agree that the fee is way out of line <img src="style_emoticons/default/mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="mad.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

First of all, the OP has my sympathy -- that's a very high corkage fee.

I learned a long time ago to always ask the price here in Thailand before accepting the goods or service. I strongly suspect that if you had inquired before presenting the bottle, the fee would have been substantially lower. It seems that Thais have the belief that if farang don't ask about the price of something, they don't care how much they pay, so it's fair to stick them with ridiculous charges. After all, in most Thai people's eyes all farang are rich-rich-rich.

It would be interesting to see what fee is quoted if somebody phoned the restaurant, explaining that they would like to bring a group of people and bottle or two of wine. I would bet big that they wouldn't have the gall to quote the 950 baht you paid.

[farangtingtong]

Harsh Reality – Frank!

It costs to live in "Beverly Hills" and "Miami Beach"

When you want to be seen in "all the right places" among all the top socialites, politicians and captains of business who abound in "Beautiful Pattaya" you have to pay the price.

Remember – Pattaya is no longer a place of dirty beaches, working girls who inhabit Soi 6, Walking Street and Beach Road.

Pattaya is a place of elegant night spots and very expensive condominiums – thousand of them, to be sure.

Barely an hour goes by that I don't see people driving by on Pattaya's beautiful, tree-lined streets with Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Mercedes.

And just look at the quality of tourist and local resident! These are upper echelon, wealthy people. I venture to say that any tattoo they sport would cost no less than 20,000 Baht. Now that speaks of quality!

So, Frank – you have decided to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world populated by some of the most wealthy and important people who live on our planet.

You just have to pay the price!

You do mean Pattaya in Thailand yes?

[farangtingtong]

It would have been smart to check the corkage fee before bringing and drinking your own wine, would'nt you say?

But I do agree that the fee is way out of line

Probably the staff has the strict orders to charge for each bottle that is brought from outside THB 950.

Nothing wrong with that, except, they forgot to tell the staff that it would only be the case with bottles of whisky or cheap Thai liqor, where the customer will get coke, ice and soda for THB 950.

Since this is Thailand and a bottle is a bottle, you're just lucky, that they didn't put ice and soda in your wine while serving it.

[Hobgoblin]

The American Rib Company on Thepprasit wanted to charge us a 300 corking charge last night - we refused and ordered beers instead. One place that does not charge any corking fee is the Sure Park Steakhouse out in the Dark Side.

[Kees5]

That does sound very high. How much do the other restaurants you listed charge for corkage?

Out of interest, how much was a comparable bottle of wine to the one you took?

Most around 250 baht - 500 baht tops.

It's funny you ask about comparable bottle. I brought a Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc which I purchased for around $26 USD or about 858 baht. It just so happened that when I finished the bottle they asked if I would like another ? They obviously thought I had bought it from them. I replied you have this wine and they responded yes. I asked how much and I think it was around 3000 baht !!!

I agree, paying corkage fee is fine, but not 950 Bt.

BTW, where did you get your Cloudy Bay? having trouble accessing good NZ wines here.

[jaansinatra]

if you don't want to insult your customers, dont charge a corkage fee. if everyone was together on this, and when told of a corkage fee simply walked out of the restaurant, this policy would stop.

i have seen like at someones birthday party where they will bring in a big birthday cake of their own which deprives the restaurant from selling desserts which might be real profitable. should they charge a "cake fee" for those that do that?

i wouldnt mind it the restaurant had a clear policy of 'no outside food or drink". that would not insult me if disclosed in advance.

and whats next: if you use your cell phone in the restaurant instead of their pay phone, should you pay them a cut? where does it stop?

[fm2002]

<br />It would have been smart to check the corkage fee before bringing and drinking your own wine, would'nt you say? <img src="style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> <br />But I do agree that the fee is way out of line <img src="style_emoticons/default/mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="mad.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

First of all, the OP has my sympathy -- that's a very high corkage fee.

I learned a long time ago to always ask the price here in Thailand before accepting the goods or service. I strongly suspect that if you had inquired before presenting the bottle, the fee would have been substantially lower. It seems that Thais have the belief that if farang don't ask about the price of something, they don't care how much they pay, so it's fair to stick them with ridiculous charges. After all, in most Thai people's eyes all farang are rich-rich-rich.

It would be interesting to see what fee is quoted if somebody phoned the restaurant, explaining that they would like to bring a group of people and bottle or two of wine. I would bet big that they wouldn't have the gall to quote the 950 baht you paid.

To make sure I called Mantra a few minutes before posting and they confirmed 950 baht.

[fm2002]

That does sound very high. How much do the other restaurants you listed charge for corkage?

Out of interest, how much was a comparable bottle of wine to the one you took?

Most around 250 baht - 500 baht tops.

It's funny you ask about comparable bottle. I brought a Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc which I purchased for around $26 USD or about 858 baht. It just so happened that when I finished the bottle they asked if I would like another ? They obviously thought I had bought it from them. I replied you have this wine and they responded yes. I asked how much and I think it was around 3000 baht !!!

I agree, paying corkage fee is fine, but not 950 Bt.

BTW, where did you get your Cloudy Bay? having trouble accessing good NZ wines here.

My friend brought it over for me from Australia. You can however get a good selection/quality Australian and French Duty Free wine in Vientianne and at the exit points into Thailand. Your allowed 2 bottles each person, but you can probably bring more. I do

[Beacher]

<br />

<br />It would have been smart to check the corkage fee before bringing and drinking your own wine, would'nt you say? <img src="style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> <br />But I do agree that the fee is way out of line <img src="style_emoticons/default/mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="mad.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />First of all, the OP has my sympathy -- that's a very high corkage fee.<br /><br />I learned a long time ago to always ask the price here in Thailand before accepting the goods or service. I strongly suspect that if you had inquired before presenting the bottle, the fee would have been substantially lower. It seems that Thais have the belief that if farang don't ask about the price of something, they don't care how much they pay, so it's fair to stick them with ridiculous charges. After all, in most Thai people's eyes all farang are rich-rich-rich.<br /><br />It would be interesting to see what fee is quoted if somebody phoned the restaurant, explaining that they would like to bring a group of people and bottle or two of wine. I would bet big that they wouldn't have the gall to quote the 950 baht you paid.<br />

<br /><br />To make sure I called Mantra a few minutes before posting and they confirmed 950 baht.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Thanks for making that call. I'm very surprised that that's their going rate for corkage.

Hopefully people will teach Mantra to be reasonable by not paying such a ridiculous price. I think I'd be so offended if I were in the situation of any restaurant charging that much to pull the cork out of a bottle of vino, I'd order no drinks or only water to make my point.

[Jingthing]

The American Rib Company on Thepprasit wanted to charge us a 300 corking charge last night - we refused and ordered beers instead. One place that does not charge any corking fee is the Sure Park Steakhouse out in the Dark Side.

300 baht is a very reasonable corkage fee. Perhaps you are from one of those bring your own bottles free countries.

[jeanpierre]

That does sound very high. How much do the other restaurants you listed charge for corkage?

Out of interest, how much was a comparable bottle of wine to the one you took?

Most around 250 baht - 500 baht tops.

It's funny you ask about comparable bottle. I brought a Cloudy Bay Sauv Blanc which I purchased for around $26 USD or about 858 baht. It just so happened that when I finished the bottle they asked if I would like another ? They obviously thought I had bought it from them. I replied you have this wine and they responded yes. I asked how much and I think it was around 3000 baht !!!

in europ they do wine profit x 3 so 853x5=2559 on food the profit isn't that high this help pay labour cost high in europ

[koheesti]

I'm all for corkage fees. A restaurant isn't in business to give its customers a free place to sit and drink their own booze.

[bergen]

Seen from Mantra's side...........maybe they're tired of people bringing their own bottles,

because then they cannot sell and promote their own meny.

I'm not used to bringing my own food or drinks to any restaurant, but living in Isaan makes it more understandable.

However I would'nt bring anything with me to a decent restaurant in Pattaya, Bkk, etc.

[pedro01]

I agree - corkage charges is to discourage you from taking your own wines.

Considere yourself discouraged.

[Beacher]

I'm all for corkage fees. A restaurant isn't in business to give its customers a free place to sit and drink their own booze.

FREE??? If a restaurant owner isn't smart enough to make a profit on his or her food, beer, soft drinks, desserts, ect. without bilking people to open a bottle of wine for them, that person shouldn't be in the business.

Still, I'm not disagreeing with a reasonable corkage fee of perhaps a few hundred baht, and I don't think most people who have expressed an opinion here are. It's just that many of us obviously (and justifiably) feel that Mantra's is not reasonable.

So, I can't buy your argument that people want a free place to sit and drink their own booze. They simply want to be treated in a fair manner and leave the restaurant satisfied that they received good value or exceptional food for their money -- not that they've been bent over the wine barrel.

[Jingthing]

Beverage sales are part of a restaurant's profit picture. Sometimes they break even or lose money on the food, make money on the drinks. So bringing your own drink for free is a no no. But we are just talking about the level of the charge. Is Mantra equivalent to a 5 star in Manhattan? No, yet their corkage charge is similar. They are out of bounds with it.

[ZZZ]

Beverage sales are part of a restaurant's profit picture. Sometimes they break even or lose money on the food, make money on the drinks. So bringing your own drink for free is a no no. But we are just talking about the level of the charge. Is Mantra equivalent to a 5 star in Manhattan? No, yet their corkage charge is similar. They are out of bounds with it.

Like you say restaurants usually have a much higher margin on drinks than on the food so they have to charge a corkage fee.

The amount they are charging is probably calculated so it will make no difference if you bring in a bottle bought locally or if you buy the same bottle from the restaurant.

If you could bring in your own wine and save 1000Baht every time the restaurant would soon have to increase the food prices.

The only reason they have a corkage fee is so you can bring in wine they don't have, not to make it cheaper for the customers to drink.

I agree that 950Baht sounds like a lot but if you had bought the wine you brought to the restaurant locally and paid the corkage fee it would probably be about the same as what they would have charged you for the same bottle in the restaurant, in both cases you get the same wine at the same price