"Ok Debbie. Where do I begin?"

Despite describing the meal as “lovely”, a Facebook user challenged the Oxton Bar and Kitchen to justify its prices, posting on the restaurant’s page:

“Lovely food and staff are amazing but I cannot see how you justify your prices, small fish and chips £8 (€9.30) plus and it was small?”

Restaurant management were quick to respond to the post, defending their prices and revealing their margin of profit in a rebuttal that has been celebrated by loyal customers, the Liverpool Echo reports.

The restaurant wrote: “Ok Debbie. Where do I begin? Out of that £8, our nasty government is charging you 20% vat which we collect by law on their behalf, so we’re left with £6.66 (€7.74).

“Out of this, we need to buy the fresh ingredients; 1 haddock fillet, get a chef to make everything from scratch; a delicious beer batter, homemade tartare sauce, mushy peas and chunky chips (the whole cost of ingredients for this plate comes to roughly £2.70 (€3.40)). This leaves us with £3.94 (€4.58) for which alas our pesky chef expects remuneration!! Then we realised the ‘lovely’ food doesn’t float to you, so we have to pay ‘amazing’ staff to serve you and clear up after you?!

“Pay utility bills (we need gas to cook, you need lights to see the food) and don’t get me started on business rates. So if £3.94 is not justifiable for creating and affording this whole experience with us, you’re welcome to recreate it in the comfort of your own home. I doubt it’ll be long before the government find a tax for that too.”

The post has racked up hundreds of likes after it was published, with one person saying: “This profit-making is a disgusting principle. You should be doing it for free if you had a heart. And don’t you find it a joyous experience paying your accountant to work out the VAT?”

Another added: “Another well articulated reply”.

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