So last night my husband and I had a night without the little one so we decided to go and do something really exciting... head into Norwich to Wickes to look at tiles and flooring for the ensuite he's working on at home!! Well you've got to love a life filled with DIY and we are definitely filled with it at the moment!
However, we decided to take the bull by the horns and head a bit deeper into the City to grab something to eat and maybe watch a film or something. We ended up in TGI Friday's, which I assumed was new but apparently it's been there for two years! I really need to get out more!! We were both craving the kind of American cuisine that TGI's serve and we weren't disappointed with what we had. James had a 'Monster' burger which he was very pleased with and I went for steak with fries and a wedge salad (which is basically a wedge of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and onions covered (or should I say drowned) in a blue cheese sauce). I ordered my steak rare and it was cooked perfectly, the fries were good but the whole blue cheese lake thing wasn't really going down too well with the peppercorn sauce I had with my steak so I left some of this (trust me when I tell you I never leave food but it was just a bit too much). It did come on a separate plate so it was a bit like having a starter and main at the same time. It didn't put me off, I just wouldn't order it again. It was a great atmosphere in the restaurant and despite not being the usual type of place we would choose (I mean 'I' would choose) I really enjoyed it. I love enthusiastic staff and this place was brimming with them, breaking out into song every so often for those celebrating birthdays! It was fun and somewhere my Daughter would probably enjoy so we'll take her there at some point.After this we wandered across to the Odeon to watch a film. When we arrived, the front desk wasn't open and apparently you could buy tickets when you get your popcorn and stuff, which although a little unorganised (or perhaps a ploy by Odeon) was fine by us as we'd skipped dessert at TGI's to enjoy some treats during the show. We thought we'd watch the new Jurassic World film but the next screening wasn't for another hour, unless we watched the IMAX version which was £15 per ticket! Whilst deliberating what to do we noticed the price of the treats we'd been looking forward to... popcorn and a drink was £8, it was £4 or £5 for a tub of pick n' mix and the Ben and Jerry's was £4.25 for the smallest tub! We thought about this for a while and came to the conclusion that spending nearly £50 just to watch a film and enjoy a few treats was an absolute joke! In fact it would have been more than our dinner and drinks just cost us over the road! We made a decision to stop somewhere on the way home, pick up a load of treats and buy a film on iTunes. We ended up with enough treats to sink a ship, that will probably last the next month and bought two new films to watch for about half the amount we would have spent on the trip to the cinema! What I'm keen to know is am I being tight? I don't really mind paying £10 to watch a film (£15 seems a bit much) but I just cannot justify the cost of the drinks and snacks. Is this not daylight robbery?! Perhaps next time we go (if we do) we'll make it when we're not having a sweet tooth hunger pang on!
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ReplyDeleteI think the cinema team would likely argue that you are not simply paying to watch a movie, you are paying for an "experience". But perhaps the prices have been driven higher due to the fact that there are not as many people attending each showing as there used to be.
ReplyDeleteAs you pointed out, you can buy snacks and treats far cheaper at any corner store or supermarket. You probably also have a modern TV which will be just as enjoyable to watch as the screen at the movie theatre.
Are you being tight? No... I don't believe so. If it were me in the same situation, I would have likely done the same.