The cost of pub food has risen by 13% in the past two years, with some pubs adding more than 25% to the amount customers pay for their food, according to the latest edition of The Good Pub Guide.
While average prices, excluding housing, rose by 2.67% between May 2001 and 2003, pub grub jumped by nearly five times as much, the guide warned.
The guide surveyed 331 pubs in 12 areas from Cambridgeshire to Cornwall, Berkshire to Wales and Kent to Yorkshire.
In each pub, inspectors took a typical dish and compared its price now against what the pub was charging two years ago.
“At a time when other high-street prices have been almost at a standstill, price increases on this scale do get noticed - and do hurt customers’ pockets,” said editor Alisdair Aird.
“Another grievance is that many readers feel bulldozed into having, and paying for, something far fancier than the simple lunchtime snack that they really want. A sandwich often comes with a few pence’ worth of unwanted chips, crisps or salad, bumping the price up by a pound or two,” he added.
When it came to drink, the average national price of a pint stood at £2.07, with the cheapest area now Nottinghamshire at £1.84 a pint.
Brunning & Price, which owns 11 pubs, mostly in the north west of England, was this year’s pub group of the year.
The Star in Harome, Yorkshire, won the pub of the year award.
by Nic Paton