A RESTAURANT owner has defended his prices, after being criticised for charging £7.90 for two bowls of curly fries. Five incensed customers contacted the Broadcast after they had eaten at The Musketeers Restaurant on Dunmow s High Street. Theresa Vince sp

A RESTAURANT owner has defended his prices, after being criticised for charging £7.90 for two bowls of curly fries.

Five incensed customers contacted the Broadcast after they had eaten at The Musketeers Restaurant on Dunmow's High Street.

Theresa Vince spoke for four of her friends, when she said: "We got the bill after what we thought was a light lunch and were shocked to see how much it cost. The biggest issue we had were with the curly fries, they cost us nearly eight quid for just two bowls and some dip.

"They were not on the menu so we just ordered them anyway because we thought surely they are just bits of potato.

"We definitely will not be going back there again. Doesn't the restaurant know that people are struggling to get by? We just wanted to go out for a little get together and it ended up costing us an arm and a leg."

Restaurant owner Neil Hardiman defended his prices and pointed to the fact that the dish is actually on the menu, under the tapas section, and the price is clearly marked.

"We order our fries in from a company called Lamb and Western, and we are assured that they are the best you can buy," he said.

"We serve over 5000 customers every month here and have very few complaints. However, when you serve that many customers you can expect that one or two will not be completely happy.

"The dish itself is easily worth the £3.95 price tag because it is a big bowl of chips with an assortment of dips. Every meal we serve here has the best ingredients and all are priced on the menu, so customers know exactly what they are getting."

Do you think restaurants charge too much? Or are they affected by the credit crunch in the same way as all of us and the prices have to make a profit? E-mail us at editor@dunmow-broadcast.co.uk