Discretionary service charge only applies to parties over 8; staff keep all of this too"

Figures in brackets denote price including discretionary service charge.

D&D London was one of the first restaurant groups to declare it was abolishing its discretionary service charge.

Particularly when so many of them whack a discretionary service charge on the bill and the recent rise in VAT.

A discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill To retrieve this page as an e-mail, click HERE.

Restaurant critic Jay Rayner welcomes the decision by a major restaurant chain to scrap the practice of automatically adding a discretionary service charge to diners' bills.

The prices charged by restaurants such as Bombay Palace including the 15% discretionary service charge one would expect good service as standard but this restaurant does not live up to the expectations.

A la carte three-course lunch averages about $53 a person including a glass of wine and the 12.5 percent discretionary service charge, a la carte dinner about $65 a person.

Where discretionary service charges and non-cash tips are paid to employees by the business, they should be paid from the company bank account, with Income Tax deducted under PAYE.

D&D London, formerly known as Conran Restaurants, will ditch the 12.5 per cent "discretionary service charge", in an attempt to improve the quality of the service and to potentially cut the cost of customers' meals.

This is regardless of whether the gratuity is paid directly by the customer to the employee (e.g. a cash tip left on the table in a restaurant) or through the payroll (e.g. a discretionary service charge added to the customer's bill).

Celebrities, dignitaries, supermodels and aristocrats all regularly overnight here and the atmosphere is appropriately glamorous and exciting; service, meanwhile, is attentive and professional, as it should be with room rates featuring an additional 5 per cent discretionary service charge on check-out.

Whether it's a discretionary service charge that's added to a bill, or cash left on a table, all tips should go to the staff.

We have a 12.5 per cent discretionary service charge, all of which is shared among all staff according to a weighted tronc system.