What fits, with guide prices
£40–80 a head, guide price
The long lunch
One big table, no rush, and nobody has to leave for a shift.
£20–40 a head, guide price
Curry night
The plan that never needs explaining.
£30–50 a head, guide price
Bottomless brunch
Ninety minutes, a set price, and the afternoon still free.
£25–60 a head, guide price
A whisky or wine tasting
Someone else explains it and pours it.
£45–95 a head, guide price
A cooking class
You make it, then you eat it together.
£10–25 a head, guide price
Pub quiz and a round
A weeknight plan for when weekends never line up.
£15–40 a head, guide price
A brewery or distillery tour
An hour of how it is made, then the tasting.
Tables for ten
Restaurants draw the line for a group in different places. Shoryu Ramen's bookings page treats six or more as a group booking and confirms those by hand. The Stable's booking policy asks for card details to secure a table of twenty or more. So for a big table, phone or email instead of using the online form, and ask:
- Is it one table or two side by side?
- Is there a deposit, and is it charged a head or for the whole table?
- Is there a set menu, and do you need our choices in advance?
- When do you need final numbers?
- How long is the table ours?
The cooking class, the tasting and the brewery tour are different. They run as sessions with a fixed number of places, so they behave like tickets. Book them once the plan is locked in. For a pub quiz, check the team size limit before eight of you turn up.
Choosing the mealtime
The meal has to suit the person with the worst day. Lunch suits the friend who has travelled in and the one who has to be home for the children's bedtime. A weeknight dinner suits people who finish work near each other.
A bottomless brunch is ninety minutes at a set price. It is a poor choice for anyone working that evening, for reasons that need no explaining.
If someone in the group is on shifts
Coming off nights. Someone who finished at 8am is asleep at brunch time, and Vennado will not offer them anything before mid-afternoon. Breakfast is never on. There is more in the guide to planning around night shifts.
Finishing a long day. If Cat's long day on the ward ends at 8:30pm, a table at 9pm works only if the kitchen is still serving. Ask for last orders before you book. The other answer is a near miss: the group eats at 7:30pm and Cat arrives for pudding.
Working in a kitchen. Ffion, a chef, is on service every evening the rest of you want to eat out. A long lunch on her day off is the fix. The page on hospitality and retail rotas has more on rotas that arrive late.
On call. Vennado counts on call as busy unless the plan says otherwise. If the person on call can sit near work with a soft drink, decide that as a group and choose the restaurant to suit.
Splitting the bill
- Agree the method before ordering. An even split is quick, and it is unfair on the person drinking tap water because they are driving or working later.
- Food evenly, drinks separately is the default that causes fewest arguments. A set menu turns the food into a fixed cost a head.
- Deposits are personal. Each person pays theirs to the organiser before the table is booked. If someone drops out late, it is their deposit that is lost, not the organiser's.
- Check the service charge. Ask whether one is added to the bill for a big table, and whether the figure you gave the group includes it.
- Ask about a price without alcohol for bottomless brunch and tastings, if some of you are not drinking.
Classes, tastings and tours are paid a head in advance, which makes them the cleanest to split and the worst to drop out of.
Before you pay a deposit
- The cancellation cut-off, and whether the deposit comes off the bill or is refunded after.
- The date for final numbers and pre-orders.
- That the set menu covers every dietary need in the group. Ask, do not assume.
- How long you have the table.
- Step-free access, and high chairs if this is a family meal.
Vennado does not take the booking. It finds the window, suggests the kind of meal that fits the hours and the budget a head, and links out so one of you can book with the restaurant.
Questions people ask
How far ahead should we book a table for ten?
As soon as the plan is locked in. A weekday table is usually easier to find than a weekend evening, which is the slot every other group of ten wants too. Classes and tastings run on fixed dates with limited places, so treat those like tickets and book once the group has voted.
What time should we eat if someone is working nights?
A very late lunch or an early dinner. Someone who finished a night shift at 8am needs the morning to sleep. Vennado keeps seven hours clear after a night shift unless that setting is switched off, so it offers them nothing before mid-afternoon. An early dinner also works before the next shift, if they are not drinking.
How do we split the bill fairly when some people are not drinking?
Decide before anyone orders. The fair default is to split the food evenly and keep drinks separate, either by round or on a second bill. A set menu makes the food a fixed cost a head. Anyone driving, on call or working later should not be subsidising the wine.
Do restaurants take deposits for group bookings?
Some do, and where the line for a group falls varies. Shoryu Ramen's bookings page, for one, counts six or more as a group and says larger groups may be asked for a deposit. Ask what happens to it: whether it comes off the bill or is refunded afterwards.