Woman asks waiter to cut cake in London restaurant and is hit with wild fee

A woman expressed her utter disbelief after being slapped with an astronomical fee by a London pub restaurant to provide her own cake at her girlfriend's birthday bash. Helena Moody described the situation as a "capital conundrum" as she aimed an expletive-ridden rant towards the establishment in question.

"We know that London takes the p*** when it comes to overcharging for things, but what I experienced at the weekend left me Googling how much my rent would be in Brighton because maybe I will have to move after this," she began in a TikTok video. Helena continued, explaining after her girlfriend hired the pub for her celebration, she emailed in advance of the party to ask if she could bring her own cake in order to cut down on costs.

You can watch the TikTok video on the link here.

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"They said it would be absolutely fine, but there will be... now this word is going to trigger me in future... a 'cakeage' fee," Helena fumed. "What the f*** is that? I believe the term is 'corkage' fee and you've just made that up."

Helena acknowledged that small businesses would obviously prefer to make a little extra money by serving their own desserts, but also pointed out the pub doesn't sell cake.

"I thought, 'alright, what is the cakeage fee?' expecting it to be about £20 or £30 quid for the table - which is already a little bit expensive - but the pub came back to me and no word of a f****** lie they said the cakeage fee would be £7 per person," she furthered.

Helena said initially she gave the pub the "benefit of the doubt", adding that perhaps staff hadn't realised 20 people would be in attendance making it an "insane ask". However, after clarifying the number, the pub held firm, quoting £140 "to bring in a Sainsbury's basic cake".

Insisting her girlfriend wouldn't go without a cake on her big day, however, Helena had the last laugh. "The minute our booking ended and we went and stood outside the pub, I got my candles out and I got the whole group to sing Happy Birthday and I gave the cake to my girlfriend," she boasted.

The "saga" didn't end there, however. As Helena detailed another twist: "While we were singing Happy Birthday, one of the staff members came out and said, 'Oh I'm really sorry you can't do that here, you're going to have to stand just across the road'."

Helena closed: "So there you go. Cakegate and the capitalist controversy has been concluded. You know what, there is no place like living in London - because it will bankrupt you and ruin your lungs!"

Writing in response, a chef explained he previously applied a similar charge at a previous business. "Controversial one but I used to charge a cakeage fee at my restaurant in specific cases," he admitted. "It was £5 per head in 2017/2018. We were flexible. If they ordered dessert/starter so paid for three courses then I wouldn’t charge them."

A second person pointed out: "They have to cut and serve, they provide plates and cutlery, plus you won’t buy their dessert. Seems fair to me (a bit pricey but fair)."

And a third noted in the pub's defence: "Yes but from their point of view - that's 20 people who would have potentially paid upwards of £10 each for a pudding from their menu who are now eating Sainsbury's cake instead of spending money with them."

Others, however, took Helena's side, including one TikTok user who slammed: "I get they want a little cost to cover washing plates, knives and forks etc. But £7/pp is day light robbery."

Another added: "Ex-hospitality manager here - I'd never have done this, it is such bad PR (as proven). You make it the best experience possible for the guests and this is worth far more than £140 in terms of word of mouth marketing."

While a third hit out: "I wouldn’t go anywhere where they charge that. Sat with your own cake doesn’t mean no dessert and also keeps people seated for longer buying drinks etc. It's just greed."