A customer has raged over a bleak looking plate of eggs benedict served at a Melbourne cafe that came with a whopping $22 price tag.
The lacklustre meal featured one slice of toast topped with half a slice of ham, two eggs, hollandaise sauce, and a dusting of paprika.
Shared in the Reddit group ‘Shrinkflation,’ the poster raged that the unnamed cafe had decreased their portion sizes over the past three months.
“Three months ago it used to have a lot more for the same price,” they wrote.
People lashed the cafe in the comments, with one savage poster calling it the “culinary equivalent of a manila envelope”.
“That’s the saddest, most unappetising eggs benedict I have ever seen,” shared another user.
In another critique, a Reddit user wrote: “I would pay to not have to eat that.”
Others criticised the eatery for its extreme profit mark-up given the total cost of the items.
“Been living in Australia all my life so I’m not surprised when I see s**t like this but like come on … Eggs maybe 50c each. Piece of sourdough toast probably 25c. Slice of ham, let’s just say 50c, and the hollandaise sauce? I don’t know maybe between 50c – $1?” they wrote.
“That literally cost them maybe $1.09 to make,” shared another.
As Australians grapple with the increased cost-of-living, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that prices for restaurant meals have increased by 6.3 per cent in the June quarter.
According to CreditorWatch’s May economic update, Australians have continued to reduce their spend at cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services – a trend which began in February.
In July, CreditorWatch said food and beverage service businesses were at the highest risk of default as discretionary spending dips, amid rises in food, electricity, debt and labour costs. The reporting agency said the trend is likely to continue as households move off of fixed home loan rates established before the Reserve Bank of Australia began lifting rates.
In the past 15 months, Australia’s official cash rate has gone from a historic low of 0.1 per cent in April 2022, to a current 11-year high of 4.1 per cent.