If you’re in London and hankering for something specific, you can almost certainly get it on Deliveroo, Just Eat or whatever, but it’ll cost you a pretty penny no matter what you’re ordering.
Between small order fees, delivery charges, a tip for your driver, and the inflated prices affected just about everything, even an £8 meal from McDonald’s can tick north of £15 to get it delivered.
It’s for the best that takeaway prices have started eclipsing what you’d pay for a sit-down meal at a restaurant, seeing as they’re typically a bad choice for your health and your wallet, but something sticks in the craw about takeaways being reduced to a once-a-month treat.
If you’re similarly frustrated by how expensive it is to sup on some world cuisine while you watch Grand Designs and shoo away your begging cat, it might be best that you don’t read this rediscovering Chinese restaurant menu that was recently posted to Reddit.
The menu from ‘On Lok’ in Leyton was found behind a cabinet and doesn’t have a concrete date, but the original poster reckons, ‘Late 70s / early 80s was the time my dad was there’.
So, let’s imagine it’s from 1979 or thereabouts. What could 46 years of inflation have done to the prices?
A lot, as it turns out. Brace yourself: a set menu for one at On Lok, c.1979, could cost as little as 50p. That would bag you a King Prawn Chop Suey, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Egg-Fried Rice in a ‘hygienic container supplied free’.
50p! It’s not just inflation to blame for the fact this meal would easily cost north of £10 – and that’s being conservative – in 2025, but a massive relative increase in price too. 50p in 1979 equates to £2.45 today, according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator.
It’s safe to say you won’t be getting a Chinese takeaway for £2.45 anywhere in the UK. The idea of it is so mind-bending that we’re sure you’ll agree there’s no point in us trying to find one.
The shocking price difference hasn’t been lost on Redditors, of course, especially compared with a more recent iteration of the same location.
“Looked up the address out of interest,” said one comment. “It appears it remained a Chinese restaurant until fairly recently. Closed now though.”
“Yes, was trading as Fortune Inn until it closed recently,” said another social media sleuth. “Even used the same number as the menu (the 01 became 020 in May 1990) -- 020 8534 1708!”
Then, for the comparison: “Managed to find their menu as of 2018. Notably the chicken/beef chop suey went from 28p to £5.10. The chow mein went from ~28p to ~£5.60. And chips from 5p to £2.10.”
There’s been plenty of mourning for prices gone by, not least from those born long after such things were conceivable.
“‘Yeah I’ll have one of everything please mate - stick it all in a cardboard box for me. How much? £8.42? Ok great’,” joked one comment.
“I miss just seeing the p after a number and not a £ before,” lamented another.
“I just paid £18 for a regular cod and chips,” chimed another. If you’ve ever had a fish and chips in London, and you’ve ever lived anywhere near the coast so as to know what kind of quality is possible, you’ll know it certainly wasn’t worth the £18 this guy paid.
Another noted how the similar menu speaks to the UK’s warped view of what Chinese food is: “It kind of shows you how out of date Chinese restaurants in the UK are. Most actually serve Chinese food that was popular in the Guangdong (Canton) area 50 years ago while the homeland has moved on.
“It's like if you went to a British restaurant in China and they were serving jellied eels and steak and kidney pudding.”
Featured Image Credit: JohnnyGreig/Getty ImagesTopics: UK Food, News, Social Media
Rachael Davis