COUNTER LUNCHEON.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12745, 24 April 1912, Page 8

COUNTER LUNCHEON.

The counter luncheon is a popular institution in many Australian and New Zealand hotels, and of late it has occupied a very prominent place in the domestic economy of business men in Melbourne. The cheapest restaurants in that city haye raised the price of meals from 6d to 3d, and hundreds of young men have transferred their patronage to the bars of the hotels, where the expenditure r>' 3d on a glass of beer entitles them to a fairly substantial luncheon. The Argus states that the supply of food for counter luncheons has been a considerable item in hotelkeepers' accounts for some years, and now it is reaching enormous dimensions. The meal taken at the bar is by far the cheapest that can be obtained in the city, every customer being permitted to eat as much as ho wants. "The carver in a city bar," says the Argus, "has become as necessary a member of the staff as the 'ordinary barman is. He is kept as hard as he can go cutting off slices of ham, or corned beef, or pressed beef. Beside the carver are ranged rows or piles of slices of bread, cut to a finepess which, would not displease even an epicure. The luncher holds forth a piece of bread to tho carveiy and upon it is placed a slice of such joint as the fastidious customer may desire. Mustard and salt are at hand, and often pickles and lettuce as. well. Small sav-.. oury sausages, kept hot in tureens, are more to the liking of some of the patrons, and others favor tinned fish', set forth in a dish upon a counter, or perhaps a fresh ham sandwich handed on a plate by an attentive barman, or a hot, crisp pie, just brought from the oven. The customer may drain his glass of beer with a little bread and cheese, and if his face be well known a friendly barman may perchance offer him an olive with which to end the feast and prepare iiis palate for a cigarette." In Melbourne the counter luncheon evidently is an elaborate and expensive meal. It will not be surprising if the Victorian hotelkeepers follow the example set by their neighbors in New South Wales and abolish this accompaniment to their liquid wares.