How to Save Maximum Money While Dining Out | Part 1

Gone are the days when people used to prefer dining out at restaurants without the knowledge of a discount or a complimentary dish. As times have changed, so has the culture of dining out. From impromptu eating out plans, to the habit of table reservation all thanks to technological advancements we’ve seen the dining out culture change tremendously over the years. With a plethora of table reservation, discounts and review apps available, customers are spoilt with choices. Singling out on one app that offers maximum discounts is quite a task. To make things easier for food enthusiasts like you, we did an experiment. Read on!

The Experiment

At the very start of this experiment we realized that that there were just too many apps so we narrowed down on these 4 apps#

  • Dineout | EazyDiner | Gourmet Passport | Zomato’s Zomato Gold

Some looking around and we found that Molecule Air Bar, one of our favourite places in Gurgaon Sector 29 Market, had offers on all the four apps. A team lunch was due and hence we decided that we’ll do the experiment for a 6 pax meal here.

#Checkout the detailed post for the criteria on the basis of which we chose these 4 apps.

Unit 1 (6 Pax)

We chose Molecule in Sector-29, Gurgaon for doing a 6 pax experiment. After much brainstorming, we fixed a menu consisting of vegetarian, non-vegetarian dishes & a couple of drinks.

This is what our menu consisted of-

  • 6 Main Course Dishes
    • Min. 1 Veg &
    • Min. 2 Non-Veg
  • 6 Alcoholic Drinks

We had initially added desserts but by the end of our first meal realized that none of us had any appetite left for them, so we decided to remove them from the menu. Checkout the complete menu selection here.

After multiple visits using the apps one by one, this is what we found out.

Conclusion

The Verdict

Gourmet Passport was the clear winner in this case with a hard-to-believe discount of 46% (with 1 membership on the table), followed by Zomato Gold with 19% discount (with 2 memberships on the table) & Dineout with 15% discount.

Here is a comparison chart of all the apps and cases-

As can be seen from the above chart, not only does Gourmet Passport provide the maximum discount it also pays for itself in the very first meal for a new user. A 12 month Gourmet Passport membership for Delhi costs Rs. 1,299 and the discount we received was Rs. 2679.

Zomato Gold membership is currently selling at Rs. 1679 and in all the above cases we have considered for it, we have received a discount which is about 1/3rd of the initial investment required.

Initial Investment Required vs Discount Received for all the above Zomato Gold cases is as below-

Points to Note:

Here are a few factors to keep in mind while reading the above conclusion-

Free vs Paid:

  • Dineout & EazyDiner are free services offering discounts applicable across the bill. Also it’s free to book tables through these services.
  • Gourmet Passport & Zomato Gold are paid memberships to avail 1+1 offers.

Unique Features:

  • Gourmet Passport: Members can combine food & drinks offers. The only catch being that it offers a maximum of 3 coupons for food & 3 coupons for drinks per restaurant. This makes one try new restaurants but with an option to buy the pack again to go back to the same restaurant.
  • Zomato Gold: Can use unlimited times at the same restaurant. However, 1 member can only get 1 free dish per meal. To get more than 1 free dish per table more than 1 Zomato Gold memberships are required, which also means a higher upfront investment.

What’s Next?

By the end of this experiment we realized we have to do a more comprehensive survey otherwise the effort that we already put in this one would not be justified. We plan to release the results from our Two Pax experiment next week. Subscribe to our blog and never miss an update!

Also, if you’re in Delhi/Mumbai/Bengaluru and would like to be a part of this survey, ping us and we shall take it forward from there. 🙂

Read the detailed post here!

Referral Codes

In case you wish to use/download any of these apps you can use the following Referral Codes on Signup for greater benefits

 

From one of our visits to Molecule Air Bar
From one of our visits to Molecule Air Bar

 

Delicacies at Molecule Air Bar Sector 29 Gurugram
Some of the delicacies we had at Molecule. Bengali Macher Jhol and Nasi Goreng (not in the picture) are a must try! 🙂
Your Views?

About Author

Gurpreet Singh Tikku

Meet Mister Tikku – a food influencer, hardcore entertainer, and smile spreader extraordinaire! With a passion for all things delicious, Mister Tikku has spent years exploring the world of food and sharing his experiences with his followers. With his infectious personality and knack for finding the best bites around, Mister Tikku has gained a loyal following on social media and has established himself as one of the most trusted voices in the food & beverage industry. @MisterTikku

For All the latest Posts & Updates