Somerset West Wine Bar Charges Additional Fee for “Still Water Sourced Locally From Earth”

A wine bar operating in the Somerset West area has introduced a menu that, upon close reading, contains a charge of R28 for a 250ml glass of still water described as “locally sourced still water, naturally filtered by Earth’s geological processes, served still.” The water is, upon further enquiry, tap water. It is served in a nice glass.

The menu positions this offering between a sparkling import at R35 and a flavoured botanical water at R42, which gives it the appearance of a middle-ground option and which, in the context of a wine list starting at R65 a glass, reads as restrained. It is not, in objective terms, restrained. It is R28 for tap water in a nice glass. These are the facts and they coexist comfortably on the menu alongside the description “locally sourced” which is accurate in the sense that all municipal water originates somewhere and has, at some point in its journey, interacted with geological matter.

“I ordered it without reading properly,” a patron noted. “It arrived. It was good water, cold, the glass was very clean. I drank it and then looked at the bill and sat with that for a moment.” He did not dispute the charge. He is not certain why. He thinks it may be something to do with the lighting in the bar, which is excellent and which he suspects is doing structural work in support of the pricing throughout.

The wine bar’s owner, when contacted, noted that the water offering is “transparent, clearly described and priced to reflect the service environment, glassware and hospitality experience in which it is delivered.” This is a position. It is not an indefensible position. It is the position of someone who has thought carefully about how to charge R28 for tap water and has arrived at an answer that is technically coherent and commercially effective, which in Somerset West may be sufficient.

Several patrons have ordered it a second time without apparent distress. One ordered it specifically on a return visit because, she said, the glass really was very nice and sometimes that is the thing.