Everybody likes coming across a good deal at a top restaurant so £26 for three courses seems like a good option.
But not every bargain hunter then goes on to spend £11,000 for two bottles of wine or £1,200 for six shots of brandy.
That's exactly what a group of six wealth managers did when they ran up a lunchtime bill of £17,466.20 during lunch at Argentinian steakhouse Gaucho in Broadgate, central London.
They enjoyed the Lunch in the City Like a Polo Player menu which offers two courses for £23 or for another £3 diners can enjoy a third course.
However, they weren't satisfied with washing their food down with six orders of £4.25-a-bottle water so instead went for the Dom Perignon Vintage wine list.
They chose two bottles of 1988 rose (£5,500 each), two 1996 vintages (£510 each), a 1970 (£1,800), and a 1969 (£1,900).
They then went on for a round of coffees but that doesn't appear to have quenched their thirsts so they moved on to brandy and cigars.
Choosing the most expensive one on the menu, they took six large Richard Hennesseys costing a total of £1,200.
And what goes well with brandy? But cigars, of course. For these diners that decision added another £293 onto the bill for six cohiba cigars.
A spokesman for the chain restaurant said the group 'clearly enjoyed themselves'.
During the Olympics, a group of Games officials are believed to have racked up £44,660 for a business lunch, including a £19,000 tab for a bottle of 1853 Hennessy cognac.
The service charge alone for the meal at the Dorchester Hotel's restaurant came in at £4,962.26.
A partial view of the bill shows relatively modestly-priced dishes - such as portions of spiced chicken for £15 apiece, vegetarian fried rice for £5 and sorbet platters at £7 a time - alongside the costly cognac.
Meanwhile at the height of the recession, a City hedge-fund owner lavished £71,000 on alcohol at a Christmas party for just nine members of staff, it has emerged.
The recession-busting bill included a £10,000 tip for the serving waitress Margaux, which is not their real name.
Other items included a £7,956 service charge and £7,200 on six magnums of Dom Perignon.
Most of the cash was spent on 24 six-litre bottles of Prince Harry's favourite drink Ciroc Ultra Premium vodka, which came to a total of £44,400.
The six wealth managers enjoyed, among others, two bottles of 1996 vintage Don Perignon at £510 a bottle (left) and six large glasses of Richard Hennesseys (right) costing a total of £1,200
Among the group's purchases there were two bottles of wine worth £5,500 each
The drink is served from a futuristic pouring unit called 'Le Halo' and each bottle costs an eye-watering £1,850.
It was reported the party started on a Wednesday night at the Rose Club off London's Oxford Street in Marylebone and continued into the following Thursday morning.
The owners revealed revealed the unnamed British hedge-funder, who is believed to live nearby, also bought seven bottles of Mahiki Coconut, a rum liqueur named after the club beloved as a hang-out among young royals.
At one point he threw £50 notes in the air like confetti and watched as 'pretty girls' scrambled on the floor to pick up as many as they could.
A spokesman for the basement club said: 'I suppose generous doesn't quite cover it.'
During the Olympics, a group of Games officials are believed to have racked up £44,660 for a business lunch, including a £19,000 tab for a bottle of 1853 Hennessy cognac