watford

I have been here years and love it,but one thing that annoys me is why restaurants close so early here.
My rellies come over from the uk and about 9pm say shall we go out for dinner ? They cant believe it when I say most places shut here about 9.30. I went to a Bali restaurant today to book a table for 12 for next weekend only to be told they too shut at 9.30pm on a sat night.
even chippys shut about 8.30...why ????

jmh

Having been brought up in NZ, I was surprised when I got the UK to find people didn't even start going out till 9pm. I still find it hard getting going that late. Don't know why that is though.

watford

I remember that you'd come out of the pubs and 10.30 pm and go for a curry.dont think my tummy could take that nowadays though !!!

asher

people get up early here and go to bed early too!

When I first came over we were kicked out of a restaurant at 10pm which thought was very early!

bars are sometimes open.

I have got used to it now

Fly Away

We are in the Uk and have our Aussie family over to stay frequently. They start getting hungry at 4pm and asking where we are going to eat. I have to make early bookings for them - first sitting at 7pm as the place opens. They must go home thinking eating out is a very quiet experience in the UK..

On the flip side, we have been to Australia and NZ a fair few times and I have lost count of the times we have gone to bed hungry because we were touring and turned up in a town after everything had shut.

ABCDiamond

Getting up at 4 or 5 am each day, and people tend to want to have eaten dinner well before 9pm.

That is how it was, and still is, for many people, here in QLD.

However, I have noticed a change in my part of QLD over the last few years, and things seem to be staying open later now.

It was very different in Sydney, when we lived down there.
We got up a lot later, and went out later in the evenings.

watford

I am not an early riser,though hubbys up at 5 every morning. I never go to bed before 10.30 in the evenings.I do think its nice to sit round a table in a nice restaurant with good company and a glass of wine after a nice meal.

pumpkin blossom

We found the same thing in the US. We would do something in the evening, and then go to dinner, and everywhere would be shut! One night we drove round for about an hour before finally finding a TGI Fridays that was open. Very odd.

I am normally more of a 7pm person anyway. Hubbie's family in Manchester if we went out would always insist on booking tables for 5pm!! That is still the afternoon to me!

sr71

I actually found the opposite, having lived in Melbourne and Sydney, then moving to the UK in 2001 I though the UK shut down early in comparison and I still do.

Eastend Girl

I'm not an early riser and was surprised the first couple of times I went out to dinner in Brisbane and by 8.30 they were stacking chairs on the tables around us. Am used to it now but even at home we don't eat much before 8

Hutch

'tis a bit of shocker how early everything shuts. And god forbid you get the munchies on a Tuesday, because the only thing you'll be eating is a three week old sausage roll from the pie cabinet in the petrol station.

bobbyftm

Surely not everyone gets up at that time of morning in Queensland as it's optional I used to get up at 2am in England for work but restaurants were still open late so where does that excuse come into the reckoning??

TMRE

Up at 7am and in bed at?..well I'm still up now . QLD the old persons state

CPW

I guess it's a cultural thing. For example, in Sweden people seem to eat lunch at about 11.30am and dinner at about 6.00pm, which always seems odd to me...

Working hours are usually earlier in Australia than in the UK too, particularly compared with London and the south-east.

bobbyftm

Well i'm off to bed now ! Or , am i just getting up ??