The Racecourse Prices Index: how much for food and drink at Kempton?

The Racecourse Prices Index (RPI) is an occasional series, in which we report from each of Britain and Ireland's racetracks on the cost of going racing.

Racecourse report: entry, food and pint prices from Kempton

Kempton

Date visited: Sunday, October 16, 2022

Was it a big day?

It was a good day of racing to open the new jumps season at the track, with more than £140,000 on offer across seven races. Field sizes were small but there was still plenty of interest amid the two Listed contests on offer, with £50,000 up for grabs for the feature 2m hurdle.

How much was entry on the gate?

Entry was £20 on the day with racecards costing £3.

Other than restaurants/hospitality, what were the food and beverage options?

A standard array of hot food was available from a mobile burger-and-fries stand with burgers, hot dogs and bacon rolls all available at £6 and cheeseburgers at £7.

More popular was the Carvery and German sausage van, which also offered a bacon roll for £6 alongside a roast pork pull with apple sauce for £7.50. Frankfurters were £6, while bratwurst and krakauer were £7.

There's not much on first glance to appeal to vegetarians, but a quick enquiry to the burger-and-fries stand proved the staff were happy to whip up a fried egg with cheese and onions in a bun for £6.

Sweet food options were headed by a waffle for £5 from Parade Ring Treats, with an extra £1 for an assortment of various toppings. Tea and coffee were available from £2, hot chocolates at £3 and milkshakes at £4.

What's the damage?

Bottle of water: £2.30
Cheapest pint: £6.40. Only one pint was available, which was Staropramen
Guinness: £6.60
Champagne: from £65 (Pannier)

All drink prices taken from the main racecourse bar, or where there are multiple bars, one chosen at random.

What was the fried-egg burger like?

The vegetarian alternative to the burger was cooked well and a suitable meal for warming up on a rather mild October afternoon. The staff were friendly, helpful and happy to cook things to preference.

The fried-egg burger with cheese and onions came to £6

And the queues?

The carvery attracted the longest wait with around a four-person queue before 1pm, but around half an hour before the opening race there remained no signs of significant queues and you could approach a food outlet at your leisure.

How did it go down with the punters?

We just got here about 20 minutes ago and have just bought burgers and two drinks, which came to around £18. I think that's pretty reasonable for a place like this and the food was good. We come here quite a lot and we're members of Cheltenham, so we got tickets in reciprocal, but the £20 on the gate didn't seem too bad.
Steve and Debbie Stone, Norfolk

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