I am a regular customer of the restaurant since 2010, though have to admit not so frequently as before since many new restaurants did open offering an even better atmosphere to have dinner while prices are equal or even lower. Yesterday evening went there again and although I know almost all the menus, so not really have to go through all pages to make a choice, I was more than surprised of all new prices going up. For some menus it meant a raise of almost 100%. Well every owner of a restaurant is free to ask for his service what ever he considers it is reasonable and making enough profit. As a costumer I have the freedom to choose by comparing prices, quality of food, interior of the restaurant, atmosphere and more. With the kind of current prices I can say there's no longer a reason for me to choose for Why Not.
Gone downhill. I first went in why-not in 2002 when it had a real bar, horse-shoe shape, with cute bar-maids. Spent many hours drinking in there, then a change of Dumo politics made the owner to refurbish it into a restaurant. And yes the prices have gone up considerably.
The Philippines USED TO BE cheap for food and for eating out. Perhaps everywhere is expensive now but I think some countries would be much cheaper to live in - maybe the use of English draws us here.
It was my Filipina wife that drew me here. I had no idea where the Philippines was or what language they spoke. Never had internet in those days, we wrote to each other (pen friends). I bought a map and a book about the Philippines.
There's still quite a few things "cheap" in the Philippines: 1. and yes, eating out is still one of those (I will elaborate, see below). 2. strong alcoholic beverages like rum and whisky etc., but also cigarettes 3. meat (in the supermarket) 4. public transport (from trike to buses and ferries to taxis) 5. medical assistance (try to get your broken leg fixed for 2,000 pounds in the UK when uninsured). 6. household help (try to find even a cleaning lady in the UK for less than 25 quid per hour) 7. labour generally (whatever you need fixed, we got the tv fixed a while ago for 1.5k and the ceiling ventilator for 300 peso, cleaning the aircon is like 750 per unit, and nobody charges to drive to your door) As for the eating out, I left Europe back in early 2016, but I guarantee that even back then I couldn't afford to eat out except for special occasions (and even then I would still pay grudgingly because more often than not I'd spend 50€ per head or more, even when ordering cheap wine. Even a simple fish and chips meal at an average pub in the UK is going to set you back around 14 pounds these days. The average lunch at Casablanca (and many other restaurants here in town) still goes for around 400-500 peso, or 6 to 7 pounds. I'm thinking you may need to travel back to the UK for a couple weeks, just to get a "price reset" .
I would agree that here is cheaper than the UK (but not in all respects) ... BUT I was not comparing here with the UK. I wrote "other countries" and was therefore referring to countries where the cost of living is also far lower than in the UK but cheaper than here. Anyone living here would not need to go back home to get a reset, although my friend @DAVE1952 tells me of all the food items he buys at far better prices in the UK! And I know that people come here because of Filipinas but, again, many countries have very beautiful women who want a wealthy (relative term) man; e.g. Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Dominican Republic, Colombia. Kenyans and Nigerians use English reasonably well but many other counties at the low-cost end do not. Therefore, the big advantage here is the standard of English - plus, many men like Asian women.
Sweet. Same reason I am here - a Filipina wife but one I met in the UK. However, for anyone searching now, there are alternative countries that some may find have lower-cost living. No decent person would dump a wife to save money! Hmmm.
