Chip shops in Bruges are ripping off tourists by charging them 10% MORE than locals
Frite vendors in the medieval Belgian city are hitting holidaymakers with inflated prices - and they say it’s perfectly legal
CHIPS, chocolate and beer are pretty much mandatory for any holidaymaker during a trip to Belgium.
But chip sellers in Bruges have left a bad taste in the mouth of tourists, after it emerged that they charge holidaymakers more than locals for the national dish.
According to the food vendors in the medieval city have been caught flogging frites to tourists at inflated prices after one visitor noticed Belgians were often given a ten per cent discount at the till.
The unhappy holidaymaker contacted the country’s national trade regulator but was told that the unfair pricing policy is perfectly legal, just so long as staff do not discriminate on the grounds of race or religion.
At least two chippies in the city have admitted to giving discounts to regular customers.
Philippe Thijs, owner of Chez Vincent which claims to sell “the best Belgian fries”, told the newspaper that his restaurant has “another button on the cash register” especially for locals.
He said: “You have the normal price and the price for townspeople and students.”
The city is so proud of its local dish that there is even a Frietmuseum dedicated to potato fries.
Inside the museum, which was founded in 2008, you can learn about the “fascinating history of the potato” and how fries came to Belgium.
News of a “tourist tax” on frites comes in the same month that local politicians accused the European commission of trying to ban their local dish.
The commission is proposing that the potatoes should be cooked differently to stop the formation of acrylamide, a hazardous compound that can form when certain foods are fried above 120C.
Belgium, who invented potato fries, claims the move will spoil the taste.
