Fancy a fry-up at The Ritz? £30 please

For London diners still digesting the news that meals in London regularly exceed £100 a head, more bad tidings are at hand. The cost of a breakfast is threatening to break the £30 barrier.

A survey of 18 of the capital's swankiest hotels has revealed the Ritz in Piccadilly is offering the most expensive of them all at £30. Second place went to the Lanesborough and the Carlton Towers - both charging £28. The average price of a posh fry-up is now an average of £24, according to Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine.

The Ritz staff are pretty proud of their breakfast and believe it makes the perfect setting for the morning "power" business meeting.

Diners are invited to choose from an extensive menu. The full English breakfast offers a first course from the buffet - muesli, granola, dried and fresh fruits and organic yoghurts. They are then invited to move on the main action. Two eggs - cooked to order - are accompanied by a slice of Cumbrian back bacon or honey roast ham. Then there is a choice of sausage or black pudding plus grilled mushrooms and vine tomatoes.

The good news is service is included but a jacket and tie are compulsory. The Ritz said the price of the meal was justified by the "quality of the ingredients".