This was going to be a piece about making the most of the Indian summer, the joy of dining al fresco and how to eat in the best restaurants for a fraction of the price, writes Katherine MacAlister.

To test my theory that bargains are to be had for those who know where to look, I went along to The Lemon Tree in Woodstock Road, one of my favourite restaurants, to try their two courses for £10 one sunny lunchtime.

We found a table in the terrace garden and with the sun shining through the trees, it really was an idyllic setting, and made up for all the rain in August.

The beautiful people were out in force, adding to the feeling that we shouldn't really be there, but were having a wonderful time pretending we should. And the menu wasn't stingy. It wasn't soup and a sandwich. The mains alone would have normally cost twice the price.

SO WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?

There were two starter choices and several mains and we went for the celeriac soup with apple relish, the grilled fillet of mullet, fennel and dill salad with warm tomato vinaigrette, then the slow-roasted pork with garlic mash and redcurrant sauce and the mushroom tagliatelle.

AND WHAT DID YOU THINK?

The starters were lazily enjoyed and really delicious. You know within the first mouthful that this is a proper restaurant serving proper food.

The service was impeccable, we were treated with respect and the flavours were delicious. Next up was the pork, a huge slice served on a bed of mash and gravy.

The tagliatelle was equally as momentous, and despite a valiant struggle neither of us managed to finish our helping.

Two coffees and several hours later we were feeling very pleased with ourselves, bordering on smug. And then we ordered the bill - which came in at more than £32.

That's not a huge bill for diners who are after a fine meal, but it's a third more than we'd planned to pay.

Two courses for £10 sounds good. But for £15, you'd have to think about it. OK, we had drunk two coffees and a bottle of water, but even if we'd drunk tap water, we'd still have had to pay the 12.5 per cent service charge.

And when we paid, the tip box on the slip was left open for anyone who hadn't read the bill properly. That was pure greed on the restaurant's part.

VERDICT: Yes, I enjoyed the meal, yes I should have calculated that drinks would be more expensive than normal in a restaurant of this calibre - and yes, it did taint what had, until then, been a perfect lunch.

So the moral of the story is this, there's no such thing as a free lunch, or even a cheap lunch. And read the small print.