Cristopher, I am somewhat shocked and surprised to hear that anyone from the UK, or at least London would be in any way confused as for the last 15 years at least in London from mid-level places, up to top tier, not only has it become the norm, but an extortionate rip off. It is not uncommon in London for a small "couvert" to be charged per person, for a 12.5 or 15% "service charge" to be added to the bill, which is always calculated from the price INCLUDING VAT (which is 20%), and THEN for the Tip line to be left blank (and which many morons put down 15-20%). So to put it in perspective, if your total spend at the end of the night was 200 GBP, it would consist of 30 GBP as a "tip", 23.50 GBP in "service", about 23 GBP in VAT, and 10 GBP, for the "couvert". So for 114 GBP you would be paying 86 GBP in taxes and other fees for your meal, or over 40% when all is said and done with all of your discretionary "costs" made up of double dipping calculations!