It sounds like we did just that. It certainly wasn't possible to order "less" fondue than we had. We asked the waitress if one was enough for both, and she said: "just order one, if it's not enough, we'll get another one out for you".

And one was plenty! I was cheesed out for the whole day after it

As hotels in London in the 70ies were less expensive than in either Zurich and Paris but then in the 80ies became exorbitant overnight, my question is how it is with the hotel prices in London now ?

Humoungusly expensive!

A documentary on the BBC the other day talking about rents in London- where the average rent now is more than 50% of salary.

So what proportion of salary is your rent in ZH?
Impossible to simply compare costs - you need to take account of salary, and a whole array of factors too.

You need to learn to use a town or area- a lot of it is about saviness - thinking outside the box, adapting to local produce, etc.
Had I tried to eat and live like a Swiss in London in the 70s, I would have come a cropper big time!

Restaurants in cities like Schaffhausen, Frauenfeld, Rapperswil, Biel and Bern tend to be less expensive than in Zürich, but shopping in these cities tends to be rather more expensive due to lesser choice. You however have to be aware of the fact that restaurants in Suburbia generally are far less expensive than in central downtown. Much depends on the exact location. The market on the Bürkliplatz, frequented by well-off Züribärg people tends to be more expensive than the one on Helvetiaplatz with a rather different clientele. Restaurants on the right side of the Zürichsee (Seefeld, Stadelhofen, etc) generally are clearly more expensive than the average on the left side. Zug and Luzern in general are on the same price level as Zürich, to the profit of private enterprise, because they capitalize on the rich expats in Zug and the US-tourists in Luzern.

Went for lunch the other day:

chicken soup
salad with paté
Beef goulasch, with rice and carrots
chocolate mousse
1 glass of Goron rosé for me
1 beer for OH
2 coffees

38CHF (for both of us)

No we do NOT live in ZH

My daughter had lunch at the Ducasse the other day in London (the Dorchester) - she could have bought the above restaurant for the price of her parties lunch (I know, apples and oranges, lol)

You can probably eat for that in Zürich too, but you have to know where to go and maybe reduce your expectations in terms of service and ambiance. But some places still exist.

The price of wine in restaurants in ZH is bonkers. 42-50 chf seems about average for an average bottle.
Even when we were at 2.40/£1 it was pricey compared to London, and I used to think London took the piss on wine mark ups.

Evidently, each persons situation is different, whether you have kids and thus schooling and care etc to think about, or whether you are young and social and want to go out a lot etc..

But in general terms, and speaking from a young social male perspective I see the following :

Alcohol : expect to pay nearly double than the UK. 8-9chf for pint, and 14-18 for spirit n mixer.

That said, buying alcohol in supermarkets is alot cheaper, two pints in pub will get you a crate in Denner for example.

Food: on average I would say a 20-30% increase on Uk prices, but food quality is very good IMO. Restaurants vary, get some classic pub grub, whilst nice can be nearly three time what youd pay in uk. 25 chf. Pretty shocking. But you will find restaurants for good value, paying 50-80 chf for a good quality meal for two.

That said, the options in London vastly superior and I do miss Indian and Chinese food at good quality and good value.

I think most agree value for money on rents is better in CH, with size, extras, accessibility and I think people forget all the little extras in uk where in CH u have one price aside from cable and electric.

So, finances. Double Uk at a minimum. Tax, half.

Conclusion for me:

You can live a very confortable life in Switzerland. You like to eat out a couple times a week, cook the rest, have few pre drinks before heading out of a night
then our life is very easy.

Then you reflect on others have said; the festivals, the skiing, the lakes, the hikes, the public transport, the general cleanliness. It all contributes, for me, an outstandingly more improved quality of life.

__________________
Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary, Blaise Pascal

You would need to be more specific than this. I recently had a Club Sandwich at D-Vino near the Hauptbahnhof for 18 CHF, the same evening OH had a Club Sandwich (I know it's a weird coincidence) in a pub in Zurich near Rennweg for 28 CHF. It really depends where you're going.

:-) Yes, the Widder Bar Club Sandwich is definitely worth the CHF 32 :-) if you pay also for the nice smile of the very handsome waiter

London can be more expensive than Zurich because the choice of products and services is more far more abundant and it is far easier to be tempted to spend more..

It depends if your coming to live here or just visiting, cost of living is more expensive, LIFE in London carries a premium higher than that of Zurich because there is so much more LIFE in London.

Nobody has replied to my question though- if the average rent in the UK is now more than 50% of income - what proportion of your income is your rent in ZH?

I think it is usually 30%, I remember reading about this in this thread.

Quarter for me

Apologies, my mistake. If the average rent in LONDON (not uk) is now more than 50%.....

I have been told that costs for living (rent plus insurance cover plus TV/Telephone connection plus Billag) should roughly be 1/3 of your monthly income. For me it is below 20% and the flat is great!

Only if you hand around in ex-pat pubs. If you drink Swiss beer in a no-frills normals Swiss place you can get the equivalent of a pint for 6 or 7 CHF. If you know where to go for as little as 5.50.

Is that 30% of brute or net income?

In my opinion, Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester has a really good vaue lunch! During this fall it has been £50 and now seems to be:

3-course menu £60 includes 2 glasses of white or red wine coffee & half a bottle of water

If there was a two Michelin star place (or one star) in Zurich that offered this value, I'd like to know about it!

Not the same price on a Friday night - lol.