When you think of mouth watering spicy rice dishes with lentils and sambles, what country comes to mind? Is it India or Pakistan, well for me its Sri Lanka. A few kilometers from where we live in the culinary city of Melbourne is the huge architecturally spectacular convent building of Abottsford Convent. Breaking out onto a courtyard of the Convent is a small restaurant which serves Sri Lankan breakfast, lunch and dinner and also cups of the best Arabica coffee and Indian spiced Chai you could have. The service is good and the presentation very professional.

Now what sets this restaurant apart is that you pay for what you feel the meal is worth. You don't even have to tell the staff how much you are paying, as there is a donation box or piggy bank in the form of an old treasure chest which you slip the notes and coins into after your meal. It's up to you to work out the value in monetary terms you feel the service and food encapsulates. Strangely enough I have noticed the restaurant, which by the way is called "Lentil as Anything", is hardly ever full except on weekends. Believe you me it's not due to lack of friendly faces that bring copious amounts of healthy steaming tasty food and lay it out before you. It's not the surreal surroundings steeped in gothic culture and crumbling buildings with ornate window boxes. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what it could be other than the fact that a potential clientele may be caught in the barrier of price making. Possibly the discussions which develop at the end of each meal, or the mental dilemmas posed between couples as to what notes or coins to drop into the box may stifle entry. One other thing I have noted is that parents tend to make it the children's job at the table to go and drop the cash into the slot. Why might this be? It could be totally innocent for all my knowing.

There are more high profile examples of the above such as Little Bay restaurant in London www. little-bay.co.uk and Radioheads latest album "In Rainbows" where you pay as much as you feel you should, based on the value you get. This particular restaurant in the chain of five "Lentil as Anything" http://www.lentilasanything.com/ , is however closer to my heart as it is more innocent in many ways and should simply succeed based on the goodness of mankind. The goodness of mankind, now there is a conundrum if ever there was one.