The Little Bay restaurant in central London tells diners to pay what they can afford

updated 12:17 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 3, 2009

LONDON – A London restaurant decided to do away with bills for the next month, asking customers to pay only what they want for meals in an unorthodox bid to beat the credit crunch.

The Little Bay restaurant in central London, one of four owned by restaurateur Peter Ilic, will present diners with absolutely nothing when they ask for the check during February, leaving it up to them to decide what the meal was worth.

“Anything between a penny and 50 pounds ($70) will make me happy, it’s entirely up to the customer to decide,” Ilic said on Tuesday, sounding confident about the prospects as he sat on a purple couch is his brightly colored, arty restaurant, known for its bistro-style Mediterranean cuisine.

“It just seemed the right thing to do with everyone under the cash and feeling pretty miserable,” he said.

Times have not been easy for London restaurants in recent months as the credit crisis and a deepening recession have hit everyone, from ordinary city workers to highly paid bankers.

Whereas once high-flying hedge-fund managers from the London financial district known as the City might seek out the most ostentatiously expensive lunch they could find — and top London restaurants would willingly oblige — now the order of the day is austerity and a decent, tasty bargain.