A pay-by-weight food bar works exactly like it sounds: you fill a bowl with the food you want, put it on the scales, and pay for the weight. No fixed-price dishes. No portion sizes decided by someone else. No guessing what you’re getting. You see the price, you see the weight, you pay.
What Pay-by-Weight Means
The model has been around in various forms for decades — from salad bars in the United States to mezze cafés in the Middle East — but it’s been growing in London’s food scene as a format for more considered eating.
At its core, pay-by-weight solves a problem that traditional restaurant pricing doesn’t: the mismatch between what you want to eat and what you’re forced to buy.
Fixed menus create waste (you order more than you want) or frustration (you want more and can’t add easily). Set portion sizes assume everyone’s appetite is the same. Tiered pricing — small, medium, large — still locks you in. Pay-by-weight removes all of that. You take exactly what you want and pay for exactly that.
It’s also transparent in a way most food pricing isn’t. You know the price per 100g before you start. You can see the weight on the scale before you commit. There are no surprises at the till.
How It Works Step by Step
Here’s exactly how the Varenik & Pelmen self-serve model works:
Step 1: Pick up a bowl. We provide the bowl. Its weight does not count towards what you pay.
Step 2: Choose your dumplings. We have pelmeni (meat-filled, small) and vareniki (larger, mixed fillings including sweet options) available fresh. Pick one type, or mix and match.
Step 3: Add your toppings. All six toppings are laid out and self-serve. Take as many or as few as you like. This is where you make the bowl yours.
The six toppings — every one included at no extra cost:
– Sour cream
– Crispy bacon
– Fresh herbs
– Sautéed mushrooms
– Fried onions
– Berry jam
Step 4: Put the bowl on the scales. The scales measure the weight of the dumplings only. Not the bowl. Not the toppings.
Step 5: Pay. The price is £5 per 100g of dumpling weight. That’s all you pay. Toppings are included. Bowl isn’t charged. Simple.
Why It’s Good Value
Pay-by-weight isn’t just a pricing gimmick. It changes the economics of eating in a way that benefits the customer.
You don’t pay for toppings separately. At Varenik & Pelmen, six toppings are included in the price of your bowl — no line items, no “add sour cream for £1.” If you’ve eaten at places where toppings are charged individually, you’ll know how quickly that adds up. We don’t do that.
You don’t pay for air. Some restaurant portion sizes pad out the plate to justify the price. A serving of something that’s half presentation and half food. Pay-by-weight has no incentive to do that. What you see on the scale is what you’re paying for.
You control your spend. Whether you want a light snack (100–150g, £5–7.50) or a generous meal (200–250g, £10–12.50), you decide. Your appetite, your budget.
No service charge. No 12.5% added at the end. What you see at the scale is what you pay.
For London, where £15 for a starter is not unusual, a full dumpling bowl with toppings for £10 is genuinely competitive. The pay-by-weight model is what makes that possible.
Our Self-Serve Dumpling Bar
Varenik & Pelmen is London’s Eastern European dumpling bar — handmade pelmeni and vareniki, self-serve, pay-by-weight.
The menu:
Pelmeni (small, meat-filled):
– Lamb & Beef (halal)
– Pork & Beef
– Chicken
– Pork
– Kids’ coloured-dough pelmeni
Vareniki (larger, mixed fillings):
– Potato
– Cabbage
– Mushroom
– Sweet Cherry
– Strawberry
– Cheese & Spinach
Drinks: Uzvar · Kompot · Kissel · House lemonade
Also: Syrniky (cottage cheese pancakes) · Bliny · Frozen 200g packs at £9
The format: Self-serve. You choose, you weigh, you pay. No table service. No waiting for someone to take your order. You’re in control.
The proof: At our first London pop-up at the TERN Food Power event in May 2026, we sold out 70 portions in two hours. The self-serve format worked. People got it immediately. Build your bowl, pay for what you take.
Find our next pop-up date and location at eatpelmeni.com/find-us.
More about how it all works: /how-it-works/.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does pay-by-weight food work?
You fill your bowl with whatever food you want from the available options, put the bowl on the scales, and pay a fixed price per 100g — in our case, £5/100g. The price covers the dumpling weight only. Toppings and the bowl itself are not charged. You see the exact price before you pay — no surprises.
Is pay-by-weight good value?
Yes — particularly when toppings are included, as they are at Varenik & Pelmen. You’re paying only for the food you actually want to eat, with no markup for toppings, no service charge, and no fixed-portion pricing. A 200g bowl of handmade dumplings with six toppings included comes to £10. That’s good value by any London standard.
Do you pay for the bowl weight?
No. At Varenik & Pelmen, the bowl is not charged. You pay only for the dumpling weight. Put as many toppings as you want on top of that — they’re included too.
Are toppings extra?
No. All six toppings — sour cream, crispy bacon, fresh herbs, sautéed mushrooms, fried onions, and berry jam — are included in your bowl price. Take all six. Take one. Take none. You pay the same either way.