A tourist was left so angry by the price of the restaurant bill they were handed that they decided to call the police.
Junko Shinba, from Japan, was visiting Singapore with three others when they stopped at Seafood Paradise to have some chilli crab, an iconic Singaporean dish.
On the waiter’s recommendation, the group ordered the Alaskan crab dish, believing it would cost SG$30.
However, they claim the waiter didn’t inform them the crab was priced at SG$26.80 (£16) per 100g – and they’d had the entire 3.5kg crab cooked for them Asia One reports.
So, when they asked for the bill, the group were charged an eye-watering SG$938, around £556, for the seafood.
They’d also ordered other dishes with a set price, such as a soup costing SG$12.80 (£7.60) and braised pork belly ribs priced at SG$12.90 (£7.70).
Shinba says the crab pricing wasn’t explained to her and the group by the waiter.
“We all became speechless knowing that one dinner for four adults cost that much,” she said. “None of us were informed that the whole crab would be cooked only for us, as some other restaurants serve crabs partially. There were three plates full of crab and many other dishes, we were unable to finish everything.”
Furious at the bill, Shinba asked a waiter to call the police, who arrived at the restaurant to mediate.
In the end, the restaurant manager offered a discount of SG$107.40 (£63.80) “out of goodwill” which Shinba’s friend paid for with his credit card.
The restaurant refuted the diner’s claims, saying that they made it clear to the table that the entire crab would be cooked for them, even bringing the creature out for the group to see before preparing it.
In a statement released on Wednesday (September 20), Paradise Group, which runs the restaurant. said that it is “deeply upset by the inaccurate claims made by this group of customers seemingly aimed at tarnishing [their] reputation”.
The company said that staff “communicated twice to the customers that the price of the Alaskan king crab was the same as the Scotland snow crab, while pointing to the menu”, and that “they even brought the whole live Alaskan king crab to the table before preparation”.
Shinba said she had contacted the Singapore Tourism Board about the incident, who have raised the matter with the Consumers Association of Singapore.
Related: Cinnamon Kitchen celebrates 15th anniversary with spectacular dinner
