A furious diner has hit out at a Chinese restaurant after being charged a mind-boggling £478 for a “live lobster.”
Reanna Ho, from Perth, dined at Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant, in Cloverdale, last Friday with a group of friends and had ordered a total of eight dishes. However, it was the “live lobster” which sent their bill through the roof as the crustacean cost a staggering £478.
The diners were informed of the lobster’s price beforehand and were warned the cost would vary based on its weight and the market price. But when the lobster arrived, Ho claims staff failed to make clear the true cost of the dish.
She also accused staff of failing to disclose the price per kilogram, or inform them that the five extra serves of noodles would cost a staggering £7.62 each. “Though I paid the bill, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off,” the furious diner wrote in a Facebook post.
Ho paid the bill but was unhappy at the price and decided the next day to call the restaurant which revealed the lobster weighed 4.5 pounds and was price at £98.40 per pound. The diner claims she wasn’t made aware of this at the time of ordering.
“We didn’t assume the lobster would be cheap, but based on common sense, the typical price per pound is usually around $60-$70 (£49-£57),” she said. “Even during the festive period, it seems unreasonable for the price to skyrocket to $120 (£98.40) per pound. If the lobster truly weighed 4.5 pounds, the head should have been huge and noticeable, but none of us at the table saw it. We were deeply disappointed by this dining experience and have decided not to return.”
Following the furious Facebook post, many locals agreed with Ho and said the restaurant should have been more upfront about the cost of the lobster. “Who goes ahead and cooks a meal worth upwards of $600 (£478) without letting the diner know beforehand that this is going to be extremely expensive?”, one user wrote.
According to the restaurants management, the price and weight of the lobster had not been properly communicated to the diners but they defended their actions. They said the lobster’s head is removed for cooking, which has been their method since they opened.
“We do not see the point of wasting the meat of the head just for display purposes,” the management said. They also blamed market prices during the festive period and increased exports to China were seeing costs soar. “We have been running this restaurant for 8 years and have been running it smoothly,” they added, insisting that there was “no deceiving involved.”
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