On Wednesday, police were called to the prestigious waterfront restaurant after a group of crabby tourists were served a super-sized bill.
At the time Junko Shinba, from Japan, claimed that she had expected the dish to cost her $30 but the table of four was charged more than NZ$1000 at Seafood Paradise.
Now restaurant owners Paradise Group have released a statement and CCTV footage of the waiting staff bringing the live crab to the table, claiming they had tried to warn the party that they might be making a big mistake.
The restaurant said it was “deeply upset by the inaccurate claims made by this group of customers” in a social media post.
The tourists said they wanted to try the signature dish of chilli crab – a Singaporean speciality – while on holiday. They told local news site AsiaOne that they ordered a portion of the dish but were served up the whole 3.5kg crab.
They called police after receiving the whopper of a bill.
The restaurant knocked S$107 off the bill after the group of tourists called the police. Photo / Junko Shinba
“We all became speechless knowing that one dinner for four adults cost that much,” 50-year-old Shinba told AsiaOne.
“None of us were informed that the whole crab would be cooked only for us, as some other restaurants serve crabs partially,” she said, saying they were served so much “there were three plates full of crab” left over.
Paradise Group said: “To prevent any miscommunication, the staff even brought the whole Alaskan king crab to the table before preparation,” offering alternatives to the live crab, which could be served in smaller portions.
The customers refused to pay the bill and called police. Eventually, the restaurant offered a S$107 discount on the $1322 meal (about NZ$1600).
The restaurant claimed the visitors were delighted with the meal until the bill arrived. In CCTV stills published on Facebook, the restaurant showed guests posing for a selfie with the giant crab.
“As much as we value all our customers, we also find it important to uphold Paradise Group’s reputation and protect all our employees. Hence, we are left with no choice but to showcase photos extracted from our CCTV footage to substantiate our statement.”
Live seafood is typically served whole, to avoid waste, and it was restaurant policy not to sell portions of living animals.
“Dividing it into partial portions would render the remaining portion no longer live seafood,” the statement said.
