Tiny detail on bill sparks war of words between diner and restaurant: ‘Unreasonable’

A woman has been blown up in a restaurant after claiming she was not warned about the high price for a single dish while dining out with friends.

Perth woman Reanna Ho was left shocked after being presented with a $944.30 bill for the table of nine at the Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant in Cloverdale on Friday evening.

While the party ordered eight dishes, the “live lobster” made up the lion’s share of the bill at $615.

The restaurant had warned Ms Ho that the price would be determined by weight and market price, but she claims the staff brought it to the table and did not say how much it would cost per kilogram, nor that the extra five servings of noodles would cost $15 each.

“Even though I paid the bill, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

When she called the restaurant the next day, an employee told her that the enormous lobster weighed 4.5 pounds – more than 2 kg – and was priced at $120 per pound.

“We didn’t assume the lobster would be cheap, but based on common sense, the average price per pound is usually around $60-$70,” Ms. Ho wrote.

“Even during the holidays, it seems unreasonable for the price to jump to $120 per pound.”

The lobster and noodle dish made up the lion’s share of the bill (pictured) and caused the restaurant to leave a furious review of the restaurant on social media

She alleged that staff did not “clearly” inform her party about the weight and price of the lobster, or whether it was a “jumbo lobster.”

‘Additionally, the dish did not contain the lobster head. If the lobster really weighed 4.5 pounds, the head should have been huge and noticeable, but none of us at the table saw it,” Ms Ho said.

“Honestly, with such an expensive ingredient, shouldn’t it be the restaurant’s responsibility to ensure transparency by first confirming the price and weight with the customer?”

‘We were deeply disappointed by this dining experience and have decided not to return.’

She then warned other diners to “always confirm weight and price” when ordering market-rate dishes at a restaurant.

A number of users agreed with Ms Ho and expressed their shock at the ‘lack of transparency’ among staff and management.

“Who dares to prepare a meal worth more than $600 without letting the guest know in advance that it will be extremely expensive,” one person wrote.

‘I wouldn’t expect to spend $615 on lobster unless it was solid gold.”

The management of the restaurant, Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant (pictured), admitted the price had not been passed on to the restaurant but claimed there was ‘no cheating’

The restaurant’s management responded to the post Tuesday evening, admitting that “the price and weight were not communicated to the customer.”

But they claimed there was ‘no cheating’ involved in the process, and shared security footage of staff removing the lobster from a tank, weighing it and cooking it.

“In our restaurant, we cut up the head of the lobster to cook it as well, because we don’t see the point in wasting the head meat just for presentation purposes,” management said.

‘This has been our way of cooking since we opened, unless the customer requests otherwise’

They added that the lobster’s large size makes it more expensive per pound, while other costs, such as the chef’s wages and ingredients, also factor into the price.

“In addition, prices rise very quickly during the New Year holidays, and especially when live lobster exports to China have resumed,” they wrote.

‘We have been running this restaurant for eight years and it is running smoothly. We don’t have to deceive anyone to keep our business alive.

“Hopefully we have cleared up this situation on our end.”