Diner calls police after restaurant charges her nearly £600 for a crab | UK News

A table of Japanese diners visiting Singapore paid £560 for a 3.5kg crab (Picture: Junko Shinba/Paradise Group)

A group of tourists sampling a high-end local delicacy in Singapore called police to their restaurant after receiving an eye-watering bill.

Junko Shinba, 50, from Japan, and her group of friends were not expecting to spend much when they sat down after a day of sightseeing to eat at Seafood Paradise, where most main dishes cost around £10.

She claims a waiter strongly recommended a special type of crab for S$30 (£18) ‘without explaining that they charge per 100 grams’.

The party was left ‘speechless’ when they received total bill of S$1,322 (£790), with the crab totalling S$938 (£560).

The exorbitant price was down to the group’s choice of Alaskan King Crab, which is one of the largest and most sought-after edible crab species in the world.

They initially refused to pay the bill and asked a waiter to call the police, who mediated the dispute.

Ms Shinba accused the restaurant of not properly explaining the pricing or informing the group of the crab’s total weight of 3.5kg before it was cooked.

A restaurant has taken to social media to hit back at a customer who called the police over her staggeringly expensive bill. Junko Shinba and her friends left Seafood Paradise restaurant in Singapore feeling more than a little bit crabby after they received their final bill for the meal. Shinba even called the police after receiving the whopping S$1,322 (?780) bill and publicly spoke out against the restaurant. Paradise Group - the company which owns the restaurant - has since uploaded images from its CCTV onto social media to contest the customer's allegations. — The diners received a ‘goodwill’ discount on the final price of the crab (Picture: Junko Shinba)

She told Asia One: ‘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.’

But restaurant managers have hit back at her ‘deeply inaccurate’ claims, insisting that the price was ‘communicated twice to the customers’.

In a statement, they added: ‘The staff also informed customers the total weight of the Alaskan King Crab was 3.5kg.

A generic image of an Alaskan King Crab cooked for a meal (Picture: Getty)

‘To prevent any miscommunication, the staff even brought the whole Alaskan King Crab to the table before preparation.’

Managers said the customers ‘were seen taking photos and even selfies with the live Alaskan King Crab’ before it was prepared.

The group’s bill-payer reportedly said he did not have enough money to cover it asked what can be done to help.

The restaurant, owned by Paradise Group, said it gave them a ‘goodwill discount’ of S$107.40 (£64) worth around 400g of live Alaskan King Crab.

Paradise Group has since taken to social media to ‘rectify’ the allegations sharing CCTV images which it claims shows staff explaining the price ‘in detail’.

Ms Shinba also complained to the Singapore Tourism Board, who referred the matter to the Consumers Association of Singapore.

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