S$1,200 RWS fish dish shocker
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A 35-year-old diner and four friends feasted on a steamed fish dish at a restaurant in Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). At the end of the meal, upon receiving the bill, his jaw hit the ground.
What seemed like a simple dish ended up costing a whopping S$1,224.
The diner, who only wanted to be known as Mr Liu, took his four friends to RWS’ Feng Shui Inn restaurant on June 12. He had initially asked for marble goby, better known locally as “soon hock”, but was told there was no stock for the fish.
A waiter then recommended the white sultan fish instead. The group agreed, without enquiring about the cost of the dish. But when the bill arrived, the five diners were shocked to find that the single sultan fish, weighing 1.8kg, set them back by a staggering S$1,224.
“(The waiter) didn’t mention the price (of the fish), and we also didn’t think too much about it and just said okay,” Mr Liu told Lianhe Wanbao.
He complained about the price of the fish during payment and the restaurant responded by giving him a 15% discount on the bill as a gesture of goodwill.
“The customer has the right to know and the restaurant should have made clear its price so we could decide whether it was worth it,” Mr Liu said.
In response to the incident, an RWS spokesman claims that the practice of not disclosing menu prices is common in upscale restaurants. “It is not always appropriate to state menu prices to high-end customers who have come to expect a certain discretion when they entertain high-level guests, ” he explains.
RWS conceded that the incident could have been a “lapse of judgement” but it was smoothed over quickly with an on-the-spot discount.
But is S$68 per 100g for a sultan fish a reasonable amount?
A quick comparison with Capital Restaurant, which has been selling sultan fish for 36 years, reveals that the dish can go for as low as S$6 per 100g. This is less than a tenth of Fengshui Inn’s price tag on the fish.
Chef Pung Lu Tin, 50, of Seafood International Market and Restaurant, explained the sultan fish is sought-after because it was not easy to catch. He added that its meat was “very smooth”.
“The flesh is tender and snow white. It’s a wild river fish, so it eats fruits that drops from trees and bears the fragrance of fruit,” Chef Huang Ching Biao, 58, kitchen operations director at Jin Shan restaurant at MBS told The New Paper.
But despite its draw, both chefs added that they have not come across any commanding such a high price. One seafood distributor known only as Mr Lee even described the price of the fish at Fengshui Inn as “outrageous”.
This seafood shocker is reminiscent of an incident that occurred in March last year, where six American tourists were charged S$239 for a mere eight tiger prawns at Newton hawker centre.
The stall involved had its licence suspended for three months by the National Environment Agency (NEA) for breaching licencing conditions.
Incidents like these throw the spotlight on questionable charging practices in Singapore. For a country positioning itself as a tourism hub, these bad dining experiences are sure to leave a bitter after-taste.
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OMG $1224?! Just within a day and a meal cost $1224. The restaurant 100star hotel is it? LOL
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Owned.
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The customer also one type, never ask the rate first just order. The server also another type, if its sold by rate, must make known to diner during order.
I go to certain japanese restaurants and order premium items that go by rate, the server always make known first the rate first check if I ok, otherwise can reject one.
$68 per 100gm, freshwater fish leh, not black truffles leh.
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restaurant is runned by resorts casino mafia.their explaination of the fish thats hard to catch is a stupid story.wouldnt pay a single cent.....in fact i wamnt 100% discount for their extortion bid or report them topolice and send them to court for cheating.
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what if customer refuses to pay how eh? restaurant called police?
anyway the customer should complain to CASE.
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similiar to newton tiger prawns incident!
"black shop"
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yeah, just don't pay and have the restaurant call the police lor.............later they scared bad reputation once story in papers.............sure free one !
but the waiter got to pay lor !
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organic fish also cheaper than that fish
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customer should call police immediately at restaurant......restaurant is clearly cheating on the spot!
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don't forget to call the press/media
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Originally posted by Asromanista2001:
yeah, just don't pay and have the restaurant call the police lor.............later they scared bad reputation once story in papers.............sure free one !
but the waiter got to pay lor !
The waiter has to use 1.5 months to pay for the fish. Work for free liao... if he has to pay.
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Eeeeee..... anyway, the fish looks disgusting. OMG! Wanna puke when i see the fish.
$1,200 for trash! OMG! I wonder how the patron feels about this stupid fish. -
must be careful when go sky on 57
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maybe restaurant giving 20% commission on all dishes suggested by waiters leh ???
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since never put in menu, customer can say 1224 is in peso or ruppiah what lol.
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Originally posted by Asromanista2001:
maybe restaurant giving 20% commission on all dishes suggested by waiters leh ???
Maybe that is the order taker supervisor... not waiter to begin with.
You know high class restaurant... Always got waiter and one wear coat supervisor take order de.... -
Originally posted by Rooney9:
since never put in menu, customer can say 1224 is in peso or ruppiah what lol.
Pay ringgit. Cos RWS opened by Genting Holdings mah!
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Can i be a waiter also ?
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cheap wat... cannot afford then why go there to eat ar???
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Originally posted by Junyang700:
Maybe that is the order taker supervisor... not waiter to begin with.
You know high class restaurant... Always got waiter and one wear coat supervisor take order de....i no know mah..........i never go restaurant to eat one...............i don't dare to go to KFC or McDonalds for years liao.............very expensive lah............
when i go hawker centre buy food to makan ah, i only order rice and curry sauce only.................
on special days like Lunar New Year or my birthday then i eat roti prata as a treat !
prata kosong some more lah, those farking Ah Neh charge me extra 70 cents for an egg !
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Siao ah
One fish only need to pay so much
Like tt I no need to study liaoz
I go river catch fish sell to restaurants
lol
*makes a mental note nv to go to this lousy restaurant*
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fengshui inn is it? i will avoid that restaurant. Thanks.
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Lesson learnt.
Next time, ask for the price first.
hack care whether it is a high class resturant or not.
Ask for the price first.
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Originally posted by mlmersrlosers:
fengshui inn is it? i will avoid that restaurant. Thanks.
Go there the restaurant good feng shui... Patrons no feng shui... all get bad luck.
