28-year-old Mr Lin patronised the Crystal Jade Pavilion outlet at VivoCity with his parents, relatives and friends for some dim sum on 24 October, according to Shin Min Daily News.
There were about 6 to 7 adults and 2 children in the group, and they ordered some Hong Kong Kai Lan in oyster sauce.
Lin said that the waiter suggested they order a large portion since they had a big group sharing it, and Lin then went ahead with his suggestion.
When it came time to settle the bill, he was shocked to see that the two plates of Kai Lan set him back by $91.20.
It was listed as the most expensive item on the receipt, with the total bill coming to about $400.
Restaurant apologises
The restaurant has since apologized after Lin contacted their customer service, and they said that the staff should’ve been more careful when taking orders.
They told him that their staff shouldn’t have made an order on behalf of the customer without telling them the price, or take the initiative to order a large portion for them.
However, the boss of Imperial Restaurant Wang Jinhui, spoke to Shin Min and said that most of the prices were already on the menu and wait staff are not obliged to list all the prices.
He said that regular customers usually don’t ask for the price, and that season dishes don’t have prices listed. He added that it’s common practice for large servings to cost twice as much as small ones.
Another manager from Dragon Phoenix Restaurant also told SMDN that high-end restaurants don’t practice informing customers of prices as this might offend the customer and embarrass them.
Images source: Unsplash and Google Maps (Header images used for illustrative purposes only and are not actual photos from the incident)