A group of Japanese tourists who dined at a restaurant at Clarke Quay were shocked when they realised that their crab dish cost them S$938.

The tourists requested to call the police, and subsequently claimed that the restaurant did not inform them about the crab's price and its total weight.

However, the restaurant has released CCTV footage showing the five tourists' dining experience and stating that it shows otherwise.

Japanese tourist claimed group was not informed about total weight of crab

The five tourists were dining at the Seafood Paradise restaurant at Clarke Quay on Aug. 19, 2023 night, according to AsiaOne's Sep. 19, 2023 report.

They ordered a live Alaskan king crab to be prepared for their chilli crab dish, along with other dishes, such as mee goreng and black pepper beef fried rice.

Their bill came up to a total of S$1,322.37, with the cost of the chilli Alaskan king crab alone at S$938.

One of the diners, 50-year-old Junko Shinba, said she was "speechless" when they received the bill.

She claimed that the restaurant did not inform their table that it would be preparing the whole crab for them, nor did it inform them of the crab's total weight.

She also claimed that the restaurant did not fully inform the group of the crab's price, stating that the staff who "strongly recommended" the Alaskan king crab only told the table it was S$30 but failed to clarify that it was the price for per 100g of crab.

Police officers attended to the incident after Shinba asked a staff to call the police.

The restaurant manager subsequently offered the tourists a S$107.40 discount and Shinba's friend paid for the meal.

Shinba said she escalated the incident to the Singapore Tourism Board, which in turn raised the matter to the Consumers Association of Singapore.

Japanese tourists' claims were "inaccurate"

On Sep. 20, 2023, Paradise Group posted their clarification statement, as well as photos from the restaurant's CCTV footage on Facebook, to "rectify" Shinba's "inaccurate claims".

Seafood Paradise is one of the brands under Paradise Group Holdings.

The group stated that it was "deeply upset" by the tourists' "inaccurate claims", which it felt were seemingly aimed at tarnishing the restaurant's and its staff's reputation.

"Hence, we are left with no choice but to showcase photos extracted from our CCTV footage to substantiate our statement," it said.

Staff informed them of both price and weight

The group stated that the Japanese tourists had been informed of both the price and weight of the live Alaskan king crab.

It stated that the Seafood Paradise staff had told the tourists twice that the price of the Alaskan king crab was the same as the Scotland snow crab and pointed to the Scotland snow crab's S$26.80 per 100g price that was "clearly indicated" in the restaurant's menu.

Based on the photo from the restaurant's CCTV footage, a male Seafood Paradise staff could be seen pointing at the menu.

The group added that the Seafood Paradise staff not only informed the tourists that the Alaskan king crab was 3.5kg, but also brought out and showed the tourists the whole live crab before it was prepared.

"Customers were seen taking photos and even selfies with the live Alaskan king crab."

This could be seen in two photos from the restaurant's CCTV footage.

The staff could be seen standing beside the table with the crab in a container while the tourists looked in his direction.

The tourists could be seen in the next photo, which was taken a few seconds later, pointing their phone cameras in the direction of the staff holding the crab.

Tourists finished food and sang its praises

The group also refuted Shinba's other claims.

With regard to her claim that the staff had "strongly recommended" the Alaskan king crab, the group stated that the tourists had picked the Alaskan king crab after the restaurant staff had introduced the types of crab on the menu available on that day.

The group added that the tourists requested two cooking methods for the crab.

The restaurant eventually prepared it in three different cooking methods – chilli crab, salted egg yolk and truffle egg white – without charging them extra.

Shinba had told AsiaOne that she was caught unaware when three plates of crab arrived at her table.

She claimed that she did not expect Seafood Paradise to serve the table the whole crab as other restaurants served crab partially.

She added that the table was overwhelmed by the amount of food and could not finish eating everything.

However, the group stated that the tourists finished most of the dishes and even told the restaurant manager that the food was great.

It added: "We wish to highlight that live seafood is typically sold and served as a whole item, as dividing it into partial portions would render the remaining portion no longer live seafood."

Refused to pay and requested to call police

However, things took a turn when it was time to settle the bill.

"At the end of the meal, customers refused to settle the bill, hence the police were involved to mediate the situation," the group stated.

"One of the customers mentioned he didn’t have enough money to pay and asked what can be done to help."

According to the group's earlier statement to AsiaOne, the tourists requested to call the police after they refused to pay the bill and the restaurant manager assisted in making the police report.

The group added that the restaurant manager offered the tourists a goodwill discount of S$107.40 out of goodwill, effectively waiving off the cost of 400g of live Alaskan king crab.

Important to uphold Paradise Group's reputation and protect employees

The group stated that while they value all their customers, it explained that it was important for them to clarify what happened as it is important to uphold Paradise Group's reputation and protect their employees.

"At Seafood Paradise and all other Paradise Group of restaurants, we consistently uphold a commitment to transparent pricing with a focus on customer service and food quality. Our staff will do their best to communicate clearly to the customers and welcome any queries."

You can read their Facebook post below.

Top image from Paradise Group/Facebook