The incident of a seafood restaurant in Halong Bay being accused of charging more than 11 million VND for a meal on the 6th day of Tet Lunar New Year has received special attention from the public. According to the bill, the meal for the group of customers consisted of a total of 13 dishes (including soft drinks), including: long-legged shrimp at 850,000 VND/kg, live oysters and oyster with fat and spring onion at 15,000 VND/piece, lion head fish at 750,000 VND/kg; large abalone at 750,000 VND/kg, grilled salted herring at 850,000 VND/kg, razor clams at 450,000 VND/kg, and a few other dishes. The total amount for the meal was 11,785,000 VND.
Sharing with us, Ms. Pham Huyen Trang (24 years old, from Hung Yen) said that her group of 14 people (including the driver) went to Vua Hai San 3 restaurant (in Bai Chay ward, Halong City, Quang Ninh province) for dinner on the evening of February 15th, which was the 6th day of Tet Lunar New Year. Before dining, Ms. Trang did not ask for the price and did not see the price list because she assumed that “eating out on Tet day would be a bit more expensive, around 1 or 2 million VND, which she was willing to accept”.
The group of customers ordered many different dishes (Photo: NVCC)
However, when the restaurant brought out the dishes, Ms. Trang and the family members felt dissatisfied with the quality of the food.
“We ordered many dishes, but the restaurant could not provide them all. For example, we ordered steamed fish with soy sauce but the restaurant said they couldn’t steam it in time. Then they changed it to sashimi and soup, and they charged us for 4kg of fish and 2 plates of sashimi. We also ordered salted egg snails, but half an hour later, the restaurant said the sauce was spoiled and changed it to grilled snails. We ordered cheese-covered oysters, but they brought oyster with fat and spring onion.
We complained, but the kitchen staff did not say anything. Well, it’s Tet day, they made a mistake, so we just had to accept it,” Ms. Trang said.
According to Ms. Trang, the seafood dishes brought out were all very small, and the restaurant also weighed each dish without informing the customers.
The bill after Ms. Trang’s group finished the meal (Photo: NVCC)
At the end of the meal, Ms. Trang went to get the bill and voiced her dissatisfaction with the quality of the food to the restaurant.
At that time, there were about 3 – 4 waitstaff who were also taking orders, Ms. Trang did not know who was the owner and who was the manager.
“I asked one of them, why were the dishes of such poor quality but priced so high? Is this the Tet price? The person replied: Yes, it’s slightly higher than usual. We asked to see the price list, but the restaurant could not provide it.
We took a photo of the bill and said we would post it online, but the restaurant challenged us and said “take as many photos as you want””, Ms. Trang recounted.
The female customer said that she did not want to create more tension because the money had already been paid, and the matter had been settled. She wanted to share it online so that everyone would know and avoid restaurants that overcharge and lack sincerity like that.
Meanwhile, according to an article on Dan Tri newspaper, Mr. Thanh – the owner of Vua Hai San 3 restaurant, had a different account of the incident. Mr. Thanh asserted that the restaurant displayed a publicly listed price for seafood. Before the group of customers placed their order, they also discussed and agreed on the prices of each type of seafood.
According to Mr. Thanh, the price of the seafood at the restaurant varies each day and cannot be fixed because it depends on the amount caught by fishermen. Each season, the price of seafood also undergoes certain changes. During the Tet holiday, the prices at restaurants increase by 8% to 10% because the costs of serving staff also go up.
Mr. Thanh stated that the customers enjoyed their meal in a cheerful atmosphere. When paying and leaving, the customers did not complain to the restaurant. He emphasized that the restaurant charged the correct prices according to the publicly listed prices of fresh seafood. In addition, the prices of seafood vary depending on the region and their availability. In Halong, the seafood is fresher and better, so the prices are slightly higher.
