Woman fumes after Australian restaurant charges $380 for live lobster

A woman who was handed a staggering $944.30 ($584.18 USD) bill at an Australian Chinese restaurant has hit out at the establishment online.

Reanna Ho, from Perth, said the incident occurred at Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant on Friday night, where she dined with a group of eight.

While the party ordered eight dishes in total, it was the “live lobster” that sent the bill soaring.

The costly crustacean priced at an eye-watering $615 ($380 USD).

Ho had been informed beforehand that the lobster’s price would vary based on its weight and the market price, but when the dish arrived, the specifics remained unclear.

She claims the staff failed to disclose the price per kilogram, or even inform her that the five additional serves of noodles would cost $15 ($9.28 USD) each.

“Though I paid the bill, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

A phone call to the restaurant the following day revealed that the lobster weighed 4.5 pounds (2.04kg), and was priced at $120 ($74.25 USD) per pound — a detail Ho says wasn’t made clear at the time of ordering.

“We didn’t assume the lobster would be cheap, but based on common sense, the typical price per pound is usually around $60-$70 ($37-$43 USD),” she said.

“Even during the festive period, it seems unreasonable for the price to skyrocket to $120 ($74.25 USD) per pound.

“If the lobster truly weighed 4.5 pounds, the head should have been huge and noticeable, but none of us at the table saw it.”

Locals were on her side, saying the restaurant should have been more clear about the cost.

“Who goes ahead and cooks a meal worth upwards of $600 ($370 USD) without letting the diner know beforehand that this is going to be extremely expensive?”

The restaurant’s management responded saying that the price and weight of the lobster had not been communicated properly but defended their actions.

They clarified that the lobster’s head is removed for cooking, and that this has been their method since the restaurant opened.

“We do not see the point of wasting the meat of the head just for display purposes,” the management said.

They also explained that rising market prices due to the festive period and increased exports to China were seeing costs soar.

“We have been running this restaurant for 8 years and have been running it smoothly,” they added, insisting that there was “no deceiving involved.”