Restaurant releases video to refutes tourist’s complaint about $700 dish

The Singapore restaurant accused of massively overcharging a crabby customer last month said it was “deeply upset” by viral accusations against them, and released security footage to refute the alleged shellfish swindle Wednesday.

Restaurant operator Paradise Group released screengrabs of footage showing a waiter pointing at its menu and apparently explaining the pricing to tourist Junko Shinba and her sightseeing group, and bringing out the live crab for them to observe before it was prepared.

“Seafood Paradise staff communicated twice to the customers that the price of the Alaskan King Crab was the same as the Scotland Snow Crab, while pointing to the menu,” Paradise Group wrote in a lengthy Facebook post.

“The price of the Scotland Snow Crab was clearly indicated as $26.80 per 100g on the menu. The staff also informed customers the total weight of the Alaskan King Crab was 3.5kg.

“To prevent any miscommunication, they even brought the whole live Alaskan King Crab to the table before preparation. Customers were seen taking photos and even selfies with the live Alaskan King Crab.”

Shinba had claimed that her waiter at Seafood Paradise told her the Alaskan King crab specialty dish was about $30, but was then shocked to find out that charge was “per 100 grams.”

When the bill arrived, Shinba and her sightseeing group called the police after seeing they were charged $938 in Singapore dollars – which is just under $700 US – for the 7.7-pound delicacy.

Shinba, 50, had told AsiaOne that she was left “speechless” by her large bill, and claimed that “none of us were informed that the whole crab would be cooked only for us.”

The dish was so large that her party of four could not even finish it, she claimed.

Paradise Group said it released the visuals because it was “deeply upset by the inaccurate claims made by this group of customers, seemingly aimed at tarnishing the reputation of our restaurant.”

After Shinba called the cops and the Singapore Tourism Board, the restaurant group said it even knocked  $107 off the $1,322 bill – which was about $970 US – out of “goodwill.”