Japanese Diners Get a Bill of 1,009 Euros for an Order of Three Steaks & Fried Fish! Lodges Complaint with Police

A group of Japanese diners went to the police after claiming they were charged 1,009 Euros for a basic meal at a restaurant in Venice. The Japanese students who were on a trip from their home in Bologna were charged a hefty fee. The outraged visitors said they ordered three steaks and fried fish at Osteria da Luca near St Mark’s Square. With only glasses of water to attend their modest meal, the group was left shock by a bill of 1,009 last Friday as reported in DailyMail.co.uk.

Macro Gasparinetti, the Head of April 25 Civil Rights Group, stated in a media report that the students have made a formal complaint right after their visit to the restaurant. “This is just the latest case of many of this kind. The young people who are university students in Bologna, made a formal denunciation to the local police station as soon as they got off the train”, he was quoted in a media report.

Past visitors while reviewing said that they were charged for seafood by weight of 8 Euros per 100 grams.

Reports suggest that Osteria da Luca is currently rated as 1.5 out of 5 stars in TripAdvisor with customers labelling it “rip-off central, avoid at all costs” and “the worst place in the world”.

When asked, the owner of the Restaurant denied about the allegation and was quoted, “I do not remember having problems with Japanese customers these days”.

Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice wrote on Twitter that he will attempt to verify the incident. “If this shameful episode is confirmed, we will do all we can to punish those responsible. We are for justice always!” he added.

Prior to this, a similar incident happened just few months ago where a British tourist reported that he and his elderly parents were deceived into running up a 463 Euros lunch bill by waiters in Venice. He further said that the restaurant near St Mark’s Square took advantage of the fact that they did not speak Italian to dupe them. At the time, in an interview at an Italian Television, Brugnaro called them ‘cheapskates’ and said that the family should have learnt some Italian before their visit so that they could understand what they were ordering.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 22, 2018 08:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).