Perth diner Reanne Ho’s outrage at Belmont’s Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant over $615 live lobster bill

A Perth diner has been left with a sour taste in her mouth after being charged an eye-watering sum of $615 for lobster ordered from a restaurant at Belmont Forum.

Reanne Ho dined at Canton Lane Chinese Restaurant on January 3, alongside six other adults and two children, and detailed her “shock” at the price in a post to Facebook a few days later.

Ms Ho’s party ordered a steamed fish, a live lobster noodle dish, and several other plates along with extra noodles.

“The waiter confirmed and added five portions, and we didn’t object. What happened next, however, left us speechless,” she said.

“The real shock came when we received the bill. The lobster noodle dish was priced at a staggering $615!”

A receipt for Ms Ho’s table showed a total bill of $944.30.

She claimed that when ordering live seafood, “the restaurant should present the seafood to the customer before cooking to confirm the weight and price” — which she said did not occur.

The restaurant has denied deceiving Ms Ho.

Ms Ho believed it was the venue’s responsibility to verify such details as is commonplace in Chinese restaurants, but did not question it further when the waiter brought out their cooked lobster.

Ms Ho was further angered after the restaurant responded to a Google review she left warning others of her experience.

“Instead of acknowledging their mistake or apologising, their reply was dismissive and unprofessional, insisting that the responsibility lay with us as customers for not asking about the weight or price beforehand,” she said.

“This attitude shows a complete lack of accountability and respect for their patrons, further reinforcing my decision never to return.”

Canton Lane told Ms Ho they “definitely did not deceive you in anyway”, and the lobster was charged according to market price.

The restaurant also claimed Ms Ho failed to refuse the lobster once it appeared on the table, saying she had the option to “reject the lobster and deny payment during that time”.

Canton Lane staff gave their version of events on the restaurant’s Facebook page, and even posted several videos captured on CCTV depicting the lobster’s retrieval from the live tank, and subsequent weighting, cooking, and serving processes.

“Yes, there is a negligence on our part where the price and weight were not informed to the customer. However, there is definitely no deceiving involved,” they wrote.

The restaurant said live seafood sold in a restaurant brought with it additional costs that may not be considered.

“People tend to forget that there are chefs and servers wages involved, other ingredients involved, rental and other utilities involved as well. Different sizes have different pricing. The bigger the live seafood, the more expensive it is,” they said.

Canton Lane claimed prices should be expected to increase during the festive season, and when “live lobster export to China has resumed”.

The Belmont Forum venue reaffirmed they had never acted to deceive patrons in their eight years of operation, and thanked customers for their support.