WHEN it comes to fish, it pays to know your soon hock from your sultan. Wild-caught species of the latter are exceedingly rare, and can cost more than $300 per kg at restaurants here.
Now, a debate is brewing about whether customers should be told upfront if an item they order comes with a price tag that is off the charts.
It was sparked by the case of a customer who wanted to be known only as Mr Liu, who went to the Feng Shui Inn restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa with four friends from Hong Kong on June 12.
Mr Liu originally wanted to order a soon hock or Marble Goby dish, but when told that the restaurant had run out of it, he went with a waiter's recommendation and ordered sultan fish instead.
He told the Chinese evening newspaper Lianhe Wanbao that the waiter did not tell him the price of the fish, but he assumed it would be about the same price as soon hock, which costs about $90 per kg. But Mr Liu said he and his friends got a shock when they received a bill for $1,224 for the 1.8kg fish.
He complained and received a 15 per cent discount. But his main grouse was that the waiter didn't let him know the price of the sultan when he recommended it.
When contacted, RWS spokesman Robin Goh explained that Feng Shui Inn serves a very premium clientele. He said: 'It is not always appropriate to state menu prices to high-end customers who have come to expect certain discretion, especially when they entertain high-level guests. This is a practice shared by most high-end restaurants.'
