Eating sea urchins for 1.8 million VND/kg and then posting online to accuse the restaurant of 'rip-off', right or wrong?

A post circulating on Facebook accused a seafood restaurant in Nha Trang City ( Khanh Hoa Province) of "ripping off" customers by selling sea urchins at too high a price - Photo: Social Network

On May 25, a Facebook account named EB posted an article titled "If you want to eat, avoid this restaurant. It's a scam, scamming 1 sea urchin for 4 million VND, parents."

Attached to the article is a picture of the bill for food and drinks totaling 4.45 million VND, including a 2.2kg sea urchin with a unit price of 1.8 million VND/kg, totaling 3.96 million VND...

According to research, the restaurant mentioned above is a seafood restaurant in Nha Trang city (Khanh Hoa province).

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Chau Van Chin (owner of the above seafood restaurant) said the incident happened on the evening of May 24. The above bill was for a group of about 3-4 people.

According to Mr. Chin, sea beetles are high-class seafood, priced from 1.8 - 2 million VND/kg.

Mr. Chin disagreed with this group of tourists accusing his restaurant of "overcharging" because the prices were listed. When customers ordered, the restaurant quoted the price in advance and only processed the food after the customers agreed.

"There is a price list, the restaurant quotes the price when selling. However, many customers feel hot-faced after eating and when it's time to pay. It's very tiring" - Mr. Chin said.

On the afternoon of May 25, Tuoi Tre Online tried to contact the above tourist group to verify the information, but has yet to receive a response.

Sea sponges are sold by traders for several million VND each - Photo courtesy of Tuoi Tre Online

Tuoi Tre Online surveyed a number of websites of seafood dealers, through which the price of sea sponges fluctuates from 1.6 - 2 million VND/kg.

Mr. Le Van Anh (46 years old, owner of a seafood restaurant on Tran Phu street) said that sea urchins are quite rare in the market. Restaurants have to order from traders in other provinces.

According to Mr. Anh, seafood shops and restaurants usually sell sea urchins for 1.6 - 2 million VND/kg, including processing costs.

Mr. Lam Huy Bao (42 years old, owner of a restaurant in Phu Yen ) said that in recent years, sea sponges have been very "hot" on the market. Many people are looking to buy them to eat, so the price has also been pushed up.

"Sea sponge prices sometimes fluctuate wildly. However, they still fluctuate between 1.5 - 2 million VND/kg. The restaurant's price of 1.8 million VND/kg is reasonable," said Mr. Bao.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Nguyen Van Minh - Vice Chairman of Nha Trang City People's Committee - said he was aware of the above incident. "First, let the restaurant owner handle it, public opinion will also clarify it" - Mr. Minh said.

NGUYEN HOANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/an-bo-bien-gia-1-8-trieu-dong-kg-roi-len-mang-to-quan-chat-chem-dung-hay-sai-20250525143712313.htm