Langkawi Restaurant Charges Nearly RM1,200 For 'Ikan Siakap' Dish

Langkawi restaurant charges nearly RM1,200 for ‘Ikan Siakap’ dish

After months of staying at home, a lot of Malaysians must be excited to cross state borders and resume travelling to their favourite local tourist spots. Of the many highly anticipated places, Langkawi remains a top choice for many reasons such as good food, duty-free items and adventurous activities.

But not all who have been to Langkawi come back with pleasant memories. Such is the case for a man who visited the Jewel of Kedah after 24 years as he was charged nearly RM1,200 for an ‘Ikan Siakap’ dish by a floating restaurant.

Customer says RM1,196.80 for a fish is unreasonable

Langkawi restaurant ikan siakap
Image credit: محمد فارس ذوالقرنين

On 4th November 2021, netizen Muhammad Faris Zulkarnain took to Facebook to express his dissatisfaction dining at a floating restaurant in Langkawi where he was charged unreasonably for an ikan siakap dish. In the viral post, which has now garnered over 15,000 shares, 13,000 comments and more than 7,000 reactions, Faris said that he was charged a whopping RM1,196.80 for a fish that was meant to be shared among seven people.

The incident was said to have taken place on 3rd November 2021, when Faris went on a vacation to Langkawi with his family and friends. During their Mangrove Tour, a boat trip to explore mangrove forests, they were brought to have lunch at a floating restaurant, which is one of the checkpoints of the tour. Faris and his family ordered several dishes to be shared as they normally would at a seafood restaurant and one of the items they ordered was an ikan siakap or barramundi dish.

Langkawi restaurant ikan siakap
Image credit: محمد فارس ذوالقرنين

Faris said that his family first ordered two fish as there were seven people on the table. But they later changed the quantity to one when a restaurant worker reconfirmed the size of the fish they caught from the cage. Faris added that he was shocked to receive five plates of the fish dish when they were about to start eating.

“At that time, I already expected it to be pricey. I thought it would be around RM700-800,” he wrote. However, the final amount they were charged was RM1,852.50 of which the fish alone cost RM1,196.80. Faris also said that on top of the bill, he was also charged a 5% processing fee by the restaurant. As proof of the transaction, he uploaded pictures of the receipt on Facebook, where the post has gone viral.

Faris warned Malaysians who are visiting the restaurant to be wary as they charge customers unreasonably. In his post, he also mentioned two other customers who were charged in the same manner. One of them is his friend who was charged over RM800 and another was an unknown couple who paid RM755 for their meal.

Restaurant representative clarifies reason behind expensive fish

Langkawi restaurant ikan siakap
Restaurant rep’s status reposted a Facebook page
Image credit: Langkawi VIRAL

Shortly after Faris’s post went viral, Syikin Musa, a representative from the restaurant, which has now been identified as Sas Rimba Floating Restaurant, updated a Facebook status to clarify their side of the story. In the now-deleted post, Syikin said that their restaurant sells live seafood, which is freshly caught from the cages, thus making them slightly more expensive than what customers would normally find at regular restaurants.

However, Syikin proceeded to explain in her status update that the fish served for Faris and his family was actually a display piece kept in a special tank and it was them who specifically requested for it despite being informed of its mega-size – 7.48kg – and it’s not meant to be sold.

She also claimed that Faris refused to take a look at the fish to confirm its size and told them to proceed with his order. Syikin denied allegations of charging the 5% processing fee for Faris’ order as he was issued two separate bills amounting to the final amount of RM1,852.50.

The post also offered several other clarifications on pricing such as the omelettes and lobster that one of the customers had ordered.

Langkawi restaurant charges RM1,196.80 for an ‘Ikan Siakap’ dish

It’s indeed shocking to know that a regular fish dish was priced so highly by this seafood restaurant. We hope that Faris’s experience will serve as a reminder that we should always double check to confirm the price of the food and be absolutely sure of what we are ordering to avoid situations like this.