Expat alleges overcharging by Boat Quay Seafood-restaurant a

Post by **nakatago** » Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:06 pm

This just in:

Naive tourist gets shafted at tourist trap. In other news,water is wet. Full report, tonight at 11.

JR8 · Post by **JR8** » Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:37 pm

maneo wrote:Crab and lobster at ~$20 per 100g is a bit steep.

However, for the expat to think he can get away with paying only ~$3 per 100g (~$200 total with 4 beers) for King Crab and lobster in a restaurant is also unreasonable.

The lobsters I was cooking back in April (and posting pix of here) cost me S$1.70/100gms, but I'd expect to pay $7.50+/100 in a restaurant. One might suspect the restaurant of predatory pricing, as I don't recall anywhere on Boar Quay that warrants the prices that they apparently charge.

p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood

Wind In My Hair · Post by **Wind In My Hair** » Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:45 pm

JR8 wrote:p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood

Most of the weight of crabs (about three-quarters) is shell. Also, many people don't know how to eat the legs and body but only eat the pincers, so even a lot of the meat is uneaten.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 20 Jun 2011 3:12 pm

Wind In My Hair wrote:
JR8 wrote:p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood
Most of the weight of crabs (about three-quarters) is shell. Also, many people don't know how to eat the legs and body but only eat the pincers, so even a lot of the meat is uneaten.

This is especially true of mangrove crabs that are over 15cm across the widest part of the topshell. Those crabs are only for bragging rights only. The shells in some instances are up to 5mm thick on the body for the really big ones. Additionally, if you buy crabs right after the full moon, you will be paying for bigger shells and little meat as the majority of crabs shed their shells for new ones around the full moon. Best time is around 1 week before the full moon, that way the crabs are full of meat and fat. Problem is, the most you can do it point to the crabs you want. But the odds of you knowing what to look for or them allowing you to check the crabs are slim at best.

Unless I can physically inspect a crab I don't buy. I crabbed my entire youth so am very familiar with crabs and what to look for.

Maybe that's why I'm so crabby now? Just thought I'd beat a few of you to the punch!

poodlek · Post by **poodlek** » Mon, 20 Jun 2011 3:20 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote: Unless I can physically inspect a crab I don't buy. I crabbed my entire youth so are very familiar with crabs and what to look for.

Maybe that's why I'm so crabby now? Just thought I'd beat a few of you to the punch!

I got so full of excited anticipation before I read the last line.

JR8 · Post by **JR8** » Mon, 20 Jun 2011 3:28 pm

Hey SMS has got crabs!

jsc20 · Post by **jsc20** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 9:55 am

JR8 wrote:
maneo wrote:Crab and lobster at ~$20 per 100g is a bit steep.

However, for the expat to think he can get away with paying only ~$3 per 100g (~$200 total with 4 beers) for King Crab and lobster in a restaurant is also unreasonable.
The lobsters I was cooking back in April (and posting pix of here) cost me S$1.70/100gms, but I'd expect to pay $7.50+/100 in a restaurant. One might suspect the restaurant of predatory pricing, as I don't recall anywhere on Boar Quay that warrants the prices that they apparently charge.

p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood

hi, where are you getting lobsters at 1.7SGD/100gm? tekka market?
where can you recommend buying?

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:51 am

jsc20 wrote:
JR8 wrote:
maneo wrote:Crab and lobster at ~$20 per 100g is a bit steep.

However, for the expat to think he can get away with paying only ~$3 per 100g (~$200 total with 4 beers) for King Crab and lobster in a restaurant is also unreasonable.
The lobsters I was cooking back in April (and posting pix of here) cost me S$1.70/100gms, but I'd expect to pay $7.50+/100 in a restaurant. One might suspect the restaurant of predatory pricing, as I don't recall anywhere on Boar Quay that warrants the prices that they apparently charge.

p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood
hi, where are you getting lobsters at 1.7SGD/100gm? tekka market?
where can you recommend buying?

Germany.

jsc20 · Post by **jsc20** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:57 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
jsc20 wrote:
JR8 wrote: The lobsters I was cooking back in April (and posting pix of here) cost me S$1.70/100gms, but I'd expect to pay $7.50+/100 in a restaurant. One might suspect the restaurant of predatory pricing, as I don't recall anywhere on Boar Quay that warrants the prices that they apparently charge.

p.s. My other thought was how on earth did two guys eat something like 5kgs of seafood
hi, where are you getting lobsters at 1.7SGD/100gm? tekka market?
where can you recommend buying?
Germany.

haha, too far for me im afraid

for an island nation and close to all the fishing areas in SE Asia its hard to find decent live fresh fish at a reasonable price. understanably its the high demand here as well
in the uk can get live lobsters from chinese supermarkets for about 20GBP/kg
will be stuffing myself there in 2 weeks time!

jsc

JR8 · Post by **JR8** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 5:16 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:
jsc20 wrote: hi, where are you getting lobsters at 1.7SGD/100gm? tekka market?
where can you recommend buying?
Germany.

They were on special at Lidl!

But since they were frozen my thinking is that there is no reason they could not be offered at a similar price by a retailer in SG.

Brah · Post by **Brah** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:27 pm

Why anyone eats at those restaurants is beyond me. The touts probably do more harm to their own businesses than good. It's like running a gauntlet of zombie idiots.

Or idiot zombies.

Post by **nakatago** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:31 pm

Brah wrote:Why anyone eats at those restaurants is beyond me. The touts probably do more harm to their own businesses than good. It's like running a gauntlet of zombie idiots.

Or idiot zombies.

because tourists are practically never return business?

Brah · Post by **Brah** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:38 pm

Possibly, but for the same reasons I never go to them myself, only the ones with no touts.

As if...people walk in dazes unaware of the surroundings and their appetites, needing someone to tell them to eat and where and what....

Post by **nakatago** » Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:41 pm

Brah wrote:As if...people walk in dazes unaware of the surroundings and their appetites, needing someone to tell them to eat and where and what....

Cue 'nanny state' jokes...

Post by **x9200** » Wed, 29 Jun 2011 9:42 am

Brah wrote:Possibly, but for the same reasons I never go to them myself, only the ones with no touts.

As if...people walk in dazes unaware of the surroundings and their appetites, needing someone to tell them to eat and where and what....

Do you know many places like this outside Singapore in any 1st world country? People who arrive here, tourist, newbie SG expats have no reasons to be paranoid. I would not call an idiot someone who just came to an eating place and listen to the waiter's suggestions.
Besides, this is also the local culture. People fully relying on the word of a shop assistant with no attempt to look something up in the Internet. And these shop assistants would follow you by 1m in many regular places Courts, HV, you name it. You may tell them, no thank you I will manage, they will still follow you (now 2m distance). Touts?

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Expat alleges overcharging by Boat Quay Seafood-restaurant a

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