THREE food bloggers say they fear for their safety after a row broke out over a £190 lobster.
Mum Jenifer Do and her two daughters Belinda and Julie Nguyen were publicly outed by a restaurant after they allegedly refused to pay for their food.
They claim the lobster had smelt off so they spoke to the manager who said it was fresh and they would “never do that”.
An argument then erupted so the group left £30 ($40) on the table to pay for the wine and stormed out leaving the lobster untouched by all – except Jenifer’s partner, Son.
He said the lobster smelled “really off, “tasted “bitter” and that he “didn’t feel so good” after eating it.
Son dipped some pieces in sauce to confirm that the it wasn’t edible and couldn’t be improved by the relish, according to Belinda.
Sydney’s Silver Pearl restaurant, claimed the group falsely accused the chef of serving them frozen lobster and that they “completely finished” their meal, refused to pay and left.
The three woman were still hungry – as they said they hadn’t eaten anything – and so they all left to a bar across the road to order another lobster.
Son said he “still felt a little funny in his stomach but not too bad at this time” and “ate some of this lobster but not as much as he normally would”.
The restaurant slammed the diners in a social media post which read “Beware fraudulent diners” and described the women as “dishonest, entitled and classless.”
The trio are now are now engaged in a federal court clash and are suing the restaurant for defamation over the social media post.
The women said the post lead to them experiencing vile abuse and being shunned by the local community.
Belinda said she has been on “extreme high alert” and felt stressed and anxious since then.
And in the weeks that followed she allegedly received private messages that were “aggressive and threatening,” and had people in the Vietnamese community telling her they disowned her.
She claimed she went to the shops a week after the disastrous dinner and noticed a group of people pointing at her and laughing.
They allegedly called out words such as “scammer”, “s**t”, “can’t you pay your bills” and “go die”.
Belinda’s mother, Jennifer, also claimed she experienced abuse.
She said while outside of her home, particularly at the Vietnamese grocers, she was called a “b***h”, “scum”, “cheat” and “coward”.
Court evidence reads: “In 2020, Jennifer stopped doing a lot of things that she loved.
“Before then she felt respected and admired within the Vietnamese community.
“But after she felt mocked, hurt, and ridiculed.”
The Silver Pearl restaurant strenuously denies falsely accusing the visitors of finishing their dinner and not paying.
No criminal charges have been laid over the incident, as police determined it was a civil matter.
The trial will be heard before Justice Robert Bromwich in October next year.
