The braised hairtail dish that customer A received after ordering a four-person portion at a restaurant in Jeju.
The braised hairtail dish that customer A received after ordering a four-person portion at a restaurant in Jeju.

A restaurant on Jeju is facing backlash after a customer complained that the four-person portion of braised hairtail they received seemed far too small, despite the restaurant's insistence that it served the standard amount.

According to a post on social media platform Threads on Thursday, a user identified only as A shared their frustration after ordering a four-person set of braised hairtail at a restaurant in Seogwipo, Jeju, on Sunday.

A paid about 90,000 won ($67) for the four-person braised hairtail set plus additional dishes, including sliced pork and steamed egg. Comparing their table spread with photos of a single-person portion posted in the restaurant's reviews, A claimed, "Honestly, it did not look like four servings, and I was still hungry after finishing the rice."

"I wondered if this was really four servings, so I asked the owner, who told me the standard amount was 22 pieces of hairtail and 16 pieces of pork," A added. "But what I received did not feel that way — there were at most eight to 10 pieces of hairtail."

The restaurant's braised hairtail set reportedly consists of boneless braised hairtail, raw pork slices, steamed egg and bone soup, priced at 18,000 won per person.

Online users who saw the post criticized the restaurant, with comments such as "Anyone can tell that pot does not even look like it holds four servings of hairtail — that is shameless," "Even looking at the reviews, the writer's portion looks smaller than a two-person serving," and "Call Jeju Island's tourism complaint center."

As the controversy spread, the restaurant issued a statement on Threads insisting that it had provided the standard portion according to its own guidelines.

"We have set standard portion guidelines by menu item and number of diners, and we provide the same amount consistently," the restaurant said. "For braised hairtail, we provide 22 pieces of hairtail for a four-person order, and for the pork, 16 pieces for four people."

The restaurant also said hairtail and pork pieces can vary in size depending on the cut and the size of the fish or meat, adding that it includes one or two extra pieces when the pieces happen to be smaller.

Regarding the steamed egg dish — which A had criticized, saying "I heard that for two or more people, they always use three eggs" — the restaurant rebuffed the claim, saying, "Our own standard is two eggs for a single-person order and three eggs for two or more people. We do not simply multiply the single-person standard by four to use eight eggs for a four-person order."

The restaurant reiterated, "We provided the food that day according to our set standards as well. There is no truth to the claim that we arbitrarily reduced the amount we served."

In addition, the restaurant released a video showing the cooking process for both a one-person and a four-person portion of braised hairtail. In the video, the single-person portion contained seven pieces of hairtail, two pieces of potato and one piece of radish. The four-person portion contained about 22 to 23 pieces of hairtail, two pieces of potato and two pieces of radish. However, the pots used for the one-person and four-person portions differed in size.

The video has fueled further debate online. Some users asked, "If one serving is seven pieces, shouldn't four servings be 28 pieces?" Others asked, "Why is there no difference in the amount of potato and radish compared to the single-person portion?" Still others asked, "What does it matter that the top of the pot is wider when the bottom diameter looks similar?" Some, however, said it is difficult to judge the actual amount served based on piece count alone, since fish size and cut can vary.

A expressed disappointment, saying, "The owner maintains to the end that the standard portion was provided, but it seems people can see the same food very differently."


betterj@heraldcorp.com