SEOUL: Imagine you’re at a conveyor-belt sushi bar. A customer next to you keeps grabbing the same one or two types of fish, plate after plate. Is that bad manners? Is there an unspoken rule about variety and what to take in these types of restaurants?
Social media is abuzz in South Korea after a group of four was refused future service at a Seoul sushi joint after eating 30 plates of just two types of fish.
According to local reports, the group placed bulk orders for 20 plates of flounder sushi and 10 plates of salmon, while also gobbling up other sushi options, including eel and tuna, circulating on the belt.
The issue arose as the group went to pay their bill. After informing them of the total, the restaurant owner asked them not to return, citing the difficulty of providing large amounts of a particular fish, as sushi restaurants that use conveyor belts are designed to prepare a wide variety of sushi quickly.
The owner added that such behaviour could undermine the profitability of a business that depends on selling items at various price points.
The group objected to the ban, telling the owner he could have simply asked them to order other items. The owner, however, remained firm, responding that they should dine elsewhere in the future, the reports said.
Online users were divided, with some arguing that customers who plan to order only specific types of fish should go to a conventional sushi restaurant instead.
“Conveyor belt sushi restaurants offer a wide range of fish at different costs, and ordering large amounts of a single fish could prevent others from enjoying it,” one user wrote in an online community for self-employed business owners.
But others took issue with how the owner handled the situation.
“The customers made time to come to the place, and there appeared to be an aged person among them. Treating them like troublemakers over a small loss is ridiculous,” one user wrote.
“I understand the profit issue if people only order certain types of sushi (with low margin), but most customers probably don’t know that. The owner could’ve just explained it,” another user commented.
“Telling them not to come back right away was just too much.” - The Korea Herald/ANN
