A Chinese Michelin three-star restaurant’s Tokyo branch has triggered an online backlash after being exposed for serving inferior ingredients to diners from China.
A food influencer @chapaofanpp posted onsocial media that Xin Rong Ji, a fine-dining chain restaurant specialising in Taizhou cuisine, offered cheaper ingredients for a full course priced at 88,000 yen (US$560) at its Tokyo branch.
She posted a comparison of her menu and another menu she found online.
Pricier ingredients such as Pacific geoduck and Houdan chicken on the other menu were replaced with cheaper ones like sliced whelk and squab on hers.
She said the ingredients on the other menu was what she expected when she ordered the tasting menu for her and her date.
The influencer with 7,000 followers said she further found in disbelief that Japanese diners next to her were served Chinese mitten crab and claypot rice, while she only had ordinary white rice, the mainland media outlet 36Kr reported.