Menu says 5,000 won, but restaurant charges 8,000 won — owner says menu 'hasn't been updated'

An all-you-can-eat restaurant has sparked controversy after attempting to charge a customer 8,000 won as an environmental surcharge — nearly double the 5,000 won listed on its menu — without any prior notice.

The story aired Sunday on JTBC's "Sageon Banjang," which introduced the account of a customer, identified only as A, who visited an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu restaurant and got into a dispute with the owner over the surcharge.

According to the program, A visited the restaurant with two friends and ate meat, various vegetables, mushrooms and knife-cut noodles. When the meal was nearly over, some solid ingredients and broth remained in the pot.

When the owner pointed out that food had been left over and demanded an environmental surcharge, A said the 5,000 won shown on the menu would be paid.

The owner replied that the charge was 8,000 won, not 5,000 won. When A protested that the menu clearly stated 5,000 won, the owner said, "Do you know how much prices have gone up? We just haven't updated the menu yet." The owner went on to say, "Who told you to leave food? You should eat slowly and only take what you can finish. You ordered all-you-can-eat and got greedy," and demanded 8,000 won.

The cast members who reviewed the story all sided with A and criticized the restaurant's handling of the situation.

Seung Jae-hyun of the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice said, "It is not appropriate to demand a different amount from what is listed on the menu at the point of transaction without prior notice."

Attorney Park Ji-hoon also addressed the legal weight of prices displayed on a menu. "The most important thing in any transaction is the expression of intent," Park said. "If the menu states 5,000 won, then even if it was listed in error, the contractual effect arises according to that stated price."

Online commenters also weighed in, with reactions including: "It is already rare for restaurants to charge an environmental surcharge at all — suddenly raising the amount on top of that is excessive"; "If you raised the price, you should have updated the menu first"; and "This is nothing but the owner's unreasonable greed."