Burned mackerel, no apology: Regular customer rebuked for complaining at restaurant

A customer who complained about receiving a badly charred, late-arriving grilled mackerel was treated as overly sensitive, prompting the person to share the experience online.

A post titled "Charcoal Mackerel" recently appeared on an online community forum, accompanied by photos.

The poster, identified only as A, said the incident occurred at a restaurant they regularly visited, where they had ordered spicy stir-fried pork and grilled mackerel.

According to A, the mackerel arrived far later than expected — not until the rest of the party had nearly finished eating. When A flipped the fish over after noticing a burnt smell, one side was completely blackened like charcoal.

Photos shared with the post show the exterior of both halves of the mackerel scorched entirely black.

When A pointed out the condition of the food, the restaurant owner offered no apology and instead scolded the customer: "You've already eaten most of it anyway — can't you just pick the meat off the bones?"

When the customers showed visible displeasure, staff finally took the charred fish away. Shortly after, voices from the kitchen could be heard saying things like "so sensitive," "just cook at home," and "why eat out if you can't even understand this?"

"The owner came back and said they would grill a new mackerel for us, but absolutely no refund," A said. "They said this isn't a hotel and asked what more we could possibly want."

A added that the owner said other customers had never complained, and when asked why, shot back that A was a regular who came often and should understand — pointing out that the restaurant had given them scorched-rice water and extra rice as a courtesy.

"I'm so angry thinking about how little they must think of us to respond that way," A said. "The burnt food was a problem, but what bothered me more was the restaurant trying to make me out to be an oversensitive customer."

Other users who read the post piled on with criticism of the restaurant, commenting: "They should have admitted the mistake and apologized first," "They clearly just see regulars as a source of money," and "How on earth is anyone supposed to pick meat off something that burnt?"