Last week, a restaurant in Penang came under the spotlight for charging a patron RM100 for two 'sotong goreng' dishes:

And this week, another restaurant in the island has attracted the attention of the netizens and even the authorities.

Pricey vege

This time around, its a ‘kailan ikan masin’ dish that has become the center of attention after a customer was charged RM18 at a restaurant in Kepala Batas, Penang.

A copy of the receipt accompanied by a photo of the dish were posted onto the Facebook group Penang Kini on Saturday (27 November), and it has since become a topic of debate on the social media site.

According to the caption on the post, the customer frequented the restaurant located in Kepala Batas and they could not swallow the price of the 'kailan' dish.

The customer was willing to overlook the fact that they were charged RM90 for jenahak fish, RM9 for mixed vegetables and RM5 for ulam and sambal.

However, the customer opined that RM18 for a kailan dish was simply too expensive as it was a serving for only one person.

Authorities are investigating

Image credit: Facebook/KPDNHEP Pulau Pinang

With the issue of seemingly overpriced food dishes becoming a trending topic these days, the post soon got the attention of the authorities.

Malay Mail reported that the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s branch office in Penang has sent a Goods Information Verification Notice (NPMB) to the restaurant operator to clarify the price of the dish.

The operator of the restuarant was given two days to clarify the matter.

“The ministry’s branch office in Penang has received information regarding the viral posting ‘Harga terlalu mahal tidak setara kuantiti yang diberikan’ through social media by a customer on the pricey 'kailan ikan masin dish' yesterday (Sunday).

“Following that, our officers were sent to the restaurant to look into the complaint and issued the operator with a NPMB to respond within two days,” the ministry said in a Facebook post.

Looks like it's going to be scary times for some of the restaurants out there.