GEORGE TOWN: The woman who posted a picture of the receipt at the centre of the sotong goreng controversy has apologised for any confusion in a posting on Hameediyah Restaurant's Facebook page tonight.
In the posting, the unidentified woman said that she had visited the state's oldest nasi kandar restaurant at 5pm yesterday.
She went on to say that she and her partner had ordered two sotong goreng (fried squid) Apollo, priced at RM50 each.
The woman further said that she saw the restaurant owner keying in the price of the dish and did not object to the price as she had ordered the same dish during a previous visit and was aware of the price.
"I uploaded it to my Instagram story but did not mention anything about it being expensive.
"However, an individual had screenshot my posting and uploaded it onto the Facebook page. The individual also tagged 70 others with the caption 'Hati hati kawan2.. yg mana nak mai makan nasik kandaq kat Penang. Harga 2 ekor sotong boleh cecah smpai RM100.'
The posting became viral after it was uploaded with the said caption.
"I just want to explain that the price is reasonable as the two sotong goreng I took was of big size.
"As such, for anyone who misunderstood and claimed that I had said the price was expensive, that is not true at all," she said in a series of WhatsApp messages sent to Hameediyah Lebuh Campbell director Muhammad Riyaaz Syed Ibrahim.
Following her messages, the nasi kandar restaurant uploaded the woman's explanation on their Facebook page.
The woman also went on to say that the price she paid yesterday was the same as she had paid before this.
"I had no intention to viral my posting but it was another person's doing. I hope that with this explanation, people will not misunderstand between the price and my actual posting.
"I hope everyone out there is clear with the issue," she added.
Since yesterday, a copy of a receipt, totalling RM106.60, from Hameediyah Restaurant at Campbell Street here, was uploaded by one Huzir Rizal, showing RM100 for two fresh sotong goreng along with a photograph of the dish.
The posting has since gone viral on social media, with netizens criticising the restaurant for its exorbitantly-priced sotong goreng dish.
The restaurant had earlier this afternoon came forward to explain the situation.
