A diner who was reported to have paid a whopping RM13,000 for a patin meal at a restaurant in temerloh recently, today said the bill was reasonable as it was for 300 to 350 people and not 50 as reported.

He told Bernama the menu for the lunch held after the naming of candidates for the Kerdau state seat by-election, included the prized river patin and krai fish dishes, udang galah (freshwater prawns) and several other dishes.

“The total bill came to about RM13,000, or less than RM40 per person, which is reasonable as we ate the rare river patin which is costly, and not patin from the farms,” he said.

He added that the controversy over the bill could be due to some attendees not knowing the number of people at the luncheon and the menu’s worth.

Following the report today, several eatery operators here refuted the RM13,000 bill claim for 50 diners.

An eatery operator who wished anonymity said even during the Kerdau state seat by-election campaign last month which saw a lot of visitors and campaign workers here, the price of a patin meal did not go up very high.

“Name the restaurant and show us the receipt,” he said, adding that such a claim would not only tarnish Temerloh’s image as home of the patin fish and also portrayed eatery operators in Temerloh offering the freshwater fish, as profiteers.

A patin trader, who wished to be known only as Amran, said he sold wild  (river) patin muncung at RM80 to RM100 per slice and wild patin buah at RM16 to RM28 per slice, while patin from the farms cost RM8 to RM10 each. 

'Isolated incident'

Earlier, the local MP defended the constituency's most famous export, calling it an 'isolated incident'.

"As the MP of Temerloh (in Pahang), I believe that if the report is true, it is an isolated case," said Saifuddin Abdullah, who is also deputy higher education minister.

Defending the local delicacy in a statement titled "Patin Temerloh is not expensive" sent to reporters today, he said reports of skyrocketing prices in several restaurants first surfaced during the recent Kerdau by-election.

"Actually, the price of patin in Temerloh is not as expensive as claimed," Saifuddin said.

He said that there are two types of patin - the reared patin that retails at RM13 to RM15 a kilo while the wild patin costs between RM200 and RM250 a kg.

When cooked with the signature Temerloh gulai tempoyak , the wild patin could cost RM60 to RM80 a serving.

"Temerloh has been known as 'Bandar Ikan Patin'," he said, adding that there are 53 patin restaurants in his constituency.

"I advice the ikan patin traders to display their prices clearly to avoid confusion among customers, especially those who are not local people," he said, adding that restauranteurs too should not raise prices indiscriminately.