Venice tourists’ shock at ‘dizzying’ €1,100 bill for dinner

Four Japanese students filed a police complaint after a restaurant in Venice allegedly charged them €1,100 (£966) for three steaks and a plate of fried fish - washed down with mineral water.

Venice Today called the bill “dizzying” and says the group complained to police after returning to Bologna, where they are studying at university. Asked about the bill, the owner of the restaurant, Osteria da Luca, in the Mercerie district close to St Mark’s Square, said they did not recall the incident, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, has promised to investigate the latest complaint about rip-off prices in the city.

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In November, British tourist Luke Tang, from Birmingham, claimed he had been billed €526 (£463) for lunch with his parents, including oysters they did not order, at Trattoria Casanova, in the central San Marco district, according to The Independent. Following that complaint, Mayor Brugnaro mocked Tang as a “skinflint” who didn’t tip or even speak Italian, The Times reports.