Waiter waiter there's water in my crab!

Several days ago we were accosted by a charming waiter to come and eat later that evening. He showed us a very large crab and it looked so tempting that we decided to come back. It cost about £20 for the two of us. Helen ordered Italian style with no sauce.

 It arrived with shell already split and claws broken for us. However when we looked inside there was hardly any meat but a lot of water. 

We didn't eat it and informed the waiter it was inedible.  Watery crab is something Helen had heard of. Apparently it happens around the time the crab moults. Fishermen told us it happens around the time of the full moon. The waiter blamed the cook. The owner blamed the waiter.  All theories are welcome. 

We were brought red snapper instead and we refused to pay even £6 for the crab we couldn't eat. We DID pay for the snapper but think it was more than the price on the menu.

Next day we met the waiter. He told us that as he had sold us the crab and we didn't pay for it then HE had to pay for it. So he paid £5 out of his own wages.  But never mind...this is how he got his money back.  They sold the crab we rejected to other customers as crab curry!  And not only that ... 

...As the season is so poor and they had run out of Jumbo prawns...how to sell something as a jumbo prawn? Take one jumbo and place the head in front of a smaller tiger prawn's body..  Ha ha! The customer is fooled.  

Good advice would be to always order Italian style because they can't hide the meat under a thick sauce! 

The episode shows the precarious nature of employment here doesn't it?

Post script

Today we met a fisherman who told us you can tell a watery crab by pressing on the underside. A good crab, which is firm, costs 800 rupees at the market whereas a watery crab costs 100 rupees.

Obviously our restaurant had purchased a cheap crab and used it to attract customers even though they knew it was a poor one. They can disguise the lack of meat in a masala sauce.