The now-viral incident saw 17 diners allegedly skip out on a £347.50 bill – despite happily demolishing their steak – before a negative review appeared online
The restaurant the group allegedly fled from(Image: Google Maps)
A party of diners accused of leaving a restaurant without settling a £347 bill may have made themselves simpler to identify after one remarkably posted a scathing review online. The party of 17 supposedly walked out on a €402.80 (£347.50) bill at Mar d’Amura restaurant in Valencia, Spain.
One customer slated the service, the cuisine and the establishment, declaring it was a “terrible place, with terrible food and terrible service. One of the worst places I’ve ever been.”
However, Mar d’Amura claims the party departed “one by one”, seemingly to prevent attracting the notice of the serving staff. Hospitality-focused X account @soycamarero highlighted the incident.
It triggered a surge of criticism, with users branding the dine-and-dashers “shameless” and “scoundrels”. Mar d’Amura’s management spotted the review and replied.
The owner expressed gratitude to the diner, stating it provided them the “opportunity to respond publicly”, before detailing what they claimed occurred. He stated: “First of all, you left without paying the bill, 17 people, one by one, you disappeared”
He also claimed the customers ordered desserts, only to reject them once they were served. The owner alleged one customer ate an entire ribeye steak meal, then said it “wasn’t good” and tried to bargain over the price.
He continued: “Thirdly, one of you came to pay, but didn’t want to pay for the entrecote because it wasn’t good. But you didn’t leave anything on the dish, so we charged you. Then he decided not to pay anything.”
The owner highlighted that the bill “exceeds €350” and that it was “no longer petty theft, it’s theft”. He also stated: “We want to remind everyone that we have security cameras and that we will be filing a police report, as well as sharing it on social media.”
Social media users expressed their own opinions on the incident, with one questioning: “How on earth do 17 people leave and you don’t notice? When there are only a few left, don’t you realise something’s wrong?”.
Despite this, other comments aimed fire at the dine-and-dashers. And it appears that the publicity had an impact, as it was later claimed by the profile that Mar d’Amura received its cash via the Spanish payment service Bizum.
It follows reports of an “ultimate dine and dash” couple in the UK, who allegedly ran out on a £231.30 bill at The Halfway House in Brentwood, Essex, having enjoyed starters, two steaks, 14 shots of Baby Guinness, and ice cream sides.
Nevertheless, the pair were caught on CCTV fleeing across the car park, and the matter was reported to the police.
General manager Deanne Perkins revealed: “They ran but they didn’t get into a car, we don’t know where they went. The lady came in after seeing it on social media and paid her half of the bill – £90. But we still have to hear from the gentleman.”
She further commented: “I wasn’t there but apparently she said she didn’t know. But she had ran to the car park so I’m not quite sure.”
