KOLLAM: The allegation that celebrity chef Suresh Pillai's "Meen by Chef Pillai" restaurant in Kollam Thevally charged extra for second serving of rice along with meals has led to a lot of criticism on social media. The restaurant authorities have come forward with an explanation for this incident. According to the restaurant authorities, the group that came to eat had bought meals and fish curry, but asked for kuthari rice as second serving of rice. Chef Pillai's restaurant authorities also said that since kuthari rice is expensive, it cannot be served without charging extra.

Suresh Pillai says that the people who came to dine are not telling the truth in the video. He said that not three people but five people came to have food at his restaurant. "The group arrived at 2:30 pm after meals were over. When they were informed that there was no food left for five people, they bought food for three people and an extra meal and fish curry."

"If you listen to the video, it seems that only three people arrived and they had to pay for extra rice. However, extra rice is provided free of charge at the restaurant. I don't understand why those who came to dine filmed the video in this way," says Chef Pillai.

The video was from a customer who came to eat at the hotel the other day. The customer states that the hotel authorities charged a bill for the second serving of rice. That too, the same amount as for a thali meal. It was a customer named Rinso Reji George who shared this video on Instagram along with the bill. The video was shared on Instagram with the caption "scamming continues (Pattikkal Thudarunnu)."