Rome restaurant pays price after tourist rip-off

A restaurant in Rome which presented a Japanese tourist with a bill for nearly €700 after a meal with his fiancee has been closed down by the authorities, Il Messaggero daily reported yesterday.

The young couple, who have not been named, were outraged by the €695 bill which included two plates of pasta, a bottle of water, a bottle of wine and a fruit salad. The service charge alone was €115.

Their protests however were brushed off by the manager of the restaurant, located close to the tourist hub of Piazza Navona.

Il Messaggero said that the closure notice followed a raid by health inspectors and pricing investigators, ordered by the Italian capital's mayor, which found a series of breaches of hygiene and administrative regulations.