Rome: A Japanese couple who were landed with an "astronomical" bill at a famous Rome restaurant earlier this month, on Friday turned down an offer by the Italian government to revisit the city at its expense.
Yasuyuki Yamada (35) from Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, and his fiancée had received an enormous bill of 694 euro that included a 115-euro service charge after having lunch at Il Passetto and had reported the restaurant to the police.
The restaurant defended itself by saying the couple had ordered "super-exclusive food, like 12 oysters and lobster.
It was subsequently shut down by health inspectors.
After the incident was covered extensively in Italy, Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla invited Yamada and his fiancée to return to Rome as guests of her ministry to make up for the inflated restaurant bill.
In an open letter issued to all Japanese tourists last week, Brambilla urged them to visit Italy and said she was "terribly sorry" for the nearly 700-euro restaurant bill, which she said was an "isolated incident."
Yamada, however, said that while he appreciated the minister's offer, he has "no intention of accepting" it as it would be "a useless way to spend Italian taxpayers' money."
