Silver Pearl restaurant lobster saga: Jennifer and her two daughters were looking forward to a seafood meal at an upmarket restaurant. They weren’t ready for the three years of hell that followed…

EXCLUSIVE 

A family wrongly accused by a restaurant of failing to pay for a $364 lobster Christmas dinner has revealed the devastating impact of a subsequent social media hate campaign. 

Jennifer Do and her food influencer daughters Julie and Belinda Nguyen have been subjected to more than three years of abuse including threats they would be raped and killed.

Belinda lost her corporate job, Julie was forced to install surveillance cameras in her home and mum Jennifer was harassed at her local Westfield shopping centre. 

All three said they lost hair, gained weight and suffered depression so severe they contemplated taking their own lives.

‘It’s been a living nightmare for us every day,’ Julie told Daily Mail Australia. ‘An absolute living nightmare.’

Last week the trio finally received an apology from the restaurant which made the false claims about what happened when they dined at upmarket eatery Silver Pearl in Sydney’s south-west on December 25, 2020.

That night the three women and Jennifer’s then-partner Son Nguyen went to the Cabramatta establishment to celebrate Christmas with a seafood meal.

They ordered two lobster dishes – one cooked in XO sauce and one prepared sashimi-style, but when the food came to their table Son said the latter tasted ‘off’ and began feeling unwell.

The group called a waitress, who spoke to her manager, but the issue could not be resolved and the family left the restaurant without eating, having paid for a $40 bottle of red wine they consumed.

According to Julie, no-one tried to stop the group from leaving but they were told never to return. Police were not called to the scene.

The group then went across the road to Barluck Seafood Restaurant where they spent $500 on a lobster dish. 

At the time, the sisters were part-time food bloggers, posting pictures and reviews of meals they had enjoyed, as well as collaborating with other businesses including fashion designers. 

Julie said neither sister wrote a review of their experience at Silver Pearl ‘or bad-mouthed them to anyone’.  

The family thought nothing more about the night until about 48 hours later when Julie, Belinda and their mother received direct messages from Silver Pearl on Instagram.

The restaurant stated the family had falsely accused them of serving frozen instead of fresh lobster, and suggested they had faked food poisoning. 

‘Even after you complained, you STILL CONTINUED to eat the sashimi that supposedly caused you to “Feel sick”,’ Silver Pearl said. ‘Not only did you continue to eat it you FINISHED IT.

‘We find this kind of behaviour dishonest and classless.

‘We are demanding that you pay the outstanding bill of $364 or we will pursue this matter through the police and publicly name and shame your family with photos included for this terrible behaviour.’

The restaurant then carried out the shaming part of its threat. 

In an Instagram post headed ‘WARNING: SCAMMER ALERT’ and ‘Beware FRAUDULENT DINERS’, Silver Pearl publicly repeated the allegations against the three women. 

‘Belinda, Julie and Jennifer, We are disappointed with your dishonest and fraudulent behaviour,’ the post read.

‘This is totally classless behaviour and we hope your reputation was worth tarnishing for $364.’ 

The restaurant published pictures of the women (plus a man who was not Son) and their Instagram accounts, as well as a CCTV frame of them at the restaurant. 

Julie said the backlash on social media was immediate, brutal, and incessant.  

Belinda worked in project management and had 70,000 Instagram followers, Julie was a corporate analyst with 14,000 followers and Jennifer had a small social media presence.  

Trolls sent the women hundreds of messages, calling them b**ches, wh**es, s**ts, tw*ts, rats, scum, skanks and trannies. They were likened to sex dolls and escorts.

‘You dumb c**ts and your f***ing dumb retarded parents have been doing this to everyone,’ one stranger wrote. 

‘You f***ing filthy sucks. SCUMS. BETTER NOT CATCH YOU IN THE F***ING STREETS!!!!! Or I’ll drag your f***ing wig to the store so you pay for your f***ing meal. Dumb a**es.’

Another wrote, ‘Pay your bill at the Silver Pearl you f***ing fake s**t. I’ve tracked your IP address and found you home address’.

On Instagram: ‘Better watch out ugly b***h… gangs are coming to gang rape you’.

On Facebook: ‘Can we please have permission to kill these animals? I hate people like this, with a strong passion’.

After two weeks of public vilification, Belinda lost her job. Julie no longer felt safe in her own home and installed surveillance cameras. Jennifer’s relationship with Son eventually ended. 

‘Once something goes viral it’s like poison,’ Julie said. ‘We felt helpless about the situation. It was very traumatic.

‘They said they would physically bash my mum if they saw us around the Cabramatta area. That they’ll physically harm us, spit on us.’

The online abuse was bad enough but all three women were menaced in public. 

‘Mum got stalked at her local Westfield by a lady. Mum said, “Hi, can I help you?” The lady said, “I saw you on TV – you’re the lobster scammer”.

‘We have to be subjected every day to this question: why did you steal the lobster from this establishment?

‘There were thoughts of suicide because of the extreme humiliation and hatred of being accused of being a lobster scammer.’ 

Julie said the pile-on removed work opportunities and any chance of her having a relationship.

‘People ask why I’m single but every time I date someone they bring up this,’ she said. 

Almost 12 months after their visit to Silver Pearl the women launched a Federal Court defamation action against the restaurant and after attempts at mediation the case was set for trial in October this year.   

The case was dismissed after the parties reached a private settlement outside court, without Silver Pearl making any admissions of wrongdoing or any damages being paid. 

On March 28, the restaurant returned to social media, this time with an apology to 31-year-old Julie, 25-year-old Belinda and mother Jennifer. 

Silver Pearl insisted in that statement there was nothing wrong with the lobster it served the women and that its seafood was fresh.

‘However, we do accept that on 28 December 2020 we published a post that was made about Jennifer, Julie and Belinda.’ it said.

‘We now acknowledge that none of them ate any of the lobster and it was only Jennifer’s partner who did. We acknowledge that they paid for the wine.

‘We are aware the posts gained significant traction and caused Jennifer, Belinda and Julie hurt and embarrassment.

‘It was never our intention for the matter to escalate to the extent it did, and we are empathetic to them for any harm our post may have caused.’

Julie said the apology was welcome but the women were still in distress.

‘We’ve been through the wringer,’ she said. ‘We all struggle with our mental health.

‘We still get harassed and cursed by people who thought we were lobster scammers or fraudulent diners. 

‘We will never have the same confidence going out in public. We live in fear because the threats still haunt us.’

All three women were trying to put their lives back together now that the restaurant had said it was sorry for what happened to them. 

Julie has a tutoring business and is studying migration law, while Jennifer volunteers with St Vincent de Paul and Belinda has taken up rapping as musical therapy. 

‘The apology does mean more than any amount of money – it does bring us some relief,’ Julie said.

‘The apology means everything because at least we have something to show to employers, to the public, to people around us who know us personally.

‘You can’t put a price on your dignity or your integrity.’

Lawyers acting on behalf of Silver Pearl told Daily Mail Australia that Julie, Belinda and Jennifer’s legal action had been resolved ‘amicably’.

‘Silver Pearl wishes to reiterate its commitment to providing excellent service to all patrons and maintaining a positive relationship with the community,’ they said.

‘We affirm that the Silver Pearl remains dedicated to upholding its reputation for integrity and respect.’