A Chinese food live-streamer has been banned from a seafood grill buffet after binging on pork trotters and prawns.
Known only as Mr. Kang, the man told Hunan TV that he couldn't help having a big appetite, and accused the Handadi Seafood BBQ Buffet in Changsha of discriminating against him.
According to a translation by BBC News, the diner asked: "I can eat a lot - is that a fault?"
An interview with Mr. Kang has since gone viral on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
BBC News reports that Mr. Kang ate 1.5kg (3.3 pounds) of pork trotters on his first visit to the buffet restaurant. On another occasion, he put away almost 4kg (8.8 pounds) of prawns.
The restaurant owner had his own take on the situation, telling Hunan TV that Mr Kang's enormous appetite was putting such a financial strain on him that he had no choice but to ban the food influencer.
"Every time he comes here, I lose a few hundred yuan," he said. (Three-hundred yuan amounts to almost $50 USD.)
He recalled how Mr. Kang would decimate his buffet every time he visited, saying:
"Even when he drinks soy milk, he can drink 20 or 30 bottles. When he eats the pork trotters, he consumes the whole tray of them. And for prawns, usually, people use tongs to pick them up, he uses a tray to take them all."
The story is trending on Chinese social media, where it has racked up more than 250 million views and sparked a debate about the meaning of 'all-you-can-eat'.
Some have come out in defense of Mr. Kang, arguing that restaurants should not be advertised as 'all-you-can-eat' if they can't really afford it.
Others have taken the opportunity to criticize influencers like Mr. Kang who share their food binges online.
This niche social media craze has recently become a target of the Chinese government. President Xi Jinping called on people to fight food waste last year amid rising concerns over food shortages in parts of the country.
"Cultivate thrifty habits and foster a social environment where waste is shameful and thriftiness is applaudable," he said, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Kang isn't the only food influencer being blacklisted from the Handidi Seafood BBQ Buffet. The restaurant has reportedly banned all live-streamers.
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