Aussie refused service at popular Bali restaurant over nut allergy

An Australian woman claimed staff at a Bali restaurant refused her service and suggested she leave after revealing she had an allergy.

An Australian woman has claimed staff at a popular Bali restaurant refused to serve her after she revealed she had a nut allergy.

The Melbourne woman was left surprised after staff at Motel Mexicola in Seminyak suggested she leave the venue after revealing she was anaphylactic.

Motel Mexicola is very popular with Bali tourists, serving food, drinks and also hosting regular parties and events.

However, the young traveller has warned people with food allergies may want to choose a different venue when looking for somewhere to grab a bite to eat.

In a post to the Bali Bogans Facebook page, she warned it was “not worth” going to Mexicola if you have allergies.

“I am anaphylactic to nuts and as soon as I mentioned this, they suggested I leave,” she wrote.

Motel Mexicola is a popular restaurant and bar in Bali. Picture: Motel Mexicola/Facebook

The Melbourne woman said the staff were “lovely” and told her that they wished she could stay and dine at the venue, but claimed they couldn’t “guarantee their food safety for people with allergies”.

As a result, staff reportedly said anyone that has allergies will not be served food at the venue.

“I politely challenged them and proposed why they couldn’t implement better cross contamination methods in the kitchen,” the woman explained.

Staff then reportedly advised the woman that there had been a situation recently where someone had a reaction to the food and didn’t have an EpiPen on them.

She said staff told her that the situation “ended badly” leading to the decision to no longer serve customers with allergies.

Many people rushed to defend the venue’s decision not to serve food to the Australian woman. Picture: Motel Mexicola/Facebook

She said she had her EpiPen on her at the time but praised staff for explaining the situation to her and being “respectful of my questions and confusion”.

To make up for the inconvenience, the tourist said staff gave her a free shot.

“Great atmosphere and such a funky vibe for dinner, everyone I was with also said the food was amazing!” she said.

“If you have allergies though, worth not wasting your time!”

News.com.au has contacted Motel Mexicola for comment.

The woman posted the warning on Wednesday, prompting dozens of responses before comments were turned off by the group administrator.

The majority of commenters rushed to defend the restaurant’s decision not to serve her, claiming it was good staff were upfront about the situation.

“Glad they know their shortcomings – best not to injure people,” one person said.

“At least they were honest and put your health ahead of profit,” another wrote.

One customer who recently attended the venue said staff checked with their table to make sure no one had any food allergies.

“We are there a couple of weeks ago for my birthday dinner and I do recall them asking the table (17 people) if anyone had allergies before they started serving food,” they said.

“The food was amazing by the way, I will definitely go back.”

Other commenters appeared to be unimpressed with the woman’s post, questioning why she would challenge staff in the first place.

“Why would you challenge them?? They were upfront and honest … luckily for you!!” one person wrote.

“Surely they did the right thing by guaranteeing that they can’t guarantee (the woman’s) safety, but silly Abbey was prepared to risk that. Clown,” another said.

Another questioned why she was challenging the staff when she was “the one with the allergy”.

One added: “You challenged them? In their country? In their restaurant?”