Woman shares dismay over ‘mouse-sized’ panini she purchased for $8 on vacation in Italy

‘I expected so many things but not a carrot and cheese macaron,’ one viewer joked

A woman has sparked horror and amusement after sharing a video of the miniscule panini she purchased for nearly $8 while vacationing in Italy.

Emily, who is from Canada and who goes by the username @emilydrewmcdonald on TikTok, said she received the “one-bite” sandwich while visiting Naples, Italy, with the TikToker expressing her dismay over the size of the panini in a video posted this to the platform.

“Okay wanna see what I just got for f**king €7 in Naples, Italy?” Emily began the video, in which she could be seen holding a cardboard takeaway box. “It was supposed to be a panini, okay? What was it … it was cheese, more cheese, green olives, f**king carrots.”

After reiterating that she’d paid €7 or $10.50 Canadian dollars for the sandwich, Emily said: “You can’t make this sh*t up” as she opened the box and pulled out a miniature panini, which she then held up to the camera as her friends laughed in the background.

“I know I can eat this in one bite,” the TikToker said while laughing and continuing to hold the sandwich between her thumb and index finger. “This is a $10.50 Canadian bite of f**king no cheese, just carrots.”

Emily then opened the sandwich to reveal the filling, which appeared to consist of a few slices of carrot and a small portion of cheese. “It’s just carrots. They legit charged me f**king €7,” she said, before showing the receipt for the miniature meal.

In the video, the TikToker proceeded to describe the portion size as “highway robbery,” before urging Naples to “do better”.

In the caption of the video, which has since been viewed more than 339,000 times, Emily joked about the small sandwich, writing: “Apparently Italians think I should be on a diet.”

The TikTok of the tiny panini and Emily’s dismay has been met with amusement from viewers, with many admitting that they didn’t expect the sandwich to be that small prior to the reveal.

“I was not prepared,” one person wrote, while another said: “I literally gasped. Omg that’s robbery.”

According to someone else, not in their “wildest dreams” did they expect the size of the panini.

“I don’t know what I was expecting… this was not it,” another person wrote, while one person joked that they “expected so many things but not a carrot and cheese macaron”.

Others found the situation amusing, with many claiming the restaurant charged Emily the steep price for the sandwich because she was a tourist.

“They spotted you a mile away…” one person wrote, while another viewer claimed the restaurant had “scammed” Emily. “The vendor knew that you were easy money,” someone else commented.

In a follow-up video, Emily revealed that, rather than eating the panini, she brought it back to the restaurant, where she confronted the staff over the size of the sandwich.

“I’m going back for revenge,” the TikToker said at the start of the video, in which she could be seen making a sad face as she walked down a street while holding the cardboard box the meal had come in.

In the clip, Emily then proceeded to show the panini to restaurant employees while questioning whether either the size of the sandwich, or the price, was “a mistake”.

In response to her inquiry, the staff appeared to joke that Emily wanted the sandwich even “smaller”.

However, Emily revealed that the restaurant ultimately “took [her] feedback very seriously and upgraded the sandwich” as she revealed the much larger panini she was given.

Viewers have since applauded Emily for returning to the restaurant, with many supportive of her decision to question the small meal.

“You were so gracious and polite and had a sense of humour about it. But those guys needed to be checked for sure,” one person wrote.

Another said: “Good for you for going over there! How are they not embarrassed?” to which Emily admitted that she felt “so bad and awkward” and that she wouldn’t have returned to the restaurant if she hadn’t been “so hungry at the time”.

Others expressed their amusement over the size of Emily’s replacement panini, which appeared to be nearly a foot in length.

“What a sharp contrast to the original,” one person said, while another joked: “I wonder if he went to the back and added water to it and it just grew to a normal-sized panini.”

According to someone else, they were pleased by the conclusion of the saga. “They made it right. I guess that’s all that counts in the end. Lesson learned,” they wrote.

The Independent has contacted Emily for comment.