A restaurant in Watford has been made to pay out almost £4,000 after steaks it served as exotic "zebra" and "wildebeest" meat turned out to be horse and venison.
The Steakhouse was caught out by trading standards officers after a complaint by a customer that the meats were not what they appeared.
In April last year, the officers visited the restaurant in St. Albans Road and ordered a zebra and a wildebeest steak - which turned out to be horse and red deer.
In the kitchen, they even noticed a ticket in relation to their order which read; “1 venison, chips and salad; 1 horse, chips and salad” with no reference to either zebra or wildebeest, St Albans Magistrates' Court heard.
The following month, they returned to the restaurant and found 22kg of horse meat in the freezer, despite horse not featuring on the restaurant's menu.
Restaurant owner Kunal Soni, 32, claimed he had "made a mistake" when he was challenged by the officers from Hertfordshire County Council.
He denied a charge of food fraud relating to meat which was misdescribed but was convicted following a trial on September 14.
He was ordered to pay £3,860.78 costs and a victim surcharge of £15.
Soni, of of Belswains Lane in Hemel Hempstead, was also given a 12 month suspended sentence.
Richard Thake, the council's cabinet member for community protection, said: “The public must have confidence in the food that is put in front of them when eating out.
"There can be implications regarding traceability of the food, allergens and religious concerns in some cases.
"Passing off food as something that it is not puts other competing businesses at a disadvantage and undermines trust in the market.”
