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Mr Soni, 32, from Hemel Hempstead in Herts, appeared at St Albans Magistrates' Court this week, where he pleaded guilty to misinforming customers.

The officers returned to the eatery in Watford, Hertfordshire and found 22kg of horse meat in the freezer.

But when the meat was sent for analysis the zebra was identified as horse and the wildebeest was actually red deer.

The officers confronted Mr Soni, who claimed the waiter had "made a mistake".

After they placed their orders, one for zebra and one for wildebeest, the officers looked around the kitchen, where they found tickets for their orders which read: "1 venison, chips and salad; 1 horse, chips and salad".

Boss Kunal Soni was caughter after undercover Trading Standards officers visited The Steakhouse, which claimed to offer various exotic meats such as zebra, ostrich, kangaroo, wildebeest and antelope.

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Saddle up and get your nose bag on

He was handed a one-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £3,860 costs.

Speaking after the case, Hertford County Council cabinet member for community protection, Richard Thake, said: "The public must have confidence in the food that is put in front of them when eating out.

"Passing off food as something that it is not puts other competing businesses at a disadvantage and undermines the trust in the market."

The restaurant has now taken a ribbing on TripAdvisor from angry and bemused customers.

A former customer wrote: "Saddle up and get your nose bag on."

"Stop horsing about and gallop on down to Steakhouse while you still can. I have a feeling that it might not be around for much longer."

Another took to the restaurant's Facebook page and poked fun at a photo of a steak put up by bosses.

He wrote: "What part of horse this is?"

Customers had previously complained about the meat they were served up at the eatery, saying the zebra was "sinewy" and the llama was "tough".

A customer, who went to the restaurant in 2014, said he was appalled after ordering a zebra steak and being served up something which was "definitely not" what he ordered.

He said: "I know what zebra meat tastes like as I'd had it a lot in my time, and this definitely wasn't zebra.

"Now we all know it was horse I was given."

Another described the zebra steak as "very tough".

Following his visit in May this year, he wrote: "My friend and I plumped to share a zebra steak and crocodile tail.

"The zebra was a bit sinewy; the crocodile a bit bland.

"Everything on the menu is described as tender and delicious - perhaps they ought to offer the chef to cook them that way!"

While, one customer claimed the food was "inedible".

She said her partner ordered llama, but that it was "so tough" he couldn't eat it.