DUBAI, March 25 (Reuters) - A group celebrating a birthday at a Dubai diner were cheered by a 25 percent discount but not necessarily the reason: "Bug on food".

The restaurant cut the bill for seven customers at a birthday dinner after they found four insects crawling around their meals, the Gulf News reported on Tuesday.

"We were surprised when the receipt said 'bug on food' as a reason for the discount. I think they were trying to be funny," it quoted one of the disgruntled customers as saying.

An official at the restaurant defended the phrase saying it was "an inappropriate detail", the paper reported.

"It was a misunderstanding from our side -- the guys thought being friendly and having a joke about the environment would relax the diners because it was a birthday, but unfortunately it didn't," he added. (Writing by Inal Ersan, editing by Mary Gabriel)

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