Taylor Townsend “honestly just so shocked” by Chinese buffet dishes

Note: This article has been updated on Tuesday, September 16 at 7:45 p.m. EDT to include Taylor Townsend's apology message.

Taylor Townsend always speaks her mind, but her latest comments have sparked mixed reactions.

The American is in Shenzhen, China preparing for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, where Team USA is set to face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old shared a blunt review of her restaurant buffet while dining with teammate Hailey Baptiste on Tuesday evening—and Townsend’s Instagram commentary ranged from skeptical to scathing.

Read More: Taylor Townsend, doubles No. 1, proves herself a tennis player in full

“We’re at dinner, and look,” she said, panning the camera across a table full of dishes including dried sea cucumber, bullfrog and Jia Yu Fu (braised soft-shelled turtle with fish maw), all of which are considered delicacies in Chinese cuisine.

“You guys, this is crazy,” Townsend continued. The caption read: ‘This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen… and people eating this.’

Later that night, Townsend posted again from her hotel, and was still thinking about dinner:

“I’m honestly just so shocked by what I saw in the dinner buffet,” Townsend said. “As I go back and look... These people are literally killing frogs—bullfrogs, aren’t those poisonous? Aren’t those the ones that be giving you boils and stuff? And turtles?

"The fact that it’s all stewed up in chilis and peppers and onions… It’s like, oh, y’all really made this a dish.”

Currently ranked world No. 1 in doubles, Townsend will be competing in Beijing next week for only the second time in her career. She has skipped parts of the calendar—including much of the WTA’s Asia swing—in previous years due to financial constraints, opting instead to compete at North American ITF events after the US Open.

“I don't have a whole bunch of sponsors knocking down my door giving me money. A lot of the stuff is coming out of my pocket,” she said in 2019. “I have to be very financially smart with where I go, where I travel, what makes sense. This is a very expensive sport. I think that a lot of people don't really see that side of it.”

Townsend, whose comments were criticized online for being disrespectful of the host country's culture and cuisine, has been documenting her trip on social media. On Monday she posted a series of selfies captioned, “Not one for mirror pics, but why not try new things when I’m in new places.”

Read More: “No class, no education”: Jelena Ostapenko lashes out at Taylor Townsend after US Open loss

She also made headlines at the US Open after Jelena Ostapenko accused her of having “no class” and “no education” when Townsend didn’t apologize for a netcord. Their exchange went viral as Townsend replied, “You can learn to take a loss better,” and Ostapenko fired back with a warning to “see what happens when we get outside the U.S.”

In China, Townsend wrapped up her food review by giving the experience “a solid two out of 10,” adding that noodles were “the only thing that we ate.”

I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here at the tournament, and everyone has been so kind and so gracious. The things that I said were not representative of that at all, and I just truly wanted to apologize.

On Wednesday morning, Townsend returned to Instagram with a video message apologizing for her comments amid the growing backlash:

"Hi everybody, I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart. I understand that I am so privileged as a professional athlete to be able to travel all around the world and experience cultural differences—which is one of the things that I love so much about what I do. I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here at the tournament, and everyone has been so kind and so gracious. The things that I said were not representative of that at all, and I just truly wanted to apologize.

"There is no excuse, there are no words... I will be better. I'm really, really thankful to my country and to be able to represent them and be better. That's all I can do. I just truly apologize."

Townsend is set to compete alongside Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, McCartney Kessler and Baptiste as the No. 3 seeded Americans take on No. 6 Kazakhstan, led by Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva.

Meanwhile Townsend and Katerina Siniakova, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in doubles, are one of three teams to secure a spot at the WTA Finals Riyadh. The American-Czech duo won the Australian Open, captured the Dubai WTA 1000 title and finished runner-up at the US Open.

The Billie Jean King Cup kicks off on September 16, while the China Open, a combined WTA 1000 and ATP 500, starts on September 22—both will be streamed live on Tennis Channel.