Good food but served with a large side of bad attitude and degrading comments — that was the harsh treatment one Malaysian woman and her Singaporean relatives received while dining at a popular eatery in Melaka last week.
Facebook user SisYana Lashes shared about the horrifying dining experience she and her family received at the stall, whereby a staff member not only berated her for arriving late but also insinuated that she was poor after she ordered an omelette dish.
According to SisYana, their group, comprising her family and their relatives from Singapore, had arrived at Restoran 35 eatery at about 2pm, by which time many of the dishes had sold out.
Looking at what was left in the display, SisYana said she asked the person behind the counter: “Is this the only food left?”. To which the staff said yes.
SisYana said she “immediately ordered everything” and asked for it to be served, but she was taken aback after a woman from the kitchen chided in a sarcastic manner: “Look at what time you came, even if we served elephant [as food], the elephant would also be finished”.
She decided to let that comment slide and the group, comprising around 10 people including children, sat down to enjoy their meal.
However, SisYana alleged that the jibes from the woman continued.
“She didn’t stop nagging, as if the problem was caused by my family,” shared SisYana.
In a recording posted on Facebook, a woman in the background could be heard commenting in Malay “this is my shop, it’s my problem if I want to sell or not”.
SisYana shared that she’d heard about the eatery’s rude owner but experiencing it first-hand was quite something.
“Before this, I’d heard about the lady’s behaviour but because I’ve never faced any issues, I was okay. Now that I’ve experienced it myself, I know.”
The bill for the entire meal came up to RM240 (S$75), which SisyYana said she paid up without further questions.
However, the final blow was when the owner slammed her for ordering an omelette dish, insinuating she was too poor to afford anything else.
“Only eat omelette. If you don’t have money don’t bring your parents out to eat”, the woman was alleged to have said, which left SisYana feeling embarrassed and hurt.
“Even my mother said it’s the first time she’s seen people doing business like this,” said SisYana.
“It’s a shame for outsiders to see how people in Melaka are doing their business. Even though the outsiders are my relatives from Singapore, I still feel embarrassed”
“Meet the rudest Melaka people at this restaurant!”
Notorious for Its Foul-Mouthed Owner
According to the Malaysia Gazette, the rude staff at Restoran 35 is Nor Abdilla Baharom who later apologised for her outburst, sharing how she had “failed to control my emotions”.
This 39-year-old is the daughter of the stall owner.
“I’m sorry, I failed to control my emotions and got angry,” she was quoted as saying, admitting to being upset and raising her voice.
However, she said that customers “sometimes make mistakes too.”
Screengrab from Google
In an interview with Utusan Malaysia, she explained that the unhappiness started over a lemon drink which SisYana’s mother ordered that was not to her satisfaction.
She also explained that the “nagging” was not directed at the customer but was a conversation between herself and her mother.
Nor Abdilla added that she hoped the issue was resolved and that the public can decide “which asam pedas stall suits their tastebuds”.
“It is the customer’s right to decide if they are not happy with our service.”
According to reviews online, it seems this eatery is just as notorious for its foul-mouthed owner as it is famous for its asam pedas.
In the comments to the Facebook post which went viral, many netizens criticised the woman for her bad behaviour and called for a boycott of the stall.
One stall owner seized the opportunity and asked SisYana to check out their eatery instead for a more comfortable dining experience.
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
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