25 June 2010 Friday | 22:38 | -
P.S. Cafe, Palais Renaissance gave my friend a most memorable birthday last month. They served a lump of soil with the cod fish she ordered.
Nearing the end of the meal, my friend found a brown lump of matter embedded in the salad. A waitress replied that it was a Japanese bean. Wow. That’s huge. It must have been nicknamed Godzilla Bean or something. Another friend refused to believe that it was a bean, and took a tiny bite. She reported that it tasted like mud, and there was a sandy taste. “Sand? Can’t be lah. It’s P.S. Cafe and this is Palais leh“, I said.
Because I ordered the same dish, the birthday girl insisted that I check my plate before making a second enquiry.
We called for the the same waitress once we discovered that my fish didn’t come with the Godzilla Bean.
She returned five minutes later and said that her manager would speak to us. However, the person in charge never appeared. The poor girl had to whisper to us, “I’m very sorry. I checked, and they said it’s (a lump of) soil.”
I see.
Here’s why I think this is unacceptable:
1. Immediacy- FAIL.
The manager learnt of the situation but did not bother to offer his apologies instantly and personally. I won’t expect to speak to the chai perng stall owner if I find foreign objects in my $3.50 pack of rice, but I certainly deserved to be granted an audience with the person running the restaurant, after ordering a piece of cod fish priced at $35 before taxes.
2. Offer- FAIL.
They offered to serve a new plate of fish. But if the café management had looked at the plate properly, they would have realized that the birthday girl was almost done. Just how many ladies in Singapore would go round having two main courses in a night? (There might be, but I’m not interested to hear your gluttony tales at the moment).
3. Attitude- FAIL.
The truth is, I wasn’t exactly well versed in restaurant protocol. Waive the cost of dish? Or a 10% or 20% discount off the total bill? I don’t know. I thought I would wait for the manager to do something and not hand me the bill in a flippant and nonchalant fashion.
We were presented with the bill by a man and I made a second attempt to see the manager.
Man: I am the manager.
Me: Oh. So you know about the cod fish right? (And you were standing there in that corner, watching your waitress apologize, and you were hoping that everything will be fine? I look like a kind person, don’t I?)
Man: Yes.
Me: I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to include the fish in this bill.
Man: Can I offer you another main course or desserts?
Come on. I declined the previous offer (by the waitress). So you need to put in place an effective communication system with your staff, on top of implementing more stringent food preparation measures.
Me: I’ve already said no to your waitress. I’m not going to accept any more food from your kitchen.
Man: All right then. I’ll waive off the fish.
And he walked off promptly and pompously.
I can’t remember if he did apologize during that short conversation, but I was most appalled by the way he handled the situation. Firstly, did he think that it was remotely possible for us to pay the full cost of the dinner? Secondly, I was absolutely turned off by his impudence. I would have liked to conclude the evening in a peaceful manner since no one was going to die from eating some soil anyway. And we did finish the fish, so it’s only reasonable we toss out some money.
But business owners have to realize that it’s 2010. People have a whole array of social networking platforms, and people will not hesitate to voice their dissatisfaction. Chances are, family and friends will hear about it and tell many other people. F&B operators ought to realize that their revenue is largely based on reviews, and the fact that scathing remarks are replicated more extensively than positive ones.
There are many other eateries in Singapore that serve overpriced cod in pleasant surroundings. Unless you can monopolize the market with an inimitable menu, it’s best to equip your line management folks with a decent set of skills to handle the clientele. Damage control is far more important than mundane things like rostering staff and swiping credit cards.
Just in case search engines fail to capture the keywords in this blog entry, it’s “P.S. Café at Palais Renaissance”.
i pity your friend.. she actually tasted the soil.. just goes to show how ‘clean’ restaurant kitchens are . you should have taken a photo of that lump.. but who would have guess that it would be soil..
Once I dined with friends at a chinese restaruant and we found a tiny worm in the veggie. We feedback to the manager and when we were billed, they not only waived off the veggie dish, they actually even gave us 20 % discount without us asking. Honestly I have been to PS cafe and always found it to be overpriced..though i do like the ambiance.
I have to agree with u that I would be pissed too if the manager tried to push some free dessert in my face.
Tsk.. If its me, i’d have complain to the main office.. Or even the relevant authories to take action on them.. Paying so much yet this is the treatment.. They shld wake up their b**odly idea!!! Perhaps i shld inform my pals as well who always dine at such places~~~ and write reviews on journals, hungrygowhere etc…
I don’t understand why they cannot train managers to offer apologies and offer at least to waive the item off the menu. And soil? This is one big hell of an unclean kitchen. The NEA should go and check their kitchen to find out how they are cleaning their fish.
I had an unpleasant experience at Manhattan Fish Market once at Iluma. The food wasn’t dirty, but it was served late after numerous complains. People who came later actually got their food before mine, and it was very frustrating. The food only came after everyone finished their meal. The manager did not apologise. We also had to ask for the manager and gave some hints before he offered to waive the item off the bill. Additionally, his attitude was really bad and it is shown all over his face.
I guess we need to improve more in the service industry. These type of service really pisses people off.
SOIL?!?!!? omg that is horrible!
If I were you, I’d prolly lash out in digital public, too. Accidents do happen and I understand that your main point is because the manager has attitude problem. (where’s that Straits Times news about Singaporeans lacking of civic-mindness again?) Maybe he tried to push the bill to customers because he could be the one to foot the unbilled dish himself. Well, we are the victimised patron, who cares about the manager ya?
Nevertheless if only the manager had the tendency to leave the pompousness behind and cater this matter more courteously, then we wouldn’t be here commenting to this blog post that might not ever exist.
And this also brings to another point. All Singaporeans should be lawyers, see how good and well-put this essay complain is!
I agree with you. Such shops should be shamed. esp with the manager’s poor attitude. Lousy food is forgivable but Lousy attitude is not acceptable nor forgivable…
oh man
i was really surprised to read the first sentence of this post cuz PS Cafe’s like my favourite restaurant to go to; although I really prefer the one at Dempsey to the one at Palais cuz the service at Palais is lousy and slow. (ok tbh the service at Dempsey is also not fantastic but I’m crazy about the food at Dempsey.)
Being a foodie and someone who frequently pays a lot for food, I totally agree with whatever you’ve said in this entry and I wish ALL restaurant owners would think about all this before haphazardly starting a random eatery with no care or concern for customer service. Such things happen all around us far too often.
Hmm this is very random but how does your friend knows the taste of soil. Haha. Well it’s frustrating how singapore’s overall hospitality n service is still far from satisfactory.
Tony Romas at Orchard Hotel was awesome. My main course was late and the manager apologised profusely and offered to waive the cost of my main course. I didn’t even have to ask for it!
I’ve not been to PS Cafe for aeons but I guess they think guests like waits with “attitude”. Much tho their food is an attractn, ultimately it’s e service tt counts. Like my own last encounter at New Green Pasture cafe, as detailed in my blog. It has gt food but service that sucks to high heaven. So don’t go there any more.
Oh good god that’s disgusting, and what an even worse off attitude from the manager! yet another foodie place to cross of the list.
I was wondering if the manager from this restaurant is the same fella you encountered.
What a nasty experience, especially on a nice occasion as a birthday.
I’m curious to know how on earth is it possible to have soil (!?) on a cooked dish!
damned it on the chef. he cook with his eyes closed?
I think service and attitude are key to success in FNB industry.
Omg, I just went there for the same dish last week, but lucky no soil in it!!
Hi, I am not surprised at all by the “service” you and your friend just received, because I experienced
a similar one with them couple of years back, and have vowed never to return since. My family and I were slightly late for our reservation, and guess what the Manager (yes, I suspect it’s the same guy, a relative of the owner), at the door said: “Do you know you are late?” And to further emphasise how “late” we were, midway through our meals, he was making his staff shift the table which was adjoined to ours, and making so much noise, without even offering an “Excuse Me”. Well, that’s PS (Piece of Shit) cafe for you.
i’d a bad experience with the service staff of PS Cafe, but the one at Dempsey. They were so snobbish! Just because we are not ang mohs and were “only” having desserts, we were snubbed.
I nver been to PS Cafe but i do encounter some bad services too. Swensens at the crown prince before it was change to the current park hotel. It was the same situation like what Ignorantsoup have experience in Manhatten Fish Market. It was after much complains that they finally served the food and give some discount. The excuse given was the kitchen made a mistake on the order. So Crappy.
Ya! Their service sucks big time! i had bad experience with them too & never return ever since. And i find them racist! They seems to give better service to ang mohs!
hey.. u r on newspaper again.. its abt this same article.. dun worry.. now more ppl know abt ur experience in this restaurant..
the attitude of the manager is so freaking bad.. why did they employ him in the 1st place. there are alot of places in singapore that has REAL bad customer service.. swensons at suntec has the service that i will never dine there again, same for pan pac orchard, the cafe service was damm bad, we had to dine with the dirty dishes on our table even before they clear them.. the service over at m.w, coffee club also sucks, and the list goes on. the service crew has need to know that they have to serve from the heart and not just serve coz its my job.. service industry in spore still has a long way to go..
If I can’t manage to keep my cool and manner, I will sure bang table at the restaurant. But I guess given the manager being the “highest rank” there, complaint also won’t help. This manager attitude sucks. Write to wanbao and create more awareness to public.
Cruz,
If I was the b’day girl, I would have taken the photo and send it over to Ministry of health and environment.
yeah…they are always snobby and all cuz they have nice decor, great food and lots of ang moh customers….yup….dun go again…best way to reward them for the bad service.
http://humyeefansang.blogspot.com/2011/05/stupid-singaporean-deserves-to-pay.html