In recent months, there’s been plenty of fuss over having drinks in a restaurant. Unfortunately, the drama isn’t over yet as recently, on Jonker Street, Melaka, another eatery had a tiff with a customer over drinks.
Water is something most can’t live without. But, apparently, according to the owners of a particular restaurant on Jonker Street, drinks are also a required ticket to be able to sit in their restaurant. Needless to say, the netizen who discovered this fact wasn’t too happy.
The netizen took to Xiao Hong Shu (小红书) on 17th March to air their grievances against the restaurant on Jonker Street. Apparently, they visited the night market in Melaka the day before, so the netizen and their family visited Jonker Street to shop and eat. They soon settled on a store which sold grilled fish.
Things were fine initially. The female proprietor warmly entertained them, brought them menus and they ordered their food. However, the boss came over as well and requested they order a few drinks too. “I politely told the boss there was no need as I had just had a lot of drinks. I wanted to save some space for food,” they shared. Apparently, they had been sipping on drinks while walking, a common occurrence in Jonker Street.
But, their response left the boss less than happy. “(If you) sit here, you must order at least two drinks,” he supposedly told the netizen. Reportedly, the price of an Iced Butterfly Pea Flower Tea was about RM15 to RM16. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford it,” the netizen explained. “It’s because no one in (my) family wanted to drink it, including myself. Wouldn’t it be a waste if I ordered it?”
The netizen’s mother then asked the boss if they had to order drinks to sit in the restaurant. To their surprise, the boss insisted it was a rule, despite there being plenty of empty seats in the store. Upset, they decided to leave the restaurant instead and eat elsewhere. But, before they left, the proprietress told them it was the same situation everywhere on Jonker Street.
However, the netizen later claimed they ate at the store beside it and were not asked to buy drinks to be allowed to sit there. “The lady who owned the place was very enthusiastic despite us not ordering drinks,” they pointed out. “So, is it really necessary to let your customers walk away for the price of one or two drinks?”
Other netizens sympathised with them, with several wondering about the logic behind the issue. “After ordering so much to eat, the money you make from the food should be more than the two drinks. Yet, you don’t allow them to sit,” one marvelled. Another claimed this was a common practice on Jonker Street, with another alleging most of the business owners there were rude. As one said: “Forced consumption is really uncomfortable.”
Running a business can be difficult, especially in the food and beverage industry. Yet, some are seemingly insistent on self-sabotage. Well, what do you guys think? Is it right for a restaurant to insist on their customers buying drinks to even be seated there?
Source: 小红书, China Press
