Customers complain that $48 meal for 9 pax is too expensive, Malaysian restaurant owner shoots back

Malaysia is known for its delicious and affordable food, drawing visitors from Singapore and beyond. Unfortunately, it seems that the prices still aren't low enough for some. 

Malaysian restaurant owner Samz Wong took to Facebook yesterday (April 8) to lament that a group of nine customers had complained his food was "very expensive" despite paying only RM148.40 (S$48.06) for their entire meal at Restaurant Chai Por Hu in Alor Setar.

The man paying the bill had gone on to say they had only ordered "a few dishes".

However, the receipt uploaded by Wong which showed that the customers had ordered seven dishes, including pork ribs, kung pao prawns and braised tofu, as well as rice and beverages.

"Because the customer always comes first when you do business, I did not try to explain myself," Wong said. 

However, he said that could not stop thinking about the incident. He then calculated the restaurant's profits from last month, and found that the average profit of a single order is less than 30 per cent. 

"Why do some people think it is expensive? Doesn't anyone know about the rise in chicken prices, pork prices, cooking oil prices, imported food prices and plastic container prices?" questioned Wong. 

He went on to say that in reality, RM 150 is not even enough to get fish, meat and vegetables at the market for nine people. 

Wong also added that business owners like himself "do not dare raise prices in order to retain their own customers". He also told Malaysian newspaper Sin Chew Daily that apart from increasing the price of its fried chilli by RM2, his restaurant did not raise its prices even when it moved to a new location in 2019. 

As of the time of writing, the post has over 3,500 shares and 1,100 comments.

Many netizens resonated with Wong and shared that they felt like the customers had been unreasonable. 

One fellow business owner also chimed in to say that people have been complaining about the 15 per cent markup on her products.

However, some netizens we less than sympathetic, accusing Wong of deliberately creating the Facebook post to promote his business, said Sin Chew Daily. 

However, Wong rejected that accusation, saying that his business had already been in the Malaysian food scene for over 22 years and already had a reputation, so it did not need any more advertisements. 

Wong added that the sole reason for the post was to express his bitterness towards the industry, especially because prices are getting more expensive. 

Malaysian eateries aren't the only ones feeling the pinch from rising prices either. Across the Causeway, F&B establishments in Singapore have lamented about the issue too. 

ALSO READ: Food prices expected to go up in coming months: Gan Kim Yong

melissateo@asiaone.com