Broccoli is a 'meat' and fishcake is a 'fish'?

A customer at an economy rice stall was left flummoxed by the items listed on her receipt after she'd paid $6.70 for her meal.

On the bill was 'pork belly' which came up to $3, as well as '1 meat 1 veg'.

Facebook user Sherry Zhang posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group last Friday (Oct 6) describing her lunch at Lao Ban Niang, located at a Food Junction food court within Nex shopping mall.

"What you see is what I get.

"Broccoli is a meat as claimed by the cashier. Also fishcake is a fish," she wrote.

According to Zhang's reply to a commenter, she had ordered cai xin, broccoli and petai with minced meat. Netizens too, were left scratching their heads at how her bill was calculated.

"Omg. If broccoli is considered 'meat', which 'animal' does it get its 'flesh' from?" one joked.

"Your order should be two veg one meat though," wrote another user. Others guessed that the items were keyed in this manner because of the high price of broccoli.

A stall employee told 8world that staff are only able to charge based on the pricing indicated in the cashier system, which is pre-set with different labels.

"Because broccoli is more expensive, we count it as a meat. So we just key in an item in the cashier system (with the corresponding price)," explained the employee, who did not wish to be named.

In addition to broccoli, other dishes such as tau kee (beancurd skin) are also priced as 'meat', the employee said, pointing out that the cost price of each dish is different.

Citing another example, he shared that if a customer orders a fish which costs $9, they would key in an item which costs $5 and another which costs $4 on the cash register.

He added that Zhang's order of petai with minced meat was $3, which meant the broccoli and cai xin dishes came up to $3.70. He also clarified that their stall does not sell fishcakes.

The employee stated that business has not been impacted by the incident. AsiaOne reached out to Zhang for more information last Saturday but has yet to receive a reply. 

'It's just a vegetable'

One regular customer told 8world that he would have economy rice three times a week. His usual order would comprise fish, vegetables and egg, which total up to around $10.

Without the fish, the price will be $6, said the 39-year-old man surnamed Qiu. He added that he found the pricing reasonable as "everything is expensive these days".

However, he disagreed with the stall employee's explanation for pricing broccoli as a meat dish.

"I can't really accept the explanation. It's just a vegetable, albeit one that has been hyped up as being very healthy." But Qiu stated that he would still continue to order broccoli in the future due to its high nutrient value.

Another diner also shared with 8world that she found it hard to swallow the stall's explanation for labelling broccoli as a 'meat'.

"I think it's outrageous. It's a vegetable. The government encourages us to eat more vegetables, why do you consider it a meat?" said the homemaker.

One customer who works nearby shared that he'd ordered three dishes — a meat, a vegetable and an egg — for $6.70, which he considers to be slightly expensive.

"The egg is considered a meat, so it costs $3.30," said the man, surnamed Liu. Liu added that when he orders economy rice elsewhere, the price "rarely exceeds $5" for two meat dishes and one vegetable.

When interviewed by 8world, an employee at another economy rice stall in a food court agreed that it was unreasonable for broccoli to be priced as a meat. She added that even if the broccoli dish at the stall includes minced meat, it would not be counted as such.

"Our vegetable dishes are priced at $1.20, meat dishes are $3. If there's more minced meat in the vegetable dish, it'll be $2. We've always priced it this way and prices have not gone up," said the employee.

ALSO READ: 'Yes, beancurd is meat': Kopitiam food court staff allegedly said after woman complained about $6.70 'cai fan'

candicecai@asiaone.com

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