'Duck rice without rice'? Not for sale, says Toa Payoh roast meat stall owner

He had wanted a plate of roast duck rice, sans rice, but was taken aback when his order was rejected.

The patron, surnamed Li, told Shin Min Daily News that he had gone to a roast meat stall near Toa Payoh MRT station on Tuesday (Oct 29) and placed an order for "duck rice without rice".

However, he was told by the employee that they don't offer such an option.

Li, 42, explained that he only wanted to have the meat and thought that ordering it with rice would be a waste.

"The duck rice costs $6.90 and I was willing to foot the amount. The female staff member however said that her boss had indicated that they wouldn't sell it without rice."

Thinking he might have misunderstood what the employee was saying, Li returned to the eatery two days later, only for his request to be turned down yet again.

"I've bought individual portions of meat at other stalls, I don't understand why this stall can't do it," said Li.

According to Shin Min, a reporter who went down to the eatery had tried ordering the same item and was also rejected.

However, the female employee indicated that the minimum portion would be $9.50 for a duck leg.

In addition to his complaint, Li groused that the female employee who spoke to him had a "bad attitude" and appeared to "look down on others".

Li stated that he'd waited at there for 10 minutes before he was attended to, even when the eatery was not busy.

"It's not that I can't afford it but it's whether it's worth it. Her attitude made me feel very uncomfortable," said Li.

However, the Chinese evening daily stated that when they made an anonymous visit to the eatery, they were attended to within 20 seconds and the staff were also friendly when responding to their queries.

'It doesn't look nice': Roast meat stall boss

When interviewed by Shin Min, the lady boss of the eatery explained that she runs a small restaurant and not a hawker stall, which is why they don't sell individual portions of meat.

"One plate of duck rice has only four or five slices of meat. If I just sell the meat on its own, it doesn't look nice," said the owner.

She added that if customers only want to have the roast duck without rice, other options also include a quarter ($22) or half a duck ($28).

Explaining the rationale for not selling individual portions of meat, she stated that her eatery uses fresh ducks brought in from Malaysia, and the ingredients and taxes drive up the cost.

"You can't buy an individual serving of roast duck for $6.90 even at the market. Moreover, a quarter portion of duck serves about two persons, so the price is reasonable."

The owner claimed that this is the first complaint she has received in 20 years of business.

"A packet of duck rice used to be $6, but we only increased it by 90 cents after the shop's reopening last week following a month-long renovation period. We'd never encountered such a situation before," she told Shin Min.

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candicecai@asiaone.com