Closing update to my Amazing Spiderman incident:
First, thank you to those who inquired about our well being. Raine Toh and I are doing fine. (To you witty commenters… it does not look like we will “toh” or turn into Spiderwoman to utter a line for the next Avenger film. Sorry to disappoint. But thanks for the laughs.)
Interesting twist: Turns out that the wholesale salad supplier to Aloha Poke is my friend’s partner. He called me soon after seeing my original post and was profusely & sincerely apologetic. He cannot speak for Aloha Poke but he took time to explain that, yes, food safety is of utmost importance and that food safety inspections are conducted by his team before onward distribution. My two cents:
(1) As a consumer, I’d think to hold the F&B point-of-sale accountable — they are customer facing, the ones whom I’m paying for my food, and earning my trust. Let me eat my poke bowl and you go hash out the food safety details and workflow with your associates and business partners. (Thus, I do not think it is my responsibility or of any value to this post to mention the name of the wholesale supplier.) (Full disclosure: I received a full refund for the meal and a SG$20 credit from Aloha Poke which I do not plan to use.)
(2) This is most likely an isolated incident. We are humans who make unintentional mistakes. But since Not-So-Small Spidey found a hole in the system and made his/her way into my food, I think it warrants some attention. As I am no F&B supply chain expert, I gotta leave it to the health authorities (NEA) to look into it as they see fit.
(3) What happened, has happened. I assume all involved might wanna take a closer look at their food handling procedures and move on positively from this. I have traveled to many countries and l am always grateful for and proud of the high food safety and cleanliness standards in Singapore.
Kudos and appreciation to my friend’s partner for his prompt outreach and concern. As I am on a business trip next week and have several deadlines to meet (damn you, PPT), I am ready to move on from this thread.
Stay healthy and be safe, everyone!
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Public Service Announcement: Aloha Poke restaurant.
So… last night at 930pm, I ordered a Nalu salmon poke bowl from Aloha Poke via Deliveroo. My friend Raine Toh and I were happily working our way through the bowl and to our horror, found this dead spider, limp and soaked with sauce, at the base. It wasn’t small. I raised the issue to Aloha Poke and the owner apologized and explained that their salad supplier “have received feedback with regards to the same issue”. On their part, they will be focusing on necessary training for their staff on insect monitoring and removal.
Perhaps spiders are not as bad as rats or roaches, however as Aloha Poke is handling raw food and that is susceptible to bacteria growth and contamination, their hygiene standards cannot be compromised at anytime. Having a spider in the midst of their kitchen does say a lot about their vigilance.
Since they replied that it was “inappropriate” for them to submit a report to NEA, I’ll submit a report to NEA by today.
Eat safe, everyone!