In the world of customer service, the adage “the customer is always right” is often upheld as an unwavering rule. However, a Japanese restaurant in Tanjong Pagar, The Public Izakaya, has recently challenged this norm by responding boldly to a one-star Google review. Let’s delve into the details of this unconventional exchange that caught the attention of Wake Up Singapore.
The Review in Question
The saga began when a dissatisfied diner took to Google to express their frustration with The Public Izakaya. In a review posted two months ago, the diner lamented about waiting for an hour on a weekday evening for a seemingly underwhelming skewer of vegetables.
The review explicitly mentioned the restaurant not being full, adding that the food did not justify the prolonged wait, concluding with a straightforward “Horrible.”
What the woman said
Do not go unless you planning on waiting 1-hour for a skewer of vegetables on a week day evening. It was it even full and I waited an hour for a mushroom and shiitake skewer. The food was not worth the wait. Horrible
The Restaurant’s Epic Response
Hi Maggie, thank you for your review and allowing us some time to look into the matter.
Our CCTV had you arriving at 7.34pm where you browsed through our menu outside the restaurant. At 7.36pm you were seated.
At 7.47pm you ordered and the order was sent to the kitchen at 7.48pm.
You were served the Shiitake and Shishito skewers at 8.07pm, 19 minutes after you ordered.
At 8.14pm, 27 minutes after you ordered you asked one of our staff members when the last dish the croquette will be ready. If not you don’t want it.
At 8.22pm the last croquette dish was packed and given to you, 35 minutes after you first ordered.
You picked up the bill at 8.26pm and left the restaurant at 8.29pm. 42 minutes after you decided what to have and first placed your order with our staff.
We understand sometimes we don’t have the best of days in our life. Tired days, where time crawls or even comes to a standstill. Where 1 minute feels like 5 or 10mins. And an hour seems like eternity.
On some evenings especially on Friday evenings, the wait for yakitori can be as long as 1.5 hours.
On normal weekdays, the wait ranges from 30mins to an hour at least.
We are happy we managed to serve you your skewers within 20 minutes. Not too stoked we got a 1 star review when you didn’t even spend an hour in the premises.
And the Yakitori chef who was “grilled” over the incident ain’t all smiles either.
Have a great week ahead. The Public Izakaya team.
