Walao, I need to vent. Is it just me, or is the “buffet” scene in Singapore becoming a total scam? Recently, I feel like I’ve been blacklisted or shadow-banned from multiple hotpot spots just because my friend and I actually have an appetite. If you cannot afford to feed people, don’t call yourself a “Free Flow” buffet lah!
First case: This popular Japanese hotpot place. We started off normal, standard-sized pot, everything okay. We ordered 70 plates of beef. Relax, it’s those small, square stackable plates, not the giant premium ones. Total volume probably just nice for two hungry guys. Suddenly, the waitress comes over with a straight face and replaces our pot with a tiny personal-sized pot for the two of us to share. Is this a joke? How to cook for two people in a bowl that looks like it belongs in a dollhouse? After that, we knew they did it intentionally. So i plotted revenge and ordered even more we totaled 200 plates but every time we hit the QR code to re-order, the beef took 20 minutes to arrive. They were clearly hoping we’d get bored and leave.
Second case: Different day, Chinese hotpot restaurant. The waiter upsells us to the “Premium Fatty Beef” for a top-up fee. I say okay, steady. They serve it on this massive, 30-inch long Golden Cow statue. Looks damn hao lian (pompous), right? We finished 9 of those “cows.” Suddenly, the owner himself comes out with a “complimentary” dish of La Zi Ji (Szechuan Spicy Chicken).
I thought, “Wah, so generous.” But one bite in, I realized the trap. It wasn’t even proper La Zi Ji; it was just cheap, dry chicken breast stir-fried with an insane amount of chili and oil. The strategy was so obvious: make us super full and thirsty so we stop ordering the expensive beef. True enough, after the chicken arrived, our beef orders “disappeared” from the system. When we asked, they said “kitchen busy.” Busy with what? The restaurant was half empty!
Seriously, if you run a buffet business in SG, you must expect people like us. Don’t play these pattern-more-than-badminton games like shrinking the pot or “gifting” us heavy carbs and cheap meat just to protect your margins. Anyone else kena this kind of “soft” kick-out before? I’m just trying to get my money’s worth, not commit a crime!
#SGFoodie #BuffetScam #HotpotSG #HungryGoWhere #KenaMarked