Many diners have found things in their food that are not supposed to be there, from pests like cockroaches to foreign objects like hooks.
However, one of the most confounding items to be fished out might be a phone SIM card needle.
This was discovered by a diner in his chilli crab from a restaurant in Joo Koon.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The establishment has apologised and offered a discount to the customer.
The diner, a man named only as Mr Zhang (transliterated from Mandarin), told Shin Min Daily News that this happened on 14 May.
As it was Mother’s Day, the 40-year-old took his 71-year-old mother out for a meal to celebrate.
They went to Uncle Leong’s Signatures at FairPrice Hub in Joo Koon.
Source: Google Maps
As he’d bought gift vouchers online, he decided to take advantage of their one-for-one chilli crab offer.
Mr Zhang and his mother were halfway through their meal when he scooped up some gravy.
Just as he was about to slurp it up, he noticed something floating on the surface.
He was shocked to discover that it was a SIM card needle.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
It was about 2cm long, he said.
Restaurant staff replaced it with another plate of chilli crab, but by then he had lost his appetite, Mr Zhang said.
Thus, he decided to dapao it instead.
They also offered him a 20% discount, but he declined, having already used his voucher to pay his S$88 bill and spent S$29 on other items.
When Mr Zhang asked the chef what had happened, no clear explanation was forthcoming.
The response was that the restaurant had safety protocols in the preparation of food.
It was speculated that there could’ve been an oversight while the crab was being imported, or the needle had already been inside the crab all along.
However, the customer pointed out that he’d found the needle in the gravy, so it probably wasn’t inside the crab.
He also felt that the needle would’ve been found by staff if they had checked properly during food preparation.
Mr Zhang posited that the needle could’ve dropped inside the food when a member of the kitchen staff was switching their SIM card.
If he wasn’t paying attention or his mother had swallowed the needle, the consequence would’ve been a hospital stay and even an operation to remove it, he feared.
When queried by Shin Min, restaurant manager Sun Yonghua (transliterated from Mandarin) said he’d apologised to the customer that day.
After the incident, he’d checked with kitchen staff and found that no one had used their phone.
The restaurant has strict rules against the usage of mobile phones during working hours, he said.
He’d also checked CCTV footage and asked staff, but ultimately couldn’t get to the bottom of how the needle got in the dish.
Although it was an accident, Mr Sun admitted that they had been negligent, and pledged that they would be more careful in future.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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