M’sia Hawker Allegedly Puts ‘Special Ingredient’ In Unsatisfied Reviewer’s Food, Later Says It’s A Joke

Malaysia Hawker Allegedly Puts “Special Ingredient” In Reviewer’s Dishes

A hawker and food reviewer in Malaysia recently battled it out on social media over poor ratings.

After patronising the highly-raved eatery, the reviewer gave one of its dishes a mere 2.5 rating out of 10.

Presumably unsatisfied with the food critic’s review, the hawker threatened to add “special ingredient” to other reviewer’s food, should they do the same.

Some individuals from the food and beverage industry have since clarified that the “special ingredients” refer to saliva, snot, or even earwax.

Food blogger rates Selangor stall 2.5 to 3 out of 10

Last Sunday (14 May), Malaysian food blogger @SyafiqRapidReviews posted a TikTok video reviewing Garden Western Grill — an eatery in Selangor, Malaysia.

@syafiqrx90 Garden Western Grill in Petaling Jaya, Selangor – A case of quantity over quality #makanlokal #gardenwesterngrill ♬ Cupid – Twin Ver. (FIFTY FIFTY) – Sped Up Version – sped up 8282

Though the Western hawker received “super rave reviews” from many influencers, the TikTok reviewer was unimpressed.

The stall’s fish and chips fared poorly with a 3 out of 10 rating.

Meanwhile, the beef rib eye steak allegedly tasted even worse with a 2.5 rating.

Apart from being disappointed by the dishes’ taste and texture, Syafiq also said the presentation was “sloppy”.

Additionally, he claimed that the food portions were deceptive, explaining that they looked huge only due to the “overflowing” fries and lettuce.

Summing up his experience, Syafiq said it was a case of “quantity over quality”.

Furthermore, he would consider the stall “overpriced” if judged solely on its quality.

Stall responds sarcastically to TikTok food reviewer

That same day, Garden Western Grill reposted Syafiq’s TikTok clip on their Facebook page, thanking them sarcastically for their review.

The page’s admin — presumably the stall’s owner, named Tom — seemingly agreed that their food was “really not good”.

They then joked that it’s no wonder “there are no customers every day” and that the “shop is always empty”.

The next day, the page posted a video titled “POV me as Food Review” showing a man eating food from McDonald’s.

The man stated in the video that food reviewers should merely say that the food is nice and give a thumbs-up response in their videos, saying there was no need to describe how the food tasted.

Though the man did not mention any food reviewers in his video, it’s likely that they were referring to Syafiq’s video posted the day before.

Stall owner claims he added “special ingredient” to a food reviewer’s food

On Tuesday (16 May), Garden Western Grill penned another cryptic post on its Facebook page.

The post also came with a screenshot of @scaredtodie’s TikTok profile — another food reviewer named Jason.

In the caption, however, Tom admitted that he had included a “special ingredient” in the food of an undisclosed influencer.

A Facebook user has since given more insight into what “special ingredients” mean, claiming that the stall owner was referring to bodily secretions like saliva, spit, and even earwax.

The comment is no longer visible on Garden Western Grill’s page at the time of this article.

Food review advised other users against patronising Western stall

On Wednesday (17 May), Syafiq posted a video addressing the situation.

@syafiqrx90 Garden Western Grill : The Malaysian version of Kitchen Nightmares #makanlokal #gardenwesterngrill ♬ Cupid – Twin Ver. (FIFTY FIFTY) – Sped Up Version – sped up 8282

Describing the Western eatery as the “Malaysian version of Kitchen Nightmares”, the food reviewer accused Tom of taking the feedback “personally”.

Syafiq shared that he and his wife initially “laughed it off” as they felt like they were “dealing with a spoilt child”.

However, they took offense at the eatery’s claim that it had added a “special ingredient” to their meal.

He warned other users that they too might get the additional ingredients if they too “pissed off” the hawker before giving the stall an updated score of 0 out of 10.

Stall claims it was just a prank

The next day (18 May), Garden Western Grill shared another post, seemingly with the aim of clearing the air.

In the post, Tom claimed that he doesn’t care if he receives good or bad reviews as he has been in the industry for a “long time”.

He added that he has his fair share of “regular customers” and as such isn’t concerned as he already has “constant sales”.

Moving on to the “drama” surrounding his “special ingredient”, Tom said that it was merely a “marketing strategy” to gain traction.

Ending his post, Tom clarified that the whole saga about his “special ingredients” was merely a prank and apologised to the Malaysians who fell for it.

Food reviewer and hawker engage in online battle over special ingredient

Apart from his culinary prowess, it’s clear that Tom also has a knack for generating viral controversies.

Let’s hope his “prank” did not end up hurting his business and that future attempts will not end up triggering customers’ gag reflexes.

Hopefully, both parties will also be able to move on from the saga.

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Featured image adapted from Garden Western Grill on Facebook and SyafiqRapidReviews on TikTok.