Bak chor mee is a popular comfort food for Singaporeans, many of whom love the crackling pork lard that comes with it.
The lard is apparently so coveted that some customers may throw a tantrum when they can’t get enough.
One customer reportedly threw his bowl at the tray return point.
He apparently did this all because the Toa Payoh stall he patronised had run out of pork lard.
The unsavoury incident took place at a kopitiam at Block 95 Toa Payoh Lorong 4, reported Shin Min Daily News.
The stall, MacPherson Teochew Minced Meat Noodles, shared about it on Facebook in a post that has since been deleted.
The male customer in question was a regular customer, said Mr Aloysius Tan, who runs the stall.
While the customer usually comes around 30 minutes before the stall closes, he placed his order about 20 minutes before closing instead on Tuesday (8 Aug).
He ordered a bowl of bak chor mee and sat down to enjoy his meal.
However, after eating a few mouthfuls, the customer went back to the stall to ask for more pork lard.
Unfortunately for him, he was told that they had run out of it.
The customer returned to his seat, unhappy.
Then, he suddenly stood up and threw his bowl — with noodles still in it — forcefully at the tray return point.
The impact caused the bowl to shatter to pieces and the noodles to spill across the floor.
The loud noise also startled other diners.
CCTV footage shared by Mr Tan showed the man — clad in a grey T-shirt — leaving in a huff while muttering to himself, reported AsiaOne.
In his Facebook post, Mr Tan decried the man’s actions, saying,
What did the tray and bowl do to you bro? The cleaner aunties then will need to clean up the mess. $4.50 noodles need like that ah? Aiyo.
Two aunties had to clean up the mess afterwards, he added.
When Shin Min approached Mr Tan on Thursday (10 Aug), he wasn’t willing to speak further about the incident.
However, the 25-year-old was reportedly more vocal in his original post, responding to netizens who said he should’ve set aside some pork lard for customers.
According to 8Days, he replied that it’s exhausting to prepare the ingredient, and it will get sold out when it’s busy.
He can’t assume a regular customer will come every day, he added.
The bak chor mee customer wasn’t the only one to lose their temper at an eatery here.
In April, a woman threw her tray with eggs and saucers back at a staff member at Toast Box. She was apparently unhappy about being served uncracked eggs.
As F&B work isn’t easy, let’s strive to be more understanding of people who work in this line and refrain from losing our cool.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Google Maps.
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