Vietnamese Eatery Removes Dine-In Option For Ang Mo Kio Outlet After Rat Incident
Following the discovery of a rat on their premises, Bánh Mì Saigon is no longer allowing dine-ins for their outlet in Ang Mo Kio.
Instead, customers can only order takeaway.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has additionally confirmed that they are investigating the matter.
Vietnamese eatery restricts dining to takeaway
Posting to Facebook on Tuesday (23 May), Bánh Mì Saigon revealed that they would be restricting dining options to takeaway for all customers for their Ang Mo Kio outlet.
This was after a diner discovered a rodent on its premises.
The eatery also stated that they have conducted an investigation into the matter over the past few days from 19 to 22 May.
They shared that according to CCTV footage, the diner spotted the rat at 8.53pm but did not inform anyone.
Source: Bánh Mì Saigon on Facebook
Other customers remained unaware of the situation, with a new group even sitting at the diner’s table.
Source: Bánh Mì Saigon on Facebook
As only the diner and his partner distanced themselves from the area while others didn’t, the eatery noted that there was a lack of urgency.
Had any of them alerted staff at the time, more people would have known about it, which is why the eatery said it could not fault its staff.
Language barrier prevented staff from understanding diner
At 8.59pm, the diner finally informed the staff of the sighting.
Since they were concentrating on filling out orders and did not fully understand him due to a language barrier, they were unable to attend to him immediately.
Six minutes later at 9.05pm, employees tried to approach the diner to ask for more details about the incident.
Source: Bánh Mì Saigon on Facebook
However, he allegedly left with his companion at the same time.
“It is not 15 minutes as stated by [the diner],” the eatery stressed.
In addition, they have since placed three employees on probation, pending an inquiry.
Steps taken to address lapse in hygiene
Bánh Mì Saigon has also decided to take several steps to address the incident.
This includes revisiting their current contract with pest control agencies and signing up for a new one with others.
Furthermore, they have conducted multiple sanitising operations under both professional contractors and staff, and will continue to do so daily.
Source: Bánh Mì Saigon on Facebook
According to advice from professional pest control, the outlet will also begin to sell their products again to make up for losses, which they have estimated to be around 50% to 70%.
In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said that they are investigating the matter.
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Featured image adapted from TikTok and Bánh Mì Saigon on Facebook.
