Woman finds cockroach in her siu mai at House of Seafood; owner denies insect came from kitchen
A woman had a rather unpleasant addition to her dim sum meal while dining at House of Seafood in Punggol recently, when she found a dead cockroach in between her siu mai.
"Disgusting! Almost [bit] into the food already!" wrote Kristine Giam in a Facebook post accompanied by images of the insect in the dish.
She told Mothership that the incident happened on Oct 19.
In her post, Giam said the restaurant's staff waived the cost of the affected items – but only after she requested for it. She added that she didn’t touch “half the food” after the cockroach was spotted. Her bill came up to $42.60.
Giam said that as compensation, the restaurant offered her a $50 voucher, which she declined as she did not think she would visit the restaurant again.
Speaking to 8world, House of Seafood's owner, Mr Francis Ng, apologised for the incident while suggesting that the insect had not originated from the restaurant's kitchen.
"Our kitchen is very clean, and the dim sum are placed in steaming baskets before being served; there should be no problem at all," said Ng, who said the insect might have flown into the restaurant and landed on the plate after the food was served.
He also cited surveillance footage, which he alleged showed Giam arranging the contents of her plate for a photo opportunity.
Ng claimed that the customer had taken out two remaining pieces of siu mai from the basket and put them on her plate, before finding a "good angle" in front of the restaurant's signage to take a photo of it.
Ng also told 8world that Giam had asked for the entire bill to be waived. And, when offered compensation for any medical expenses that may arise, she declined and instead asked for "a very large" figure.
"I couldn't accept it. She then said she was going to make a complaint. We eventually waived the cost of four dim sum items, including the siu mai."
However, Giam told Mothership that she did not ask for any compensation: "I merely asked for a waiver of my bill because we didn't eat the [leftover] food after we found the roach.”
In response to the photo-taking, Giam said she moved the siu mai to make sure that there were no other insects in the basket, and also that she could take a clear picture of the cockroach.
She said the insect appeared dead, countering Ng's claim that it might have flown in and landed on the plate.
Giam has since lodged a complaint to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) over the incident.
According to Mothership, SFA said they received the feedback, and that their officers have detected food safety lapses at the restaurant.
"Enforcement actions will be taken against the implicated food operator. We have reminded the food business operator to ensure good housekeeping and compliance to food safety standards at all times," said SFA.
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