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Earlier this month, a popular Vietnamese restaurant, Ăn Là Ghiền, kickstarted their S$19.90 buffet (which has since been changed to “set menu”) promotion in all their outlets. From 2pm to 4pm, diners can enjoy an authentic Vietnamese buffet of nearly 300 different dishes.
Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? Apparently, not for a group of 4 who harshly flamed the restaurant before even trying their food. They left a surge of 1-star reviews and negative comments berating the staff and restaurant on Google.
All their displeasure stemmed from feeling that the buffet’s conditions were unjust.
- Promotion is only available for groups of 3 or more.
- Customers must finish their meal before 4pm, or pay extra for any leftovers after that time.
- Each table is limited to a one-time order.
From this list, the conditions don’t seem too abnormal—sure, I’ve never come across a one-time order regulation, but it’s not the worst I’ve heard of.
The restaurant’s reasoning for these policies is firstly to ensure the food is served hot and with consistent quality within the 2-hour window. It also helps them avoid incurring a loss, especially since the promotion only runs during off-peak periods.
Even after the staff had explained this to the group, they were still unhappy. The group then apparently unleashed their anger through a series of negative Google reviews (see below).
It’s surprising how collected the staff remained in this situation. Instead of getting tongue-tied or arguing back, they advised the customers to either go for the S$49.90 unlimited buffet or order a la carte from the menu.
Following that, Ăn Là Ghiền addressed this situation and other similar malicious comments through a Facebook post on 13 Apr. The owner reiterated the buffet’s policies and clarified that they started this promotion simply to make affordable Vietnamese cuisine more accessible to all.
The post ends with them lamenting, “In F&B, we know we can’t please everyone, but at the very least, there must be mutual respect and fairness between business and customers.”
Given the sheer number of dishes you can pick from, this Vietnamese buffet can be real bang for your buck if you have the stomach capacity. However, the restaurant did not specify whether or not this buffet is all-you-can-eat, which is extremely misleading.
Ăn Là Ghiền has thus updated the term “Buffet” to “Set Meal”, where each customer is entitled to an order of 5 dishes max. Hopefully, this clears up some confusion for future patrons.
This whole buffet dispute is a complicated one. The restaurant had set policies for their promotion at their discretion, but if a customer felt dissatisfied, is it not their right to express it?
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