When eating out, you normally expect a discount or a price reduction when you exclude or remove a key ingredient in a dish. However, a Singaporean char kway teow hawker seems to have decided to do the opposite by charging customers an extra S$0.50 for orders with no beansprouts.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the Bukit Panjang hawker who has been selling the dish for 20 years explained why she charges the additional fee for removing beansprouts.
She told the portal, “We displayed the [list of additional charges] when we opened the stall. We’re not trying to earn the extra S$0.50. Rather, we’re trying to make things easier for ourselves.”
“We only have 3 woks at our stall, and we can usually cook 4 to 5 portions at once. If a customer requests no beansprouts, we must make a new batch for them, which takes up our time and energy.”
According to photos at the stall, additional charges show that asking for additional ingredients, such as beansprouts and seafood, cost an additional S$0.50 to S$2. While the last option on the menu, removing beansprouts entirely, costs S$0.50.
To get the public’s reaction, Shin Min spoke to 2 customers, who shared that they understood why she imposed the extra charge.
One of them pointed out that while she does not want beansprouts, she picks the regular version of char kway teow and picks out the vegetables so she doesn’t have to pay the additional S$0.50.
What do you think of the move? Let us know in the comments.
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