Was recommended to come to As-Shifaa Cafe by a friend, Ahmad Hidayah who told me that it is one of the best Malay chicken rice in Singapore.
Arrived there at 11.45am, as was told that it is better to arrive there before noon due to the lunch hour crowd. When my friend and I arrived, there was already a queue and it took about 15 mins in waiting before we finally got our food.
The guy serving the food had the most unpleasant scowl and was shouting to customers. An older Indonesian lady who was ahead of me ordered 8 packs of food, and she asked very nicely if one of the chicken could be changed as it was slightly burnt. The guy shouted at her ,” Ok, Orang tau la!” -“Yes, I know”, in English and rolling his eyes, annoyed at this lady’s request. His attitude was constant throughout the whole time. Shouting at customers, and was extremely grouchy.
At around 12.20pm, while still in the midst of eating, the makcik and owner of the shop, came to us, and asked us if we were done. We said no, and 10 mins later, she came around to our table again, and told us, “Sekarang dah peak hour, kalau boleh cepat2 makan, jangan bbual banyak2 sangat. Banyak orang tengah tunggu.” She said that since it is peak hour, hurry up with the eating, lessen the talking as there are people waiting to sit. Mind you, this was only half an hour after we got our food and my friend was on a wheelchair, so she wasn’t taking a seat and was sitting on the corner of the table and there were 3 free seats next to us.
We left without finishing our food as we didn’t feel at ease knowing that our presence there was no longer wanted with makcik and her workers watching us every minute.
The fried chicken is indeed tasty but I don’t know if it is worth the disrespect, rudeness and hostility that a paying customer has to deal with.
Source: Alishia Cleopatra Saraswati
