December 1, 2008 Chicken Rice Talks to Duck Rice
After spending the evening down at the Love Amplified – World AIDS Day concert at Fort Canning, I moseyed on down to Chatterbox at the Meritus Mandarin for some supper. Having spent the evening feverishly working at my hobby1, the smell of chicken rice as I entered the restaurant was unmistakable and surprisingly enticing.
So with great eagerness, I opened up the menu and sought out the hunger-offending dish from Hainan only to be greeted with hefty $24 dollar price tag. For chicken rice. As in, steamed chicken rice. I’d like to say it tasted so much nicer than the $4 chicken rice you get from Big Bird on Bukit Timah or even the multitude of hawker stalls around the island, but I really can’t2.
What topped it off was the staff unwillingness to give my friends a paracetamol to deal with some oncoming headaches. It had something to do with not being a dispensary. Well, I just paid $24 bucks to them for their (delicious) chicken rice…
Eshin: Can I get a couple of paracetamol please? (I’m ever the height of civility)
Muppet: Oh, we can’t sir as we are can’t dispense them. (Dispense them?!? I was asking you to give them to me, not open up Meritus Cross Pharmaceuticals)
Eshin: I wasn’t asking you to dispense them, just get me some please.
Muppet: I’m afraid we can’t sir, but you can get them from our concierge. (And they are even more qualified to dispense ‘em drugs!)
Eshin: How about you get them from me from your concierge? (Fixing him with my evil stare that miraculously conveys the message that I just paid $24 bucks for a chicken rice, so you can damned well go down and get me some frigging paracetamols.)
Muppet: Errr, yes sir.
Okay, so it wasn’t so bad as he eventually did go down to get them. But the point was you have to fight for things over here. Even simple, logical service.
- I do suspect that the fever was brought on by the sweltering heat conditions that the evening presented. [↩]
- And those who know me, I’m ever an evangelist and supporter of those that provide the finer things in life, price tag be damned. [↩]
Tags: customer service, food, late night dining, singapore
- 3 comments
- Posted under Blog, Diary
Permalink #
Az
said
Ooooo… missed the chicken rice…. was just thinking of it before i read your post… sis’ boss & wife coming over and asked for good place to go…. and of course, the first place that comes into mind: Big Bird!!!!!!
Permalink #
kel
said
as a singaporean, i do not go to chatterbox to have my chicken rice, wif that price tag, neh. i go to pow sing at serangoon gardens to have my fix. and there are 2 stores. one is the restaurant near stanchart, the other is a food stall in a coffeeshop, on the same row of shops, but at the very end. maybe you can try the food stall, but if you want more variety, you can go to the restaurant. here is their website http://www.powsing.com.sg .
Permalink # Jocelyn said
[...] at the Meritus Mandarin for some supper. Having spent the evening feverishly working at my hobby1, the smell of chicken rice as I entered the restaurant was unmistakable and surprisingly [...]