A Hong Kong noodle seller blows his top, and suddenly everyone agrees restaurant service levels have sunk, need improving
- Manpower crunch blamed for decline, with patrons saying they get better service when they travel
- No apology from restaurant that sparked debate, with owner saying some customers are just too much
At a small family-run eatery in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun, co-owner Monkey Lo has found himself dealing with overnight notoriety and an outraged online crowd who wants his shop to close down.
A video clip shared widely last month showed the Yat Bun Noodle Restaurant’s chef – Lo’s younger brother Wai-keung – hurling abuse at a young woman who demanded to know why he had denied her boyfriend a student discount when the couple dined there the day before.
She had returned with a media crew from an online channel to confront the chef after he posted her boyfriend’s photo on social media, saying he doubted the young man was a student because he looked “suspicious” with his curly dyed hair.
The video showed him yelling at her: “This restaurant is mine and I have absolute say. I offer the student discount and I can deny it to you. You are just a diner and have no say.”
It went viral, chalking up more than 1.3 million views. It also showed the chef’s father using an umbrella to shove the young woman out of the restaurant.
Internet users condemned the chef’s rudeness, with some demanding the restaurant’s closure. The incident also sparked an ongoing debate about service quality in Hong Kong eateries, with many lamenting that it had declined to a sorry state.