'Why you don't eat beef? Beef nice also': Satay mix-ups spark religious dietary concerns at Lau Pa Sat stall

UPDATE on Dec. 17, 5:25pm: The article has been updated with the satay stall's statements.

A Mothership reader, Jassy Mohamad Ali, shared her "disturbing" experience with a Lau Pa Sat satay stall after encountering issues with her orders on two separate occasions within the same week.

Both incidents took place between 10:30pm and midnight.

First visit: Order was wrong and packed incorrectly

On Dec. 10, Jassy had gone down to the stall to order satay for a gathering.

She placed an order for 30 sticks of chicken satay and 15 sticks of mutton satay, while her sister placed a separate order for 20 sticks of chicken satay and five sticks of beef satay.

The orders were intentionally made separately so that the satay could be packed apart, as some of their guests were Hindu and did not consume beef.

According to Jassy, the staff member appeared visibly annoyed when she reiterated her request for the orders to be packed separately.

Despite placing two orders, she was issued only one receipt.

When she asked about this, she was told that since payment was made by one person, a single receipt was sufficient.

As she was in a hurry to get more food for the gathering, Jassy did not check the receipt at the time — something she acknowledged was an oversight on her part.

However, upon returning home, she realised that all the satay sticks had been mixed together, and she had only been given chicken and beef satay sticks.

When she checked the receipt, she noticed that the order had been recorded as chicken and beef only, with no mention of mutton.

She then called the number listed on the receipt, but said the response she received was nonchalant and dismissive. The person on the phone allegedly questioned why she had not checked the receipt earlier.

She was purportedly offered two options:

1. Travel back to Lau Pa Sat from Jurong West at around 12:10 am to exchange the order.
2. Receive a refund for the beef satay portion only.

Jassy said this was distressing, as some of her guests were ultimately unable to eat the satay.

She added that though she had not requested a refund, she later noticed that a refund of S$13.50 (the cost of the beef satay portion) was processed at 2:43 am the next day, while she was asleep.

She felt uncomfortable with the refund being issued without prior discussion and believed it was done as a precautionary measure rather than in response to her request.

Second visit: Order was written down wrongly

Despite the experience, Jassy decided to give the stall another chance, as her family had been regular patrons since 2019.

Four days later, on Dec. 14, she went back to the same stall with her boyfriend, who is Hindu, in hopes that service would be better.

She added that they were served by the same staff member.

Her boyfriend proceeded to place an order for 15 chicken satay sticks and 15 mutton satay sticks.

However, the order was written down incorrectly again, this time as 15 sticks of chicken satay and 15 sticks of beef satay.

Her boyfriend noticed it and immediately pointed it out.

Instead of apologising, however, the staff at the store allegedly laughed and remarked: "Why you don't eat beef ah? Beef nice also."

Jassy said she found the comment rude and disrespectful, and felt that the repeated mistakes no longer seemed accidental.

The order was corrected on the spot, and no refund was issued then for the second incident.

Owner of the satay stall apologised

A day after the second incident, the owner of the satay stall reached out to Jassy apologise for the mix-up with the order and acknowledged that the service provided did not meet the stall’s standards.

According to him, the matter is being taken seriously, and the stall will be reviewing its internal processes to ensure orders are recorded accurately to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The owner also said that steps would be taken to address the service-related concerns, including following up with staff to emphasise the importance of courtesy, attentiveness and sensitivity, especially in relation to customers’ dietary requirements.

He expressed regret over the inconvenience caused and thanked the customer for her understanding.

A full refund of S$64.10 was also issued for the first order.

In response to Mothership's queries, the satay stall affirmed that they apologised to the customer for the order mix-up and service lapse, and issued a full refund as well.

They also followed up with the staff member involved and "strongly advised him to be more attentive when taking orders" and to be more sensitive to customers' dietary requirements.

With regard to the first incident, the stall explained that the order was packed according to its standard practice and the instructions understood at the time, but acknowledged that a miscommunication occurred and that proper clarification could have prevented the issue.

Customers are also given an order receipt to verify details before payment.

For the second incident, the stall attributed the error to an honest mistake, but have taken responsibility for their staff's oversight and have since apologised for it.

The stall emphasised that there was no intention to deliberately mix up orders and expressed regret for any impression to the contrary.

Top photos courtesy of Jassy