Millenia Walk Japanese restaurant discards nearly 5kg of meat after delivery worker allegedly left fridge door ajar

A Japanese fusion restaurant at Millenia Walk discarded nearly 5kg of marinated meat and sauces after a supplier's delivery worker allegedly failed to close a refrigerator door properly.

Cheeky Don's owner estimated that the restaurant could lose up to S$900 in potential revenue and labour costs, according to 8world.

Restaurant owner Chen Zheqi said he discarded the meat and sauces despite there being no visible signs of spoilage, as he did not want to risk customers' safety.

Fridge temperature rose to 12.3°C

Chen told 8world that staff discovered one of the restaurant's refrigerators had been left partially open on the morning of Nov. 7.

Its temperature was recorded at 12.3°C, well above the intended level of below 4°C.

After reviewing CCTV footage, Chen found that a worker from the restaurant's supplier had failed to close the refrigerator door properly following a delivery at around 11:40pm on Nov. 6.

Concerned that the ingredients might have spoiled, Chen discarded approximately 4.8kg of marinated pork, including pork jowl and pork collar.

He also threw away the sauces stored in the refrigerator.

Estimated losses of up to S$900

According to Chen, the discarded ingredients could have been used to prepare around 50 meals, generating approximately S$600 in revenue.

Including labour costs, he estimated the potential loss at S$900.

The supplier reimbursed the restaurant about S$90 for the meat, but Cheeky Don did not seek compensation for the discarded marinade.

Chen explained that preparing the restaurant's signature pork dishes involved thawing the meat in a refrigerator for at least six hours, soaking it in brine for several hours and marinating it for another six hours.

"For a small F&B business, this is not a small loss, especially when every dollar and every bowl sold matters," he told 8world.

Food safety prioritised

Chen admitted that he had briefly questioned whether all the ingredients needed to be discarded, as they appeared normal and customers would not have known about the incident.

However, he decided against using it, saying it was not worth risking customers' safety to save money.

He emphasised that food safety should be upheld in the restaurant's daily operations, even if doing so resulted in financial losses.