Woman finds cockroach midway through army stew meal at Clementi Mall, says staff was indifferent

She thought she found a strand of hair in her army stew, but it turned out to be something much much worse. 

The shocked diner surnamed Lee told Shin Min Daily News she visited Ha-Jun Korean on the fourth floor of Clementi Mall last Friday (May 26) at about 3pm. 

Lee ordered a portion of army stew and was midway through her meal when she bit into something foreign.

When she spat the offending item out, she discovered that there had been a cockroach lodged in between the beef slices. 

"I almost swallowed it. After realising it was a cockroach, my mood was ruined and I felt so disgusted," recounted the 30-year-old graduate student. 

"After I complained to the staff, they said they would refund me $10." 

Describing her interaction with the eatery's staff, Lee said they appeared indifferent and did not apologise for their mistake.

She also spoke to the manager, who told her that they would bear her medical expenses if she was unwell after eating the tainted food. 

"I asked them to provide written proof of the incident, but they refused, so I left," said Lee. 

Since she did not finish her meal, the manager had also offered to make another bowl of army stew for her, but Lee refused. 

"I have patronised them before as their prices are quite affordable, but I didn't think something like this would happen." 

We regularly conduct pest removal: Eatery

When a reporter from the Chinese daily visited the Korean eatery last Saturday, the manager, surnamed Chen admitted that the cockroach in the army stew was a result of negligence on their part. 

Chen, 32, also confirmed that they refunded Lee for the meal. 

She also reiterated that they were willing to bear the medical expenses if Lee was unwell, but were unable to provide written proof of the incident. 

However, one of their staff had sent Lee a WhatsApp message to record down the incident. 

Chen added that the staff clean the premises before opening and after closing, and regularly conduct pest removal. 

'Cooked' cockroach in hor fun 

Last July, a diner was mortified to find a 'cooked' cockroach in his hor fun she ordered from Ching Hao Wei zi char stall in Clementi via Foodpanda. 

The diner, Jamie, told Stomp he also ordered a portion of fried rice and sliced fish soup from the stall. 

"To our surprise, a cooked cockroach was in one of the dishes we received," he said. 

"Utterly disgusting and we did not dare to eat the rest of the food since it was coming from the same kitchen." 

He added that Foodpanda eventually refunded him for the order.

ALSO READ: Wrong order? Netizen finds a cockroach in his meal after getting the incorrect dish delivered

claudiatan@asiaone.com