FOODIE sites and social media influencers can have a massive impact on a business these days.
Many a stall or restaurant has seen its business boom after being featured on sites such as KL Foodie. Long queues are known to appear overnight at featured eating stops with grand proclamations of them being the “best” or “highly recommended”.
However, a post bestowing such a claim on a char koay teow stall in Petaling Jaya (PJ) has left many netizens deeply unimpressed.
Why? The clip shows the stall to be in a state of mess with all manner of ingredients strewn all over the cook station.
It was not a pretty sight which was not helped by the char koay teow “sifu” also not wearing gloves when handling the raw ingredients.
Many were astounded that KL Foodie would give the thumbs up to a stall that really did not look inviting.
Quite a few said the authorities ought to pay this place a visit.
With some insinuating this was an “advertorial” ie paid for recommendation.
With another saying that it was just a ploy for the content creator to get views.
However, one commenter sought to defend the char koay teow seller by saying that the stall and ingredients are clean before start of business. But as the orders start to fly in, the grease and the mess starts to pile up which the workers will clean up later.
While another clarified that gloves weren’t required when handling raw ingredients that were about to be cooked.
All said and done, FocusM can actually confirm that this char koay teow stall is quite popular and has its legion of fans.
While the towkay may have worked hard to gain that following, he must be aware that social media can very quickly take away that reputation.
Hopefully he has taken note of the many negative comments regarding hygiene and cleanliness and stepped up his operations in that respect.
The other point that needs to be highlighted is that Malaysian foodies – based on the many comments – seem to be slowly turning their backs on eateries that do not meet their expectations on cleanliness which was something many were willing to turn a blind eye to if the food was tasty enough.
That attitude of yore was best summed up by a netizen’s comment.
In the meantime, bon appetite! – Oct 18, 2024
