Eating out is mostly enjoyable in Malaysia. The choices are plenty. Food is usually delicious. Prices are generally reasonable. But, expecting meals to be served together, at the same time, is not always a given. I am not referring to food courts or mamak stalls, where synchronising is a little difficult. Because we are likely to order different foods from different stalls. I am pointing out particularly at waiter service, pay more for the ‘ambiance’ type of restaurants.

My first and biggest moan. While I don’t want to labour the point, I am going to anyway. Especially as my husband and I eat out quite a lot. Ours is not a tall order. All I ask is for our two meals to arrive simultaneously, a few minutes apart is fine. Certainly not when one of us is about to finish our meal, and the other is still waiting and hungry. And, turning a little green like the Hulk. This has happened enough times and continues to happen to spoil the eating out experience. An order taken from two people, seated at the same table, is typically treated as a single order and served on a first-come-first-serve basis. Following that logic, two meals should arrive at our table at about the same time. Not so.

Inquiries are usually pacified by ‘Its coming’ – in true Malaysian fashion. Just like the oft used, ‘I am on the way.’ Which actually means, ‘I am just getting into the shower, and I should see you sometime today.’ There is no reason or excuse for the delay. There have been occasions when waiters or managers seem upset with me for asking the whereabouts of our meals; instead of waiting obediently to be served. To be fair, some are apologetic, but more often than not, they are oblivious and need to be reminded to check on orders taken.  There is almost no or minimum communication between the kitchen and the serving staff.

My second moan is not getting what I ordered on the menu. Missing ingredients or replacing one ingredient with another without checking whether it is acceptable to the customer is common practice. An avocado salad without the avocado was served up to us once. And, it seemed perfectly acceptable for the restaurant to do this. Of course, I called them out. The kitchen had run out of avocado, and so the chef decided it would be better to conspicuously leave it out instead of instructing the serving staff to inform us, and give the paying customer, the option to order something else or cancel altogether. 

My third moan is directed at restaurants that are reluctant or refuse to serve hot water, as part of an overall food order. I would have thought a minimum order of two meals and a beer or a fruit juice would be enough revenue to warrant serving a cup of hot water. Not free hot water. Although that would be a nice gesture. But hot water at a nominal charge. What can I say? I like my hot water. I have had staff at restaurants recite that they don’t serve hot water but they can heat up mineral water for me. I have wondered aloud if the staff boiled mineral water or tap water to make coffee and tea? Why would restaurants forego the bigger food bill, and lose a customer just to generate a few ringgit from peddling mineral water? I would like to know why.

I don’t want to moan. I know I have. But surely, it is not too much to expect good food, on-time service and a happy experience when I pay good money. I don’t want to feel hungry and anxious. And, certainly not angry at the servers, who follow instructions set by their higher-ups. Or the kitchen staff, whom we don’t see or engage with, but fall out of favour because of their tardiness. Or the restaurants for failing to meet their customer service delivery.

Eating is one of life’s pleasures. Eating out is a nice treat. We get to choose what we want, be served by others, and best of all, no washing and cleaning up later. I want to be able to chill, chat and savour two yummy meals together, at the same time, with my husband, and enjoy the moment. Not a tall order. Or is it?