Chitchat Family at Geylang restaurant charged S$2 for 'outside drinks' after children drank from water bottle, restaurant says it's policy

[Scrooball (clone)]

Family at Geylang restaurant charged S$2 for 'outside drinks' after children drank from water bottle, restaurant says it's policy​

Summarise

A family whose children were drinking plain water they brought themselves was charged S$2 for "outside drinks" at a Geylang restaurant.

The customer, who preferred to go by his surname, Ng, told Mothership that he questioned the charge, but the staff insisted the charge applied and did not offer to waive it.

"We understand that restaurants may have policies on outside food and drinks, but applying such a charge to children drinking plain water felt unreasonable and lacking in goodwill."

In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from Eat First, a Cantonese restaurant at 287 Geylang Road, said that there were signs at the entrance stating that no outside food and drinks were allowed.

She claimed that the family was made aware of the charges and continued to drink from their own bottles. However, Ng refuted that he was unaware of the charges until the bill came.

Charges were new to him​

Ng said the family dined as a group of five, including his two young children aged five and 10.

According to the receipt, the incident occurred on Feb. 7, 2026.

Photo from Ng
He said that he had ordered beer from the restaurant, and the children drank plain water from their own bottles.

When the bill came, the family was charged S$2 for two orders of "outside drinks".

Ng said he told the staff that the children were just drinking water from their own bottles, but the staff insisted that the charge was mandatory.

He added that in most dining situations, when customers are already purchasing drinks, such charges are usually not enforced, especially not on children.

He said he was under the impression that only adults were subject to the policy, hence why none of the adults drank the water.

Ng said the charges were "both surprising and disappointing".

He added, "What made this particularly disheartening is that my family has been patronising this establishment for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation."

He noted that his family used to visit the original Sik Wai Sin Eating House at Geylang, before the owners split it it into Sik Bao Sin and Eat First.

Ng said that the "outside drinks" charge is not something he had encountered previously.

Restaurant's response​

Eat First's spokesperson said there was a sign at the entrance on their policy on outside food and drinks, and that staff would remind customers that patrons who brought any such food or drinks into the premises would be charged.

Photo from Eat First
The spokesperson told Mothership that the family brought a big bottle of mineral water, which she said was "too much". This was despite the restaurant also selling mineral water.

She claimed that the family was apparently made aware of the charges, but still used the restaurant's bowls as cups to drink their water.

She added that the restaurant has been criticised for their policy on outside food and drinks, but said that at the end of the day, they are still running a business.

In response to this, Ng insisted that his family did not notice any signs of this policy displayed on the premises, nor were they informed in advance about the "outside drinks" charges.

The charges, he said, were therefore "unreasonable and unexpected".

He added that he has not been back to the restaurant since the incident.

Top photo from Ng & Eat First

 

[True Believer]

Since Mr Ng's family has been patronising this restaurant for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation, he should vote with his feet, and eat elsewhere where his support is appreciated. Mr Ng needs to teach this establishment that they are not the only eatery in S'pore, and when they do not appreciate their customers, they deserve to lose them for good.

 

[kulgai]

that's the problem with local operators when they lack business sense. i find the china food retailers are always much more accommodating when it comes to such things. locals tend to be very rigid with their self proclaimed policies. reminds of a couple of incidents. i was having horfun at a coffeeshop near chinatown and since it wasn't lunch but more like tea break for me & misses, we wanted to share a plate. the stall holder wanted to charge 50 cents for extra chopsticks saying it's clearly stated in a signboard. man, this is surest way to ensure customer doesn't come back. another incident was at swensens when my kid was a pre schooler. since she wanted to eat kfc, we tapau that for her and proceeded to order our food at swensens. the captain insisted no outside food. tried to reason that my kid only wanted kfc but we were still gonna order for 2 adults. he wouldnt relent so we walked out. i can quote the numerous incidents at china restaurants where they went out of their way to accommodate the customers and this is exactly how local businesses lose out .

 

[bobby]

Why donch Ng just stayed at home and cook for his family instead

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Lose customers over $2 charge. Some restaurants really deserve to go to hell and close down.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

This restaurant is damn cheebye. No wonder the rating only 3.0

 

[Dongyi]

Family at Geylang restaurant charged S$2 for 'outside drinks' after children drank from water bottle, restaurant says it's policy​

Summarise

A family whose children were drinking plain water they brought themselves was charged S$2 for "outside drinks" at a Geylang restaurant.

The customer, who preferred to go by his surname, Ng, told Mothership that he questioned the charge, but the staff insisted the charge applied and did not offer to waive it.


In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from Eat First, a Cantonese restaurant at 287 Geylang Road, said that there were signs at the entrance stating that no outside food and drinks were allowed.

She claimed that the family was made aware of the charges and continued to drink from their own bottles. However, Ng refuted that he was unaware of the charges until the bill came.

Charges were new to him​

Ng said the family dined as a group of five, including his two young children aged five and 10.

According to the receipt, the incident occurred on Feb. 7, 2026.

Photo from Ng
He said that he had ordered beer from the restaurant, and the children drank plain water from their own bottles.

When the bill came, the family was charged S$2 for two orders of "outside drinks".

Ng said he told the staff that the children were just drinking water from their own bottles, but the staff insisted that the charge was mandatory.

He added that in most dining situations, when customers are already purchasing drinks, such charges are usually not enforced, especially not on children.

He said he was under the impression that only adults were subject to the policy, hence why none of the adults drank the water.

Ng said the charges were "both surprising and disappointing".

He added, "What made this particularly disheartening is that my family has been patronising this establishment for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation."

He noted that his family used to visit the original Sik Wai Sin Eating House at Geylang, before the owners split it it into Sik Bao Sin and Eat First.

Ng said that the "outside drinks" charge is not something he had encountered previously.

Restaurant's response​

Eat First's spokesperson said there was a sign at the entrance on their policy on outside food and drinks, and that staff would remind customers that patrons who brought any such food or drinks into the premises would be charged.

Photo from Eat First
The spokesperson told Mothership that the family brought a big bottle of mineral water, which she said was "too much". This was despite the restaurant also selling mineral water.

She claimed that the family was apparently made aware of the charges, but still used the restaurant's bowls as cups to drink their water.

She added that the restaurant has been criticised for their policy on outside food and drinks, but said that at the end of the day, they are still running a business.

In response to this, Ng insisted that his family did not notice any signs of this policy displayed on the premises, nor were they informed in advance about the "outside drinks" charges.

The charges, he said, were therefore "unreasonable and unexpected".

He added that he has not been back to the restaurant since the incident.

Top photo from Ng & Eat First

The sign says nothing about charges.

That being the case, it should be construed as an attempt to fine the delinquent diners.

Did the restaurant win more than 50% seats in Parliament in the last GE?

 

[True Believer]

Why donch Ng just stayed at home and cook for his family instead

The reason why the Ng family has been patronising this restaurant for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation, is because none of them know how to cook!

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

The reason why the Ng family has been patronising this restaurant for over 20 years, going back to the previous generation, is because none of them know how to cook!

I don't cook either, but I am not stupid enough to go to such a shit service restaurant for over 20 years.

 

[metalrover]

ppl spend over 100 bucks for a meal, the restaurant go and gek kah over outside drinks to earn extra 2 bucks. Really is penny wise pound foolish

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

$2 this kind of money they also want to earn. Their food must be damn solid to be able to offend customers this way. Either that or their brain needs a bi-annually check-up (being senile is no joke!).

 

[True Believer]

I don't cook either, but I am not stupid enough to go to such a shit service restaurant for over 20 years.

Perhaps the quality of the food and service declined gradually over the years, and did not suddenly nosedive after the chef left as so often happens at many restaurants.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Sinkies need to use their head.

Do they want to patronize a restaurant that wants to screw over customers over $2? It's like some low life mentality. I cannot imagine the food from this type of business be any good.

 

[True Believer]

The standard and portions of the food have gone down inversely proportional to the skyrocketing prices at Banana Leaf Apolo, yet it is still very crowded at the Race Course Road location everyday.

 

[worcer]

This type of resturant deserve to close...

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Sinkies grew a set of balls and whack this restaurant hard

Geylang restaurant Eat First hit by one-star reviews after enforcing $2 outside-drinks charge​

SINGAPORE – A $2 charge at Eat First for drinks not bought at the premises has sparked online backlash against the Geylang restaurant after Singapore media platform Mothership published an article on April 12 about the incident.

The 70-seat Cantonese restaurant saw its Google rating plunge from 4.2 to 2.5within 24 hours after the article was published.

Its owner, Mr Steve Chia, 58, says his restaurant is being unfairly targeted by online vigilantes over what he describes as a matter of principle rather than money. He questioned the customer’s motives for bringing up the matter two months after dining at his restaurant on Feb 7.

His wife, Madam Julia Hsieh, 53, says she retrieved closed-circuit televisionfootage of the incident when approached by Mothership.

The customer had arrived with his family at 8.15pm and his helper had placed a large 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water on the table. The restaurant’s two servers saw the two children drinking from the bottle and repeatedly reminded the group that drinks not bought at the premises were not allowed.

The group comprised the customer, his wife, their two sons and a helper.

The helper had opened the bottle and poured the water into one of the restaurant’s bowls for the children, despite repeated reminders that doing so would incur a charge equivalent to the restaurant’s tea charge of $1 a person.


The footage showed the customer’s wife, in a purple top, seated between the two boys. After one boy drank from the bowl, she took the bowl and handed it to the other boy.

The restaurant sells Dasani bottled water at $2 for a 600ml bottle, while tea costs $1 a person and is refillable. The prices are stated on the restaurant’s menu.

Madam Hsieh added that employees are trained to remind diners politely thatfood and drinks not purchased at the restaurant are not allowed. There is a sign displayed on the restaurant’s glass door to inform customers of this policy before they enter.

Eat First has a sign on its no-outside food and drinks policy at its door.

PHOTO: EAT FIRST

Mr Chia says he does not object when customers bring their own water bottles from home, but draws the line at diners buying bottled drinks elsewhere and consuming them on his premises.

He adds: “We are running a small business. We are selling bottled water too. Just as we respect and appreciate our customers, we would also like customers to understand that we have our own policy with regard to outside food and drinks.”

In the last two years, he says the eatery has seen customers bring in fast food, cooked rice and packed boxes of economy rice from outside, and use its plates and bowls to eat the food.

Calling the online backlash his first experience of being cyberbullied, Mr Chia maintains Eat First is a small business with labour and other overheads to pay.

He adds that his standalone restaurant is not a chain and does not impose service charge nor GST. “I want to keep prices affordable for our customers, especially the regulars. It is disheartening when incidents like that occur.”

As up to 30 per cent of its customers are foreign tourists, Mr Chia worries the low Google rating from these “fake reviews” will turn away those who rely on Google reviews when visiting Singapore.

Several of the latest one-star reviews carried a mocking and derisive tone. A review by Vincent Moh says: “I was charged $2 for looking at my own gym bottle, avoid this selfish place.”

Another by DY reads: “Charged $2 for drinking plain water from outside. I’m surprised they haven’t start charging for breathing in their restaurant yet.”

To the online vigilantes who have targeted his business, Mr Chia says: “With a small action like this, you may feel you are standing up for justice. But you are killing someone’s livelihood without finding out the facts first.”

He has no plans to change the restaurant’s policy on disallowing food and drinks not bought at the premises, which has been in place since he first set up shop in Siglap in 2016.

In 2023, he continued with this policy after moving to his current address, previously occupied by Cantonese eatery Sik Wai Sin, which was started by his late father in 1982.

Madam Hsieh adds: “It is not an unreasonable policy and common at other establishments.”

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

The family ordered beer for the adults, but kids cannot drink the water they bring? lol... this kind of pathetic small minded restaurant better let dogs fuck la.