Diner’s question: “$1 for small glass of water? What’s next?”

SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media after being charged S$2 for two “small” glasses of water at a vegetarian restaurant on Dalhousie Road.

Ms Deeva Jennifer wrote on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Sunday (Oct 1), “$2 for plain water?  Understandable that prices of many items have gone up but $1 for a small glass of plain water? What’s next??”

She added a photo of a receipt from the restaurant. Adyar Ananda Bhavan (also known as AAB or A2B) is an international vegetarian chain that started as a sweet shop in India over thirty years ago and now has outlets in the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Kenya and the United Kingdom. Ms Deeva highlighted an entry on the receipt showing two orders of ice water for S$1 each.

The Independent Singapore has reached out to Ms Deeva Jennifer and A2B Vegetarian Restaurant for updates and comments.

Commenters on Ms Deeva’s post told her that this is not the only eatery that charges for water. “Jack’s place also charging 70 cents a small cup of ice water…. Blame it on the 8%GST…,” wrote one.

“Cut throat! Coffee shop charge 60¢, Restaurants perhaps $1 is hefty enough!,” another chimed in.

Earlier this year, another woman took to social media after being charged “a whopping $1.40 for ice water”.

The netizen, who goes by the name Kong MaLa on Facebook, wrote on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page that she had paid $2 and was surprised how little her change was.

“Before covid 19 most places charge from $0.30 to $0.40 to $0.50. After covid 19 bought ice kosong today. Give $2, change $0.60. That’s a whopping $1.40 for ice water and it’s more more expensive then buying mineral water, coffee or tea. At Amoy Street hawker centre #01-67 at 1.30 pm.”

Over the years, more and more food and beverage establishments have begun charging for hot, plain, cold, or iced water.

Last December, another netizen took to social media after being charged 50 cents for a cup of hot water.

Mr Richard Goh, who was charged 50 cents for a glass of water, wrote on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Dec 13, 2023: “Kimly coffee shop Blk 237 Serangoon Avenue 3, #01-130, S’Pore 550237. Just plain water cost $0.50 cents. Your say ………expensive or not ?”

Responding to the post, the Serangoon coffee shop owner Mr Zhang explained:

“Prices have increased by a lot recently. Everybody knows that water and electricity bills are rising, and employees also need to be paid for their work, such as boiling water and washing cups.” /TISG

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