Restaurant offers buffet for S$7, was forced to change terms after ‘overwhelming response’ from diners

SINGAPORE: A restaurant on Cavan Road found that it became a victim of its own success, so to speak.

On its Instagram account, Dragon’s Bite by Our Dining Place announced that starting from Dec 9, it would have an “UNLIMITED LUNCH BUFFET” for only S$7 NETT per person. Unlike other Food and Beverage establishments, the buffet would be available daily, including weekends and public holidays, except on Mondays, when Dragon’s Bite by Our Dining Place, which seats 70 people, is usually closed.

The eatery invited diners by writing, “Join us for an affordable and satisfying buffet experience you won’t want to miss.”

The plot thickened when the buffet was hyped on Dec 20 on the popular @singaporebeauty IG account, where the caption read, “$7 Buffet in Singapore from Tuesday to Sunday 1130am to 230pm. A different menu every day.”

The post showed a video of the restaurant’s buffet offerings, which included sambal sotong, stir-fried pork collar, seafood tofu, pepper chicken soup, bitter gourd omelette, braised chicken feet, hokkien mee, and various other dishes, plus cake and fruit for dessert.

Moreover, the post called it a “value for money buffet,” which prompted many commenters to say they’d like to give it a try.

Since then, however, maybe things have gone a little too well for the eatery, which has had to limit what and how diners eat during the buffet.

On Dec 22, Dragon’s Bite by Our Dining Place apologetically posted updated terms and conditions for the buffet.

“Due to overwhelming response today, we wish to apologise to one who  ……..made a reservation and yet was not able to join us as it is fully occupied.  ………we have limited the shell prawns as our oversight on the demand,” it wrote.

It added that it had learned from its experience with the S$7 lunch buffet and would no longer accept reservations but would only take walk-ins. Moreover, customers now have a dining limit of 45 minutes, after which, presumably, they will be told their time is up. Furthermore, the restaurant said that there will be “No minimum pax” for dining and that customers will be required to share tables.

Also, instead of a true buffet experience, diners will also be given one plate and one bowl each.

As for payment, Dragon’s Bite by Our Dining Place said that it prefers cash or Paynow.

“We reserve the right to change the dishes and limit the portion of the dishes to the diners, like today, giving 5 prawns to every diner until the stock was gone,” the eatery added.

Hey, at S$7, one bowl and one plate of buffet offerings still sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?/ The restaurant is now posting its daily menu, which you can find here, though it will be closed on Tuesday (Dec 30)./TISG

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