Lunch Deal (?) in Changkat Bukit Bintang

No matter how many years I spend in Malaysia I will never understand why it seems perfectly acceptable here to cheat your customers and treat them as if they were idiots.

I just went out for lunch and was walking along Changkat Bukit Bintang when I passed Twenty-One.  Twenty-One is the kind of place I would normally never visit.  I seriously dislike that kind of fancy looking places that tends to be all makeup and very very little substance.  But in this case my eye caught an add for their lunch deal that really appeared quite reasonable at first.

The lunch menu is kind of Italian inspired with some pasta dishes and a sandwich or two. Prices ranging from 9++ to 16++ including one drink (they had different choices) and this is - in that area (or anywhere else for that matter) quite a good deal.

I ordered a Pesto Chicken Sandwich with Ice Lemon Tea for 9 Ringgit (+5 % government tax, + 10 % service "tax").  Here is what that looked like (after I had one bite - didn't occur to me to snap a picture before as I was pretty hungry).

Not bad for 9++ Ringgit - not bad at all - that is until a bit later.  Unfortunately at this point the experience went downhill quickly.  The waiter - who was by the way very nice, attentive and polite - asked me if I wanted another drink and I accepted one more Ice Lemon Tea.

It is important for me to stress that while drinking my second Ice Lemon Tea I actually wrote mk. I of this post - and that was all high praise and full recommendation from my part.  Unfortunately my opinion changed a lot when I was presented with the bill:

WTF!  They charge me 9 Ringgit for a lunch INCLUDING ice lemon tea and then they have the fucking nerve to charge me 10 for an ice lemon tea without the set lunch.  I asked the waiter why they didn't just serve me two set lunches in that case, and he said that sure they would if I had ordered it.  Well prick, call me naive if you must, but since I felt quite good about the experience up to that point, I just didn't imagine they would be that big cheats.

Twenty-One managed - over five minutes - to go from a place I would have highly recommended to a place I would encourage everybody to avoid - simply because they are complete assholes and find it acceptable to cheat their customers.  That I cannot stand and will not accept.

No wonder they say thanks on their bill - but I would recommend the following change:

In short - avoid the place!  When I left, the waiter said: "see you again soon".  Well, I wouldn't bet on that if I were you!