Man Finds Cockroach In Nasi, Praises Foodpanda's Response To His Email

Cockroach in Malaysian man’s mamak order

Malaysians love mamak food as it’s affordable and yummy. But hygiene practices at some of our fave spots can be a cause of concern. Serving as a reminder for us all to keep practising proper hygiene – especially during this COVID-19 pandemic – a Malaysian man from Penang is urging a restaurant to step up hygiene and pest control practices after finding a dead cockroach in his mamak food order from them.

Unwelcomed animal in nasi biryani

Yeoh Harinath shared his experience on Facebook on 20th February 2021. According to the post, he found a “surprise” in his lunch order – an unwelcome cockroach – from the restaurant Nasi Kandar Mesra Maju that he ordered though Foodpanda.

Man finds cockroach in mamak food order - cockroach
Image credit: Yeoh Harinath

Speaking with The Smart Local Malaysia, Yeoh said he ordered nasi biryani and a side of kurma for a total of RM27.34. While the food was to his liking, he was unnerved to discover the dead cockroach hiding out in his food on his 3rd bite.

Because the lipas is considered small-sized, compared to those that scare the wits out of us when they start flying, Yeoh could have easily missed spotting it in his food. Fortunately, he saw the insect before it become an unwanted addition of protein in his diet.

Man finds cockroach in mamak food order - cockroach
Image credit: Yeoh Harinath

Foodpanda has since assisted disgruntled customer

It is unclear how the insect got into his food, but Yeoh reached out to the nasi kandar restaurant to see if he could find a reason for the unwelcome addition to his lunch. The Smart Local Malaysia also reached out to Nasi Kandar Mesra Maju on their Facebook page for a comment, but like Yeoh, we’ve yet to get a response.

At the same time, Yeoh also reported the issue to Foodpanda, the popular food delivery service that delivered his lunch via email. He shared with us that within 24 hours of his email, Foodpanda’s customer care team replied to say that they were “sorry to hear about the quality of food” but that it’s not up to their control as their riders are “not allowed to inspect orders before it delivered to customers”.

Nonetheless, they offered him a full refund on his order, and even offered him a voucher of RM4 for his next order with them for the inconvenience caused.

Image credit: Yeoh Harinath

Yeoh shared that he is “satisfied with Foodpanda’s response”, but wanted to share his story “to make sure [that] restaurants are aware about hygiene and pest control issues”.

Man discovers cockroach in mamak food

Malaysian restaurants are given a “Premis Bersih” sign so customers know how restaurants handle their food and look after their spaces. But it’s up to restaurants to keep to standards of hygiene high in all areas for the safety and comfort of their customers. So we hope that restaurants continue to do practice good hygiene – something that’s especially crucial during this time as we’re trying to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control.