Station Kopitiam - Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara

A visit to Station Kopitiam @ Cineleisure Damansara reminded me of the following news on Kosmo not too long ago. This eatery located on the Ground floor of Cineleisure serves a variety of fusion Malaysian and Western food. Reasonably priced and the food did not taste bad at all. The concept is similar to a restaurant on the Lower Ground Floor of Summit USJ. I am not surprised if the owners are the same people but using two different names.

I ordered the Sizzling Chicken Chop with Fried Rice and KN the Black Pepper Steak with Fried Rice. For drinks we both had a glass of Iced Cham each and Red Plum Ice Blended Juice.

Sizzling Chicken Chop with Fried Rice

What interest me most were the waiters - only one was a Malaysian, a girl, who obviously wasn't the head waitress. This was a real turn off especially when you have to struggle when ordering - imagine the waiters speaking very little or no English and perhaps no Malay at all. What we did was point at a photo but the trick came when a waiter had to come back and tell us that the drink we ordered was not available. I suddenly felt that I was perhaps in Bangladesh - how silly being in my own country but having difficulty to communicate in one of the local restaurants. Maybe it's about time we Malaysian learn their language huh? The head waiter who was a Bangladeshi as well wasn't of help either because he just stood there with his back turned to us, minding his own business at the cash register. Every time we call for service using their high tech 'door-bell-like' system, the head waiter automatically shuts the bell down without even turning his head to look at who was calling for service.

Black Pepper Steak with Fried Rice

Lucky for us the food was nice - I hope a local chef prepared it, not that it matters really but I just hope the owners had at least paid a local chef. To restaurant owners, isn't it enough that at one time our petrol stations are dominated by foreign workers, aren't there anymore Malaysians willing to work at your restaurants? Or are you offering too little a wage for any Malaysian to consider it attractive? Think about it. Think about the damage it would do to our tourism industry let alone the annoying experience your local as well as foreign patrons have to go through.

NEGARA

Pekerja asing ‘kuasai’ kafe ala kopitiam

Oleh SAHLIZAH MOHAMED
sahlizah.mohamed@kosmo.com.my

PEKERJA asing ini melayan tetamu di kafe ala kopitiam di Kuala Lumpur.

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KUALA LUMPUR – Jika semalam Kosmo! mendedahkan sebuah kedai kek dihasilkan dengan ‘air tangan’ warga asing, kini rangkaian kafe ala kopitiam terkenal juga berbuat perkara yang sama.

Mereka juga terlibat membancuh air dan menyediakan makanan yang dipesan oleh pelanggan.

Malah, warga asing yang bekerja di situ turut menjalankan tugas sebagai pelayan, walhal permit kerja untuk mereka memang terhad kepada beberapa sektor antaranya sektor pembinaan, perladangan dan perkila- ngan.

Tinjauan Kosmo! semalam mendapati, pelayan kafe itu yang kurang fasih berbahasa Inggeris menghadapi kesukaran untuk memahami pesanan yang diminta sehingga terpaksa berulang-alik ke meja yang sama sebanyak beberapa kali.