Geylang restaurant Eat First hit by 1-star reviews after enforcing $2 outside-drinks charge
Hedy Khoo
The Straits Times
April 13, 2026
A $2 charge at Eat First for drinks not bought at the premises has sparked online backlash against the Geylang restaurant after Singapore media platform Mothership published an article on April 12 about the incident.
The 70-seat Cantonese restaurant saw its Google rating plunge from 4.2 to 2.5 within 24 hours after the article was published.
Its owner, Mr Steve Chia, 58, says his restaurant is being unfairly targeted by online vigilantes over what he describes as a matter of principle rather than money. He questioned the customer’s motives for bringing up the matter two months after dining at his restaurant on Feb 7.
His wife, Madam Julia Hsieh, 53, says she retrieved closed-circuit television footage of the incident when approached by Mothership.
The customer had arrived with his family at 8.15pm and his helper had placed a large 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water on the table. The restaurant’s two servers saw the two children drinking from the bottle and repeatedly reminded the group that drinks not bought at the premises were not allowed.
The group comprised the customer, his wife, their two sons, and a helper.
The helper had opened the bottle and poured the water into one of the restaurant’s bowls for the children, despite repeated reminders that doing so would incur a charge equivalent to the restaurant’s tea charge of $1 a person.
The footage showed the customer’s wife, in a purple top, seated between the two boys. After one boy drank from the bowl, she took the bowl and handed it to the other boy.
The restaurant sells Dasani bottled water at $2 for a 600ml bottle, while tea costs $1 a person and is refillable. The prices are stated on the restaurant’s menu.
Madam Hsieh added that employees are trained to remind diners politely that food and drinks not purchased at the restaurant are not allowed. There is a sign displayed on the restaurant’s glass door to inform customers of this policy before they enter.
Mr Chia says he does not object when customers bring their own water bottles from home, but draws the line at diners buying bottled drinks elsewhere and consuming them on his premises.
He adds: “We are running a small business. We are selling bottled water too. Just as we respect and appreciate our customers, we would also like customers to understand that we have our own policy with regard to outside food and drinks.”
In the last two years, he says the eatery has seen customers bring in fast food, cooked rice and packed boxes of economy rice from outside, and use its plates and bowls to eat the food.
Calling the online backlash his first experience of being cyberbullied, Mr Chia maintains Eat First is a small business with labour and other overheads to pay.
He adds that his standalone restaurant is not a chain and does not impose service charge nor GST. “I want to keep prices affordable for our customers, especially the regulars. It is disheartening when incidents like that occur.”
As up to 30 per cent of its customers are foreign tourists, Mr Chia worries the low Google rating from these “fake reviews” will turn away those who rely on Google reviews when visiting Singapore.
Several of the latest one-star reviews carried a mocking and derisive tone. A review by Vincent Moh says: “I was charged $2 for looking at my own gym bottle, avoid this selfish place.”
Another by DY reads: “Charged $2 for drinking plain water from outside. I’m surprised they haven’t start charging for breathing in their restaurant yet.”
To the online vigilantes who have targeted his business, Mr Chia says: “With a small action like this, you may feel you are standing up for justice. But you are killing someone’s livelihood without finding out the facts first.”
He has no plans to change the restaurant’s policy on disallowing food and drinks not bought at the premises, which has been in place since he first set up shop in Siglap in 2016.
In 2023, he continued with this policy after moving to his current address, previously occupied by Cantonese eatery Sik Wai Sin, which was started by his late father in 1982.
Madam Hsieh adds: “It is not an unreasonable policy and common at other establishments.”
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