Waiter, there's a staple in my salad!

I was so looking forward to dinner at Contango, served buffet style, at the Majestic Kuala Lumpur. It was a joint birthday celebration for three friends in our group. Unfortunately, when I took a mouthful of my salad, I bit down into something hard and fished out a staple. That, essentially, spoilt the entire dinner for me.

Our group of friends had braved the rain and traffic to get there despite it being a Friday and Good Friday to boot, as it was the only day all of us were in town and free to meet up. We figured that a buffet dinner would suit us better than a sit down meal, as it meant that we could show up whenever we could and tuck in.

The restaurant was packed and it took awhile for me to beckon a waitress when I found the staple. She took one look at the offending item, now resting on the side of my salad plate, and said she would get the manager. It took the Assistant Manager an even longer while to show up. He did ask if I was okay and needed any medical attention. I assured him I was all right, and he proceeded to ask what items I had selected from the buffet spread. After I pointed out all the salad ingredients, he assured me he would remove all those items and check on me later. He then promptly whisked away the plate. I checked, and all the items I mentioned were still on the buffet counter.

I couldn't really enjoy the rest of the dinner. Unfortunately, the staple had hit a filling that has cracked once or twice before. I tried a slice of roast beef and either it was too tough or my tooth was too sensitive, so I had to give up chewing on it after a tentative bite. I made do the rest of the evening with some soup, cheeses and dessert.

The same waitress came by towards the end of our meal with a Comments card and suggested that I write down my complaint, if I had any. She also said that we would be charged for four diners even though we were a group of six. I could see the Assistant Manager walking around but he never came back again.

I guess the hotel, a venerated six-star one in the city, tried to mollify me with a discounted meal, but their lack of concern still dismays me. Today, as I sat down to breakfast, the twinge in my tooth has developed into pain rather than discomfort and I know for sure that the filling in that particular tooth has cracked. My dentist can only fit me in in four days' time, and my dental bill will cost more than the discounted dinner bill.

I suppose I could have raised a stinker at dinner itself. Having been in the food and beverage business myself, I know that these things happen. I do wish, however, that the hotel had showed more of a personal touch and remorse rather than giving a mere discount. A friend who couldn't make it to dinner, when told of the incident, exclaimed that it was unacceptable and inexcusable. She is also in the F&B business. It remains to be seen whether the Majestic will respond to the complaint I made in the Comments form, and until my dentist appointment, it's soft food for me.