Dining

100+ Restaurants in Singapore That Do Not Serve Free Water

By Veron Ang

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For a long while we have noticed an annoying trend in many restaurants. An increasing number have a no-water policy: They do not serve free water to diners even when requested. Instead, we have to buy their bottled water. Not only is the bottled water...

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About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and WordPress development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

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473 responses

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Adelynn Tan
July 12, 2009

you can add Skinny Pizza at Suntec City to the list. their food is great, but when i found out they did not serve iced water after i had ordered my buffet and paid, i was sorely disappointed.
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Added! And I was so looking forward to going there :(
  Reply
char
July 13, 2009

Crystal Jade Kitchen in Suntec City Basement charges 30 cents for water. Maybe its a practice in all Crystal Jade outlets judging from what I see above -.-”

I am not going to patronize those restaurants above!
Reply
vinny
July 13, 2009

Hi,

Thank you for doing this! It’s really awesome. Does anyone know the cost of tap water in sg? like per liter, how much does it cost? This way, we can see if it’s justifiable that the restaurant charge us for the water.
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Someone did the math already. See: http://fireopal82.blogspot.com/2008/06/free-tap-water-right-wrong-privilege.html
  
  From his/her calculations, a 250ml glass of water would cost less than a cent. 0.03 cent to be exact!
  Reply
nightwind
July 13, 2009

I came along to see the blog after seeing the article in the sunday times.

I think it’s not as bad as to call for a boycott, although I will avoid these places that don’t even have the basic service culture of serving free water – at least upon request. I visit tokyo frequently, and have always been very happy with the free water served *everywhere*. I cannot recall any eatery that does not serve free iced water immediately when you sit down at its tables.

i feel that free water is a basic part of service culture, and it’s not what many of these greedy restaurant owners (in the list above) make it out to be.

“People who complain are not educated about business costs because nothing is free”- Mad Jack’s co-founder Mr Jack Chin.

I’m surprise Mad Jack’s still survives, with its seeming philosophy of caring for profits and not for customers. I will never patronise Mad Jack’s after seeing this guy’s words. And I happen to be educated in business. It seems like this guy is the one who isn’t.

To add to the list above, Subway (sandwich) doesn’t serve free water. I was on a diet and asked for water instead of it’s standard vended sweetened drinks, they turned me down and asked me to buy a bottle of mineral water instead at $1.50 (same price as the other drinks). The supermarket nearby sells the same thing for 40cents.
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  There has been a fair bit of debate on whether fast food restaurants should go on the list. It’s a grey area. What do you guys think?
  Reply
  - char
    July 14, 2009
    
    it would be good to highlight to readers so that they are aware and not assume all fast food eateries dont serve free ice water :) I was quite surprised to hear this about subway too (i assume that all fast food restaurants follow the mcdonalds way – seems like it isnt the case after all)
    Reply
    - Veron
      July 15, 2009
      
      Does anyone think fast food restaurants that refuse to give out free water should go on the list?
      Reply
mo
July 13, 2009

I recently visited Secret Recipe in Mariner Square, when I asked for a glass of water the waiter told me that there was $0.50 charge for water.

I always make it a habit to get up and leave the resturant when told that there is a charge for tap water.
Reply
zewt
July 13, 2009

it’s good to finally see bloggers (in this particular case, a blogger) rising up against the unscrupulous and greedy entreprenuers. I have been trying to do it subtly but you have certainly taken it to a new level.

Kudos to you. I am not a singaporean so I cant contribute but from the comments, sounds like you have a lot of support!
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Maybe you can start a list for your country!
  Reply
rachel
July 13, 2009

Ah Loy Thai (Shaw Towers)
The food’s good and cheap, but it doesn’t serve water. Had to buy bottled water to continue eating their spicy food because I hate drinking flavoured drinks.

About the newspaper article, maybe you would like to add an asterisk (*) to new contributions, till it has been seconded by someone else?

Maybe you could make a list into a map too?
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Added Aloy Thai :)
  
  I think I would leave it to the maps experts to do the necessary! But let me think about the asterisks suggestion. That’s a good one :)
  Reply
Willie Chan
July 13, 2009

I support your cause and think that all restaurants should supply drinking water, even if just from the tap. Hope that the restaurants on the list will provide drinking water after finding themselves on the list.
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Thanks for your support! I wonder how many restaurateurs actually know about this list.
  Reply
char
July 13, 2009

Crystal Jade Kitchen in Suntec City Mall

I think i posted this but i didnt see it so im just gonna post it again. Very annoyed when people dont serve free water.
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Added Crystal Jade Kitchen. At this rate I think all their restaurants would eventually go on the list.
  Reply
chenyze
July 13, 2009

Hi, I’m quite glad that someone took up the initiative to compile this list. I took the liberty of reposting your list on my blog (http://miachenyze.livejournal.com/8907.html) in case you’re ever forced to take it down! With credits of course. (=
Reply
- Veron
  July 13, 2009
  
  Oh sure. There are changes to this list daily so be sure to keep a lookout!
  Reply
tiger
July 13, 2009

Ming Kee Live Seafood, macpherson. they justify it by saying there is no service charge
Reply
- Veron
  July 14, 2009
  
  Added this. Thank you.
  Reply
mandy
July 13, 2009

thanks for the list.
just a few comments:
timbre does serve free ice water — at least the one at arts house where i go every now and then.
and recently when i went to pu tien at kitchener road, i had free water served when i asked.
Reply
- mangomonger
  July 14, 2009
  
  Yes,To correct, Timbre does serve ice water but it’s only for 1 round.
  
  and is the Facebook group started yet? Do post up the link!
  
  And Veron, navigating through your comments is quite a hassle.. maybe you wanna have a post all comments view in a single page/numeric pages to scroll to a specific page!
  Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  Sure, I will remove Timbre for now, although there have been several complaints about them on HungryGoWhere. But unless someone else leaves a comment about them, I’ll keep them off the list.
  
  About Pu Tien, there is feedback that the one at Tampines Mall charges for tap water. Last month Lianhe Wanbao ran an article on this topic and interviewed the owner, who admitted that they don’t serve free tap water. They may have changed?
  Reply
anotherAngMoh
July 14, 2009

Bravo to you Ms. Ang – heard about your article from the ST. Unless free speech is so challenged here, you should be able to post such information. Anyway, it’s in Yum and HungryGoWhere anyway, many of us post the water story there, it’s nothing new.

The ST had some pretty bizarre responses, from La Forketta’s manager who moronically ascertained that “….it’s the customer on a budget who insists on tap water…”, which is nonsense that no one would fall for. I regularly insist on tap water with my usual glass or two of wine with dinner, and if it were to be refused, I would simply never return, tell friends, and log it in Yum and HungyGoWhere.

The really mindboggling comm net was from Mad Jack’s, who actually seems to believe that people who complain about not getting tap water are not educated, when actually it’s the other way around. A perfect display of Kiasu-ism in motion, and for that alone I would never give them my business.

Restaurant operators – never, ever, never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth on your business, and how being ignorant and penny-wise will make you dollar-foolish. Your business depends on you getting over yourselves.
Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  Right on about the power of word-of-mouth. A happy customer tells one friend about it. An unhappy customer tells everyone.
  
  You know what’s funny about their comments? Their attempts to defend their stand has drawn more flak than the mere fact that they don’t serve free water.
  Reply
Chaozhouzi
July 14, 2009

No free water but was charged to boot.

Teochew Garden at United Square. Visited it some years back. No longer go there so don’t know whether they still exist or still there and don’t care. When there, my family of 7 requested for water. Served a teapot of warm water. Shocked to be saddled with a bill of $5. Serving staff explained it is standard bill for warm water with/without tea leaves as I queried the bill item for chinese tea.

Wee Nam Kee at Toa Payoh – My friend was charged $1 each for a glass of water for his MIL and son.

Perhaps you want to publish this juicy bit as a separate post and invite readers to contribute. Note: We never revisited the 2 places above for sometime now due to the unpleasant incident.

Note that Teochew Garden may have moved as I found it no longer listed at United Square
Anyway, Veron, above two items are listed to start the ball rolling.
Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  Added Wee Nam Kee.
  
  I googled and found that Teochew Garden is now at Beach Road. Not sure if they still have that ridiculous pricing for water though.
  Reply
JP
July 14, 2009

The response from The Tapas Tree Group showed such arrogance and ignorance. Even though I have not visited the place before, I would personally hesitate to patronise the outlet, given their attitude towards customers and feedback.
Instead of reflecting on what can be improved, they went into threatening to sue. Should they not look at themselves in the mirror and asked what they have done to create such negative perceptions.
Whatever is shared on the web is informational and if there is a discrepancy in the information, communicate to change it. Do not take the high road to seek legal action, which is by the way, groundless to begin with. And, is this the kind of marketing strategy the establishment is employing? Intuitively, it does not seem like a win-win approach, nor customer-centric in any way.
We are all discerning patrons and we will decide which establishments sincerely offer great customer experience. For now, I am not sure if Tapas Tree Group is in this “good” list. If Tapas is truly a great place to visit, it has to show it is sincere to engage the customers, work on the feedback and show they deserve the vote of confidence. The way of legal actions is never the right way to proper resolution. On the contrary, it will create even more dissent towards Tapas Tree. Unfortunately, this is what is happening now.
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Chris
July 14, 2009

Once I find out that a restaurant charges for water, I refuse to go back.
Reply
Chris
July 14, 2009

I ate at Novus this weekend and was rudely blown off by the waitress when I asked why she couldn’t serve water.
Reply
- Mats
  October 19, 2009
  
  i’ve eaten there twice and they just served me water without any fuzz. maybe because we were the only couple in the whole restaurant on both occasions.
  Reply
khim
July 14, 2009

actually, Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao (Taka Branch), also charge for water..

i was not feeling well that day & requested for warm water. was informed that the policy was started not too long ago.. previously, they serve water foc
Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  I’m not surprised if the Crystal Jade group adopt the same policy across all their restaurants. Thanks for sharing!
  Reply
  - khim
    July 15, 2009
    
    however, i find that it depends on the staff.. cos there was a woman lunching alone next to my table.. she was unable to finish her meals & request for take-away. after she settled the bill & while waiting for the food to be packed, she asked for water but it wasn’t charged!!
    Reply
    - Veron
      July 15, 2009
      
      The staff must have been very kind and did not have the heart to give her a second bill just for the water. I think that’s great!
      Reply
Matt
July 14, 2009

The Shack at Tajong Beach. Fuji mineral water only.
Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  Added The Shack. Is that a new place?
  Reply
chee keong
July 14, 2009

Crystal jade kitchen at causeway. A few months back, I ordered 2 glasses of water and the waitress who served me did not tell me it was not free. I forgot whether it cost $0.5 or $1 per cup.
Reply
- Veron
  July 15, 2009
  
  I think we all need to be careful when visiting Chinese restaurants. There are tons of hidden charges in the things you never ask for — wet napkins, small plates of peanuts, tea, etc. Sometimes it’s so tiring to keep up.
  Reply