One of the biggest controversies in the local food scene of late was none other than the amusing ongoings of The Western Co. — the restaurant that got #rekt over claims of extraordinarily bad service perpetrated by its founder Larissa Yang.
The first fracture that brought Yang’s café crumbling down last month was a Facebook post by customer Andy Wong, who recounted how he and his friends were booted out by The Western Co. founder Larissa Yang over a miscommunication. TL;DR: He thought he could pay by NETS, Yang said cash only, Wong grumbled about it to his friends, Yang overreacted by chasing them out. Wong was shocked as he didn’t act uncivilly or said anything nasty to her that deserved an ejection.
But when it rains, it pours — poor standards of service, a history of passive-aggressive reactions to critique, allegations of non-payment to advertisers, and an apparently delusional business owner brought the café massively negative repute, to the point that The Western Co. Facebook page was taken down. SMRT Feedback didn’t waste any time in jumping into the fun by setting up a parody Facebook page for the café, featuring pretentious articulations and shitposts.
Welp, it seems that the Tyrwhitt Road café’s notorious troubles might be over now that Yang seems to be out of the picture. In a post made yesterday, the western food joint announced that they’re now under “new management and ownership”. Oh, and NETS payment is coming too.
But who exactly are the new owners? Queries by netizens were sidestepped.
Later on they made a statement apologising for the “bad service from the previous owner”, assuring better days ahead.
Speaking to Coconuts Singapore, the new owners of The Western Co. identified themselves as RE cafe Pte Ltd, who bought over the business from Yang. Not much else is known about the company. The only way to know if they’ve really changed for the better? Head down there to see for yourself, and report back on how things are.
