Clarke Quay Hotpot Restaurant Gets Flak For Selling Rabbit Meat; Petition Against It Started

Rabbits are cute as hell. I don’t know about you, but they look super adorable and innocent to me.

Which is why the idea of eating rabbit meat has never ever crossed my mind before.

However, not everyone thinks like me. There are people who are interested to introduce rabbit meat as a new delicacy in Singapore.

This particular restaurant did it, and let’s just say that it wasn’t as well-received as they thought it would be.

Clake Quay Restaurant Sells Rabbit Meat As A New Delicacy

A hotpot restaurant in Clake Quay introduced rabbit meat as a new delicacy on its menu. Served at Tong Xin Ru Yi Traditional Hotpot, the restaurant started offering two rabbit dishes at the end of November.

The first dish is diced rabbit in chilli oil:

Image: www.yan.sg

While the second dish is a rabbit hotpot:

Image: www.yan.sg

It looks just like an ordinary hotpot, except with rabbit meat.

What would you do if you were being served these two dishes?

Reactions To Rabbit Meat Being Served In Singapore

On Friday, 6 December, Lianhe Wanbao revealed that Singaporeans have mixed reactions to rabbit meat being served in Singapore.

While some are brave enough to try it, others are not open to the idea of it.

Furthermore, the restaurant owner estimated that only 20 percent of those who tried the rabbit dishes are Singaporeans, as we are not used to the taste of rabbit meat.

If we aren’t used to the taste, then who is?

According to the owner, his intention of bringing rabbit dishes to Singapore was to cater to Sichuan natives here. Rabbit is served in Sichuan, hence making it a delicacy over there.

As the owner receives many orders from Sichuan customers and sells an average of 20kg of frozen meat, he probably expected rabbit meat to be as well-received here in Singapore.

Not to mention, the list of meat products allowed to be imported into Singapore includes rabbit meat. This means that the owner was even more convinced to introduce rabbit meat to Singaporeans.

According to Wanbao, the owner had applied for a license that allows the restaurant to import rabbit meat. Just solely in November, the restaurant had imported a whopping 600kg of frozen rabbit meat.

Petition and Backlash

Due to the unhappiness among Singaporeans upon hearing this news, there was an immediate backlash. The Facebook post promoting the new meat has since been removed.

In addition, a petition against rabbit meat being served in Singapore was being put up by rabbit welfare groups in Singapore; Bunny Wonderland and House of Rabbit Society Singapore.

Moreover, a Facebook survey revealed that 68% of those who voted said that they would not try rabbit meat, while only 32% said that they would try.

Image: Facebook

Just look at that face.

I’m guessing the 32% of voters are either Sichuan natives or daring Singaporeans who are looking for a new exotic taste.

The petition, Say “NO” to rabbit hotpot, is currently being circulated, and has attracted more than 5,000 signatures.

If you’re not in favour of rabbit meat to stay in Singapore, you can join the petition by following the link above.

FYI, rabbits are the third most common household pet in Singapore. Can you really bear to eat it? #justsayin