Ikea Singapore yesterday said it will stop selling its popular chicken wings from next Tuesday at the restaurants in its two stores.

In a Facebook post, the Swedish furniture chain said its chicken wings "have not been meeting our customers' satisfaction recently".

It will work with its supplier to improve the wings before bringing them back. Ikea said it had received feedback about the wings' "taste and texture". It does not know how long it will take to improve them, but said it hopes to find a solution as soon as possible.

It said the wings - which cost $8 for six pieces - are being withdrawn only next week as it wanted to give customers a heads-up on it.

Its post was met with numerous comments from Facebook users, many of whom said the quality of the wings had indeed deteriorated.

Facebook user Sue Ng said: "Ya, the chicken wings were cold, hard and looked like they have been fried more than once. Looking forward to having the nice, juicy wings again!"

At its Alexandra Road store yesterday, many customers were seen eating the wings, as well as other favourites such as meatballs.

Senior finance officer Iris Lam, 38, who was having dinner with her husband and daughter, said the wings used to be juicier, but are now smaller and quite dry. She visits the eatery once a month.

Undergraduate Jonathan Tay, 24, said he was telling his friends just two weeks ago that Ikea should do something about the wings.

Ikea, which also has a store in Tampines, said it will introduce chicken tenders at $1 each, and a dish of four pieces of chicken tenders and garlic fries for $5 from Wednesday. Its spokesman said the suspension of the chicken wings was not a publicity stunt for the launch of the new products.

Ms Sarah Lim, a senior retail lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic's business school, said Ikea was doing the right thing in improving the quality of its offerings. She added: "It needs to do more as the whole dining experience is no longer pleasant. It's frequently crowded and it needs a big revamp of its menu."

WATCH ONLINE
Diners queuing at Ikea's Alexandra Road outlet yesterday night. http://str.sg/4uJM