Melbournians of Reddit, how do you pronounce "Açai?" [photo for reference]

Store owners always look at me in bewilderment as though I've taken a fat dump on their restaurant floor whenever I ask for an "ah-sai-ee," even though that's exactly how it's pronounced in its native language.

I feel as though I'm going crazy. Wherever I go, I keep hearing new ways to say the word, and none of it is the way I do. At this point, to avoid any confusion, it's easier for me to just point at the menu and grunt.