~ Restaurant reviews by slp54121 ~
Showing 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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4 of 5 people found this helpful:
- An Open Letter to the Management
- Banana Leaf Curry House, Greenbelt 3
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Dear Banana Leaf Mgmt.,Rating 
Food Service Ambiance Value
Oh my God, where do I begin?
I've never set foot in your resto since I first ate there (Podium branch) three years ago. I thought everything was overpriced without much to say about quality.
But my husband and I made an exception last week when we went in your GB3 branch. We were cautious about ordering the grilled squid and the Thai chicken curry. Surprisingly, we enjoyed dinner so much that we decided to come back the following week, which was yesterday.
Yesterday was disastrous. You had seated, in your small floor space, two parties who were equally boisterous, without doing anything about the noise. You are a restraurant, not a bar. And because there were so many people, your staff functioned so poorly, as if they were frazzled by the huge number of people, which obviously they were not used to.
We ordered Thai chicken curry, again, with the grilled pork, plus steamed rice. The pork came. Aften ten years, the rice came, too, together with the curry. The curry had 5 bite-sized meat in it. For a while there I thought you had replaced chicken with pheasant or quail. When we had it replaced, you swapped two small pieces for two medium-sized pieces. Thanks so much.
When our bill came, it read 765.60. I thought, since you were all busy, that I'd help out by paying the exact amount. Unfortunately I only had two 500 peso bills and some change. I couldn't come up with 60c, as I only had one 25c and three 10c. I figured even if I was 5c short, it would be ok since last time, we also had 60c in the bill and got back only one 25 centavo coin, 15 cents shorter. You still owe me 10c, by the way. In the end, I put in two 500 bills, one 50 bill, three 5 peso coin, one 25c and three 10c. 1065.55.
When the receipt came back, there was nothing else. When I called the attention of one staff and she took the receipt from me to the cashier, I noticed her and two others (The manager? Asst. manager?) debating over the receipt. The lady (Manager?) came over and told me she was the one who received the payment and she only saw one 500 bill, two 100 bills, plus change. Which is a HUGE LIE because I KNEW I only have ONE 100 bill in my wallet. She was very, very insistent. But seeing as I was getting very, very angry about it, and probably not wanting to cause a scene (which I was prepared for), she gave me my 300 peso change. If she insisted otherwise, I was ready to challenge her to do a register inventory right there and then.
I NEVER lie about money. I NEVER STEAL nor CHEAT. I am no cheap character ala-Nora Aunor or Dolphy in a movie pretending to have paid when I have not. Most of the time I DO pay the exact amount--in restaurants, fastfoods, public commute--because I don't want to waste anyone else's time. As a matter of fact I even clean after myself: I do not like to leave spilled food/liquid on the table or dirty napkins lying around and if I have left-overs, push all the food to one side of my plate. In other words, that I got this kind of service last night pissed me off and still pisses me hugely.
But before I forget, I must thank that lady (manager?) still, because even in her pesky persistence, she never raised her voice or got snappy with me.
So anyway, this is a shout-out to you, dear Banana Leaf management. For your sake, so as not to lose patrons, let this NEVER happen again.
Sincerely,
Irate Foodie - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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2 of 2 people found this helpful:
- Excellent Pizza Place in Alabang
- The Pizza Company, Festival Supermall
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**strikeout whole article**Rating Food Service Ambiance Value
when my hubby and i came by to eat at the pizza company, it was only by chance because we were supposed to eat at siam tastes, the restaurant next to it, but then found out it had closed down already (sayang! excellent thai dishes pa naman!). we had actually long thought of eating at the pizza company but kept putting it off to try other restaurants (such as kanin club, see my review :>). i can srsly say we were not disappointed.
the menu looked like your standard pizza place menu, with all its selections from appetizers to salads to pasta to kids meals. we decided on the following: stuffed calamari, mexican chicken salad, spaghetti bolognese and medium double-pepperoni pizza.
the stuffed calamari was actually good, so soft it almost melts in your mouth, but the price was a splurge, considering there were only six small pieces. my hubby and i had to laugh when it was served because the itty-bitty calamari looked comical in the conspicuously too-large plate it was served in. the spaghetti bolognese was so-so, almost tastes like pizza hut's, but i like pizza hut's better. the double-pepperoni pizza, although not exactly doubling over in pepperoni, was excellent, the cheese just gooey-ly right. the biggest surprise was the mexican chicken salad. we ordered it out of boredom from the usual caesar's. it's basically five taco pieces stacked on top of each other, with a filling of corn, chicken and really chunky guacamole. it's actually a meal in itself and can be shared by up to five persons.
since then we have also tried their deluxe calzone, which are three huge, bursting calzones (for the price printed in the menu, way cheaper and tastes better than sbarro's) and their spaghetti spicy sausage, which, like the mexican salad, was another surprise, as it tasted not as good as it looks, i have to admit.
most servings can be shared by two, and i have to say, we have never gotten to try their dessert because we've always been too full with just their pizza and pasta.
if you and your family ever venture down south, this is an excellent place for lunch/dinner.
--> july 18 2008 update: the pizza co.'s closed down too! noooooo!!! - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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3 of 3 people found this helpful:
- A Taste of the South
- Clawdaddy, Bonifacio High Street
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because most of us have never been to clawdaddy's and because they have their "truly amazing lunch crates" (available til aug01 only) promo, my cousins and I hit the resto for saturday lunch.Rating 
Food Service Ambiance Value
we had amongst ourselves: refillable lemonades, grilled chipotle apache chicken (crate), iowa grilled stuffed porkchop (crate), baby back ribs with pacific dory cajun etouffee (crate) and 2kg worth of crab in maritess sauce (garlic, white wine and olive oil). we were also served complimentary slices of corn on the cob.
the chicken was only so-so; the porkchop not really as grilled as we had wanted it to be even when we sent it back to the kitchen. the dirty rice, which was served with all the crates (the iowa porkchop didn't come with walnut parsley rice whatever that is), was good enough. the clam chowder that came with the crates tasted like the kind that comes from cans. the saving grace of the lunch crates were the fruit bowls, which, in fairness, were fresh enough. the baby back ribs tasted good, although it wasn't the fall off the bone kind. truth be told, kenny roger's taste even better. the pacific dory was also good, it was fresh, and the sauce was neither too thick nor too runny.
the crabs were altogether a different experience. underneath the shells, the flesh was bursting and was juicy to the bite and the maritess sauce had the perfect tang to it, the spiciness biting back just right and the roasted garlic made it heaven.
one thing about the crates, though: they were big and very awkward. ate a lot of table space and made slicing a feat. we had to remove the plates and bowls from inside the crates and chucked the crates aside instead.
id recommend clawdaddy's if only for the crabs, if you were part of a large group and you can spend a lot for lunch. - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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2 of 2 people found this helpful:
- Eat All You Kanin!
- Kanin Club, Westgate Mall
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if you're a rice junkie like me, the kind who just has to have your daily serving of rice, then this is the dining place to be. located at the up-and-coming westage center in alabang, this is, if im not mistaken, the first branch in manila since the one in paseo de sta. rosa was opened.Rating Food Service Ambiance Value
for the faint of heart, kanin club does have single rice servings available at PhP29.00. they also have garlic rice, mindanao long grain, and brown organic rice. the eat-all-you-kanin, PhP55.00, is first served in two-cups worth, followed by single servings (if you can still breathe).
kanin club's hands-down ask-nothing bestseller is their crispy dinuguan. but since this is a review, i know of course that i have to explain why: imagine your tasty dinuguan sauce, but instead of plain pork meat and innards, you get the crunchiest, juiciest lechong kawali. it's one thing to read a review, it's another to actually try it--i swear it's heaven. i should know because im no real fan of dinuguan until i got to try kanin club's version.
another bestseller of kanin club's is the kare-kare. they have it in two kinds, the original with ox tripe and a seafood version. i've tried both and they're really good, but i prefer the ox tripe one better. if you're the kind who believes in traditional filipino cooking though, you might not be so impressed: kanin club uses peanut butter.
what's wonderful in kanin club's menu is its vegetarian selection, a section you'd rarely find amongst filipino restaurants' menus. a word of warning though: there's something in the veggie selection that they call their must-try--i've forgotten the name, my subconscious has erased it from my mind-- a gooey dish of mushroom, tofu, onions and oyster sauce, which is no must-try at all. it tastes funny and is neither sweet, spicy, sour nor salty and the texture leaves much less to be desired.
the place is really cozy, feels like a probinsiya-nic kitchen, but the food is great. i've been told, though, by the staff that they don't do reservations (weird, the staff member may have been making it up, im not sure), so if you're planning on having lunch or dinner there, be early because the line outside can get pretty long.
this is definitely the place to bring your balikbayan friends, and your family for weekends, too. filipino cuisine at it's warmest best. - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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2 of 2 people found this helpful:
- Affordable Eats @ Serendra
- Conti's Pastry Shop & Restaurant, Serendra
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i actually went there today (2july08) because of the good reviews written here in munchpunch. my husband and i had made no prior reservations so we had to wait for a while before we were seated. the place was jampacked, making the surrounding restaurants (duo, zao, mamou's and thai@silk) look kawawa because they had a lot less number of customers.Rating Food Service Ambiance Value
because we had a hearty merienda in krispy kreme beforehand, we didn't bother with any appetizers and went straight to the main entrées. i had chicken roulade (a sort of morcon, but chicken, and in mushroom sauce) which was served with veggies (PhP180). i changed my rice from garlic to saffron mushroom risotto (addtl PhP 25) and had a side order of russian potato salad (the kind with beets, PhP20). my husband had a 280g serving of USDA rib-eye steak which was served together with veggies and a huge helping of russian potato salad (PhP210/100g).
the chicken roulade could honestly do with a bit less salt. this was compensated though by the very tasty risotto and super fresh veggie cuts. my husband had ordered his steak medium, but was a bit disappointed when it came well-done.
the staff was courteous, the place really clean. we got served only a few minutes after placing our orders and when we were billing out, got our change fast enough.
over-all, im afraid i have to agree with mirepoix's review (see below). so far (because it was, after all, only my first time to visit, and we had just 2 of their many dishes), i can say i was not impressed at all as i was hoping to be. - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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3 of 3 people found this helpful:
- everyone else i know doesn't like oody's
- Oody's Bar and Restaurant, Greenbelt 3
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...but i keep coming back, and it's for their pad thai and lychee shake only. srsly. i love their pad thai and lychee shake: perfect combination, sweet vs. spicy.Rating Food Service Ambiance Value
personally, i find the menu a bit... erm... patronizing, as if thai food can be defined by the few selections that they have (which my hubby says, since he's the one who orders "the other stuff", tastes mostly the same).
granted the place is huge and clean... and since they normally don't have a big number of diners at any given time, it's a great place to take people for meetings or serious chikahan sessions.
i wish i had nice words for their staff but i don't. most of them don't seem to be familiar with the menu (or which ones are unavailable, etc). they aren't as "maasikaso" as other restaurant's staff are and seem to be consumed in gossiping amongst themselves half the time.
i also had the most inconvenient experience ever in oody's when, as newlyweds, my hubby and i dined there to use the gc's we received as gifts (my oody's-abhorring cousins gave them to us). gc's are supposed to function as cash, everyone knows, except that you don't get change in case you underspend. so we overspent a little and added cash when we were paying. we were informed, first by our waitress, then soon by their very unaccommodating manager, that basically, their gc's are only for underspending. in case one overspends, they will separate the bill, one for the gc, and another to be paid for in cash. the gc bill will include tax and sc, while the cash bill will include its separate tax and sc. in other words, the good as cash gc will not function as such. which is plain BS. first and foremost, there was no "rule" whatsoever that was printed on the gc, so they had no right to force whichever implementation on us innocent gc-holders.
i hope someone from oody's will read this review and do something, not only about that gc issue, but about their food and service as well. - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
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2 of 2 people found this helpful:
- great mediterranean food for 1st timers
- Café Mediterranean, Greenbelt 1
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for a quick foodie fix after work, my hubby and i normally head to whichever chinese restaurant we chance upon first. let's just say that we were in a try-something-new mood when we came across cafe med (although it was actually in the other branch, in ATC).Rating Food Service Ambiance Value
both ATC and GB1 branches can only be described as cozy, with warm-colored walls, tiled floors and clunky wooden tables and chairs. although it can be quite noisy, especially during peak hours (11am-2pm & 6pm-8pm), we found the noise bearable if for the prompt and friendly service the staff provided.
because it was our first time, we weren't sure which dishes to try, so we decided on their gyro plates, which had portions of this and that, a great sampler. i had the chicken and my husband had beef. all gyro plates come with baba ghanoush (they call it "eggplant salad" in english, but really it's eggplant pulp at its best), tzatziki (cucumber and mint mixed in yoghurt), tabouleh (a salad of parsley, mint, tomato and scallion) and a choice of either steamed rice, buttered rice or morrocan rice pilaf. since then, i've always had mine with the pilaf. i had my dad try it once, but he didn't like it one bit, and he's a very "adventurous" eater, so i guess to each his own. my hubby on the other hand, always has his gyro with buttered rice. and always, we try to trade other stuff on our plates for the other's tabouleh, which we find addictive.
since our first visit to cafe med, which is about half a year from press time, they've raised their prices, and although we find their menu a bit pricey, we still keep coming back for more. we've tried their kofta (ground meat dumpling), which goes excellently with hummus (mashed chickpeas) and pita bread. we've also tried a couple of their pizzas (which specific ones escapes me now); they all tasted so-so, but can be salvaged with a dollop of cafe med's excellent garlic dip.
all in all, i'd give cafe med four out of five stars. - Was this review...? Useful | Useless | Bogus
