Fresh Ideas

Posts Tagged ‘restaurant’

The month is ending today and because of my busy schedule, I have not got any time again to write anything for the month of February. Yes, this is the month of love and many of us are celebrating a particular day with our beloved one and yes this is another date that companies are seizing the opportunity to earn a whole lot more by offering specials that consumers will certainly bite. There is too much consumerism and commercialism that one can handle before, during and after Valentine’s Day that it already created a murky image of what this day meant for lovers.

Well, my dearest one and I decided not to celebrate it at all and just let it pass. But I cannot help myself but to treat her in a splendid dinner and spend a good time with her the weekend after Valentine’s Day. I researched for weeks to find a good restaurant in the metro, and I always see a restaurant that seems to be exceptional in terms of its menu and ambiance. I also noticed that reviews are good at the most and many bloggers out there are recommending it. This is none other than Adarna Food and Culture restaurant.

Adarna Food and Culture

This restaurant has a certain cultural feel that I have not experienced yet to other restaurants that we went to before. You will feel at home while dining, and every corner offers a collection of memorabilia that will blast you in the past. The menu is rich and extensive in historical and heirloom recipes from all over the Philippines.

Fried Vegetable Lumpia

First we are astounded by the vastness of the menu, many of which we have not heard of before. We ordered a known appetizer just to be on the safe side; Fried Vegetable Lumpia, which we know would not hurt us since it is a mainstay in all Filipino tables. We did not ordered any soups or salads because we still felt full from the merienda that we ate a couple of hours ago.

Piassok

We then ordered Piassok. I heard mostly good reviews for this particular dish and I myself am curious how it tastes. Piassok is a native Sulu dish made of beef chunks cooked in smoked coconut milk, buttered and grilled before serving.

Rellenong Sugpo

The next dish that we ordered was the Rellenong Sugpo. The sugpos are stuffed with minced pork, shrimps and vegetables and rolled in butter and fried. It comes with a special sweet and sour sauce.

Garlic Fried Rice

As for rice, we are checking out the Batanes Yellow Rice. It seems exotic to us, but because of a review that I read that it is not that good enough, we just went off with the normal Garlic Fried Rice. Later on I regret ordering it, not because the garlic rice was not good, but the feeling that we should just have tried taking our chances on something new.

Gulaman at Sago

We did not order yet any desserts as we are having hard time choosing. My girlfriend opted with the normal Gulaman at Sago because she was craving for it before.

The dishes did not take long to be cooked and a the same time, we are entertained by the richness of the setting. The dishes are served in high quality china that makes you think that everything here is special.

The lumpia is simple, nothing extraordinary, just like what my dad and mom cook for us.

The presentation of the Piassok is visually enticing enough as well as for the taste buds. There is a certain aroma created by grilling the beef and combining it with the richness of coconut milk.

I really liked the Rellenong Sugpo; at first glance we were amazed that it looked pretty much like fried chicken legs. The taste of pork overcomes the taste of shrimp; but nevertheless it was excellent. The sauce really complements the dish. The special sauce somewhat taste like honey with certain sourness in it.

The rice is just like any other garlic rice; which is plain and simple also; as well as the Gulaman at Sago. It is so sweet in the palate even if we already put lots of water in it just to dilute the sweetness.

We spent the night satisfied; however, the only misfortune that we experienced was the food that was switched when we asked the leftovers to be packed because we were not able to finished it all up but the service is good and the whole experience is wonderful. All in all, this restaurant proved to be a really nice dining place for lovers or not.

I’m listening this morning in Magic 89.9 FM and the topic was in regards the Service Charge of restaurants. I actually didn’t bother about this issue in reality, but when i heard the arguments on the “Goodtimes” morning program of the DJs namely Mo Twister, Mojo Jojo and Grace Lee and it dawned on me that this is one topic that everybody should be aware of.

Well, it’s funny that we encounter this topic regularly when we dined in restaurants and usually we simply ignore it and just pay the damn bill. It’s a simple case of “did you know that” that we can really ask or question why do we have to pay for it in the first place.

As the topic goes, I suddenly realized that we need to question this practice because I don’t know if this was really a law that all restaurants need to charge a certain percentage on the total bill for service charge. I think it is mandatory for restaurants to serve customers properly and there is no need to charge them extra just for the service because they are there to serve you actually and it is their business to serve customer the best way that they should.

Also, there are other charges on the bill aside from the service charge like VAT or Value Added Tax and local tax, so therefore, I don’t think it is really ethical to charge the customer extra just for the service that he or she should be getting in the first place. The taxes are in the law but the service charge I really doubt on that.

By the way, it is also customary for us to give tips to waiters, so why the heck do we need to pay up for the service charge if we will be giving tips anyway? This is one big question that is really bothering me long time ago before I heard this on the radio.

Could someone explain to me the logic in the service charge on restaurants and is it legal to charge customer extra for this crap? Because, sometimes, I do get good service and I didn’t bother to give additional tips aside from the additional service charge on the bill as long as the service was great, but there are times and I mean many times that the service was awful and I am still charged for that damn service charge and even if I called up the manager or supervisor, he or she can only tell me that it is a policy of the restaurant!

I like the comment of one of the DJs because he told that other people with different occupation should actually be tipped than the waiters like the nurse or some medical staffs because they really make out of their way to help people, but not like the waiters because it is in their job description already that they need to serve customers. Also, staffs from hotels should not be tipped as well, because like waiters, it is their duty to assist customers and clients on their needs so why should we give tips for the service we should be getting? It’s really weird huh?!

It really ticks me off when you know you dine in a very posh restaurant and the food was not that fantastic and the service is very bad and you will still be charged for a very ridiculously fee for the service charge. It’s bad service to start off, so why charge customers for the service that is not really excellent? Do you think it’s fair to pass the fee for paying the customers daily wage to the customers in their bills? It seems that restaurant owners are simply overcharging or escaping the responsibility in paying their staff right, correct?

Well, I think someone from the government should really take a look into this because at these times when all of the things are really pricey, it should help the people that needed to tighten their belt. But of course many of you will say, “then don’t eat at restaurants!” and I know you’re right on that, but this will not help in eliminating this bad practice in the restaurant industry.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…