Showing posts with label Greenhills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greenhills. Show all posts

Friday, July 31, 2015

Lasagna Day!

Last July 29, 2015, we celebrated Lasagna Day and House of Lasagna hosted a Buy 1 Take 1 Promo on their beef lasagna.

b1t1

I wouldn't miss this simply because it's our favorite lasagna!

So the boyfie went ahead to their Greenhills Branch. He got us a seat around 5PM, ordered our favorite Chicken Skin (Php 180) and a Beef Lasagna. I arrived at the branch by 5:45 PM and the only item served was just the Chicken Skin, the complimentary bread wasn't also refilled even though we already requested twice.

So this was the crowd when I got there. Still manageable, but it got really full during our stay.

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We waited for another 10 minutes before our Beef Lasagna was served. I again requested for our bread, it was acknowledged, but wasn't delivered. The servers kept on giving bread to other tables who did not request for any even though I called their attention. They're very disoriented and inattentive. You could actually see that they were overwhelmed with the crowd and were severely untrained for such an event. I finally got my bread when I personally went to the counter and waited for it.

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While we were eating, I noticed that the guests to my left didn't have anything on their table yet. Kyle told me that they were seated just about 5 minutes after him. So technically, they were waiting to be served for over an hour already. Orders kept on flying out of the kitchen, but their table wasn't served, they already followed up quite a few times, but the orders of those who arrived later were served first. I wonder what training these people underwent, if any. Given the benefit that the place was indeed packed and they were also entertaining take-out orders (yes, they allowed take out even though the promo said it was for "dine-in only"), they should have anticipated that it would be chaotic.

Going back to our dining experience, we, ofcourse, ran out of bread again. But this time, it took only about 2 to 3 follow-ups and I didn't have to go directly to the counter. The guests to my left were finally served 1 Beef Lasagna (I didn't know why they were served just one when it's a buy 1 take 1 promo and there were 2 of them seated on the table). We asked for our bill around 6:45 PM and that was the only time that the 2nd lasagna of our neighboring guest was served.

It took about another 10 minutes before our bill was served, since I noticed that she was processing another table's bill.

To sum up our dining experience that day, it was very disappointing. Here are a few things that I noticed:

1. The staff were definitely not prepared, very inattentive, resulting to a lot of delays

2. This branch prioritized take-out

3. The serving size of the lasagna was noticeably smaller than the regular serving size (See previous experience here)

Holding promos are nice, but hopefully, they make sure that they are well-prepared for it. It's a given fact that a massive amount of people will line up when you have a promo, but it shouldn't be an excuse to compromise service and food quality.

This was the scene outside the branch around 7:15 PM.

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Monday, August 4, 2014

Torch, revisited

Last Friday night, we had a late dinner at Torch.

     

We had our usual orders, Buffalo Asian Wings and Beef Short Plate (please see previous review). I wanted to try something new so I got the Bacon Maki while Carla got the Vegetable Soup to soothe her cold.

     

The Vegetable Soup (Php 185.95) was a tomato based soup. It was really thick and looked more like a dip than soup. As for the taste, Carla described it as a sad version of minestrone soup. In my opinion, it tasted like a much sweeter version of Hunt's Pork and Beans.

The Bacon Maki (Php 229.99) was something different. I liked the overall blending of the flavors, specially since I'm a bacon lover. I just found it a bit hard to chew, maybe because the bacon filling wasn't on the crunchy side. Oh, and their wasabi also didn't have any kick.

TORCH

Home Studio Building, 63 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan City (02-4773771, 02-5020000)

Monday, July 28, 2014

A Touch of TORCH

Torch was introduced to us during a car-club meet. Ever since that event, we've been coming back here when we're within the Greenhills area.

It's located along Connecticut Street and can be a bit tricky to see because it's signage is covered by a tree branch.

The interior has a casual and comfortable feel.



Their menu is also quite interesting, it's like East meets West.

We were in the mood for a heavy lunch so we got quite a lot from their menu.

For starters, Volcano Roll (Php 369.95) and Buffalo Asian Wings (Php 324.95).

    

The Volcano Roll is a baked sushi with tempura, tamago, topped with spice-baked scallops and smothered with cheese and Japanese mayo. I love their presentation! Overflowing, lava-like cheese that makes this dish just delish!

For the Buffalo Asian Wings, we requested it to have less heat, they happily accommodated our request. :) The crispy wings were coated with a sweet glaze, followed by a subtle kick of spice that balances out the flavor. Perfect.

Next dish we tried was the Philly Cheesesteak Pizza (Php 369.95).



Simply put, it's your favorite philly cheesesteak sandwich turned into a pizza. You can never go wrong with this one.

For our main dishes, we got the Beef Short Plate (Php 249.95) and Salpicao Medallion (Php 449.95).



The Beef Short Plate (left) had hefty servings of tender beef belly with a generous amount of fat in it, served with garlic parsley rice with a side of beans and carrots. This was probably the best dish I had during our meal. The beef was just bursting with flavor and the fat, oh the fat, the words escape me.



The Salpicao Medallion is certified Angus Beef wrapped in bacon also served with garlic parsley rice with a side of sauteed French beans and carrots. We preferred it well-done. They serve this dish on a sizzling hot stone to prevent it from getting cold and greasy easily. The plating gives this dish a good first impression, but there was really nothing special with the steak.

Torch is a good place for simple, casual dates and budget friendly, feel-good food trips. We really enjoyed and were greatly satisfied with our lunch.

TORCH

Home Studio Building, 63 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan City (02-4773771, 02-5020000)