Mesa - SM Southmall — Restaurant in 2nd District

We chose this restaurant from the many restaurants at SM Southmall to meet my husband’s best friend because the review was good. But perhaps, this will be our first and last time with this restaurant. We were not impressed especially with the service.

Food - We ordered Pinirito Sampler, crispy pork sisig, sinigang na baboy, crispy pusit, laing, rice/garlic rice, shakes and we told our server to serve the halo-halo and leche flan a bit later. The pinirito sampler were nothing special, I find it bland. I understand that it was “fried” but it was too dry and some of it were overcooked and hard to chew. It seems the food were frozen, reheated and served to us. Maybe the other samplers are better. I liked the crispy pork sisig but adding 1 egg to it for extra 15 pesos was overpriced. All the restaurants we dined that serves pork sisig with an egg has no additional cost. The sinigang na baboy was sumptuous though, the sour taste was perfect.

Service - We told our server to serve our halo-halo a bit later but it never came. Surprisingly, it was in the bill. Please check your bill before paying. I have to remind our server the sinigang, he admitted and apologized that it was forgotten. We waited 20 minutes for it. The shakes we ordered were not served together with the other drinks, my husband has to ask for it because we were almost done with our meals. After waiting for 10 minutes, only 2 shakes came. The mango shake was forgotten too and we have to wait again. No server came to our table after the food were serve to ask if we needed anything else or to ask how was the food. We always have to look for the servers. Even serving water takes time. The food took more than 30 minutes to be served and disappointingly, were not complete when served to us. We came to the restaurant around 8pm and they were not that busy, the restaurant was not full at all. I wonder why their service...

I recently visited this branch and was thoroughly disappointed with the service experience. THE FOOD WAS GOOD HOWEVER the lack of initiative from the staff was truly baffling. After being seated, it took an unreasonably long time for anyone to acknowledge us.

It was clear that the restaurant has no system in place for efficient service. After the first dish was served, we were not even asked if our orders were complete. No one seemed to care that we haven't got our food yet. After almost half an hour we asked a follow up on our main dish and the server looked dumbfounded and had to ask the kitchen. After a few minutes he came back informing us that it will take 10 minutes to serve to food. No explanation not even an apology. I don't know if it was incompetence, laziness, or both, but the experience was a mess.

After our meal I asked the server what happened and why was our food served later than the table seated AFTER we were done ordering. The server said the charcoal ran out. Again, no apologies.

I understand that bad days happen, but the lack of effort, communication, and care was unacceptable. Definitely won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone looking for...

Food Lumpia Tinapa - my 2 pcs of lumpia did not have tinapa... all big chunks of onion Boneless Crispy Pata - taste was OK but skin was not crispy at all Squid in ink sauce - not a fan of it. Was it adobo...adobo sa gata? Topping was shredded ginger with the squid backbone SERVICE It took several requests for service water before it was delivered to our table. It took quite sometime before our order was taken. OVERALL WE had good experiences in the past when restaurant first opened in Quezon City and Makati. But after this visit, I doubt if we will be dining at your restaurant. Hope you improve food...