Sambo Kojin - SM Southmall — Restaurant in 2nd District

REVIEW Sambokojin SM Southmall September 18, 2022, 7pm - Closing Wave 2: You may choose bet. 1st and 2nd waves Buffet collab (Sambokojin + Dads etc.)

Pros: Waiters and food servers were very accommodating. Plates were "jenga-stacked" on some tables but I guess the staff were trying to deal with it already. The Japanese station was the most efficient! Special mention to the very nice manager who assisted us.

Cons: From start to finish most of the buffet platters were either empty or filled with unappetizing "leftovers" (mga ulam na nandoon but otherwise no one wanted to claim kasi mukang first wave pa nila niluto and gusto nila ipakain sa 2nd wave kasi di pa naman simot). Kindly inquired whether the dishes were going to be refilled for the 2nd wave. Replied, "Ginagawa pa po" but until we were about leave, most were left as is Raw food station: Leftovers (Dunno how long these nasty things were just sitting there but boy they looked "bilasa" enough. The samgyupsal cuts were the only ones to be refilled continuously. Drinks station: You'd had to guess which glasses were used or not. In short they all looked used. None took the effort to dry them out and put them back where its supposed to. (If you dare to ask, the juice server gives you the silent treatment). Splatters and spills were everywhere. No one cared to fix or refill the drinks. Kulang nalang pigain ko lahat ng cucumber para pansinin nila ako. Desserts station: Yes may laman (onti). The refs were literally almost empty except for the green gelatin thingies. Mini cakes, nope no refills. Fruits were the worst, muka na siyang dinutdot or something. Nakagulo gulo na yung iba. Cutting station: Mukang part time lang si kuya server sa station nya lol. Supposedly, the concept is youd have to consume them while freshly cut. What they did was slice up several pieces and left them there to dry up in the cold. Sauces were not refilled and not refillable. When asked, "wala na po kaming gravy". Chips looked like crumbs and dips were not refilled as well. "Wala na rin" daw but they refilled them right after I left 😅 We kindly asked what happened. One particular manager (Male, medium to large built, middle aged adult around late 30s to 40s) persistently and unapologetically insisted, "May laman naman". If it had been the case, people won't be complaining. It wasnt only us, you can overhear other tables saying "wala masyado choices noh" with disgust in their faces.

We understand how tiring their jobs are and all the effort it required to have everything spic and span. We also appreciate the waiters and servers for admitting how they were understaffed that night (Except for that one manager). I hope the administration does something about this. If they wouldn't be able to accommodate and serve quality food, I guess they should stop giving customers the option to opt for the second wave.

Conclusion: Worst dining experience EVER (including other countries). Not worth the money. NEVER GOING TO DINE WITH SAMBOKOJIN (SM Southmall) EVER AGAIN. This might be an isolated case but disappointing enough to leave a lasting impression (But still a yes with Dads! Loyal customer for years and never disappointed. Nevermind the collab, eat at DADS instead)

We're not going to leave this at your imagination. Im putting the pictures here for you to personally judge. You may or may not have different insights regarding this.:). Disclaimer: photos were not taken before we left. This is was what it looked like from the beginning.

Thank you! 🙂

Sambokojin, SM...

It's my 2nd time to visit the place and the 1st time was way back in 2015. It hasn't changed much and it still as pleasant as it is and the waiter/servers are all kind and smiling, not to mention accommodating. We celebrated the birthday of my girlfriend here last Sunday Feb 24th and it was a blast! The food was great (as always) and the Beef is still as it is way back 2015 - Delightful!! Beef is my weakness and I think I consumed more than 500 grams of that good food in less than 30 minutes! Still, the birthday promo applies to birthday celebrants. The same mechanics is being followed, 3 days before and 3 days after the exact birth date. In lieu with that, I was the only one billed for the buffet meal. I think it was a weekend rate for 938 pesos. They still have that weekends and regular weekday rates. You can always check their website for more details. The unforgettable thing that happened on this day is that the waiter who billed us did not charged us for the meals that we are not able to consume. It was a 1st time for my Gf and actually took more than what she could actually eat. And in turn I think we have about 3 plates that were untouched. Normally, we should have been billed extra 200 on top of the buffet fee, but the waiter waived it for us and gave us the single receipt without the extra fee. I think the waiter was kind enough to let us through since it was my GF's birthday. The birthday banner can be requested in order for the celebrant have a photo op. They will also serve a simple and yummy choco cake with a candle on it! It's cute and she did enjoyed it! You will also need to bring an ID or any documentation that would show and verify the celebrants birthdate. Once it is verified, he/she will be free to eat (saves you a single person fee for a buffet!) Food is great, crew as well, the whole area is clean and they serve hot food especially the tempura (automatically refilled by the cooks) and the complicated desserts will be served by the servers assigned to it. A lot of food choices and excellent service! I will definitely go back to this place. I hope you guys can give it...

I decided to invite my friends to have a dinner in Sambo kojin SM Southmall last night. A total of 10 Walk-in costumers. It’s not my first time being there, we enjoyed the food and a lot of choices.But very poor service!!! I was so disappointed!!

At first it was okay until we got a problem with our pan. We ask them politely if they can help us to re fire the burner because there is no fire at all. And we are not done eating yet. We got 2 burners but they only set 1!!

We ask them three times already but they leaved us there without any explanation why they didn’t open the other one.they keep us waiting 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️ So we’re like okay maybe it run out of gas.

And the worst part is the billing part!!!! Me and my friends is in the middle of chatting and i do understand the it is almost 8:00 pm and they have the cut off. I know it is their Job to remind us but at least do it in a polite way!!

This Regular Waiter name. “ERROLD” came to our table without saying any excuse!! Swaying the bill because he said we need to settle the bill because it is cut off already! So rude that we feel like he wants us to leave right now!! Without saying it! (Take note there’s still other costumers that time) While we are chatting we are all turned into silence and i reached the bill and settled it.

I approached one of the staff and ask if he is the manager because it seems like he’s only roaming around! Then i told her what happened she apologized but that waiter who’s very in polite and rude to us seems like don’t care at all. I don’t even make any scene i pay then we leave!

Please to the management monitor your staff!! It seems like they don’t want their Job anymore!🙄 Specially your REGULAR WAITER...