Tiki Bar Bantayan — Restaurant in Cebu

I want to start by saying that I almost never write reviews. But I feel like I have to after the experience that I had in this place last night. I got there around 8:30pm to meet a friend. The same band from the previous night was playing and I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. About 2 minutes later, a small child, I would guess that he was maybe 10 or so, went up on the stage, grabbed the microphone, and started screaming into it. I sat there, shocked, waiting for someone to go take it away from him. But nobody did. This happened about every 3 to 4 minutes for the entire hour that I was there. Sometimes he would try to sing along with the song, and sometimes he would just yell and scream whatever he wanted. A few times he made a high pitch screaming sound that sounded like a cat getting stabbed with a machete. It was an absolutely unbearable sound, which made not only me, but the staff behind the bar, as well as the majority of the other patrons, to cover our ears. After awhile I went up to the guy next to me at the bar and said that this kid needed a spanking more than any child that I had ever seen. He said that he couldn't agree more, but it probably wouldn't happen. The kid was the owners son, and apparently the owner was there celebrating his birthday. That at least explained why the staff and band was letting this kid run around unsupervised and do whatever the heck he wanted. But that doesn't make it OK. I have spent the majority of my life working in the service industry, as a bartender, a waiter, and also as a musician. As such, I tend to take notice of how things work in the restaurants that I visit. I could tell by the body language of both the staff and the other patrons that I was not alone in being annoyed by this misbehaving child. People at his own table were rolling their eyes and covering their ears when he would start screaming into the mic. The bottom line is that, nobody, under any circumstances, should go on stage and grab the microphone while someone is performing. That's like going behind the bar and pouring your own drinks, or going behind the counter at a bank and opening the cash drawer. Straight up, YOU JUST DON'T DO THAT! I had originally thought the the kid needed a spanking, which he clearly did. But at the end of the day, he's just a kid and he doesn't know any better. It's the parents job to teach their children what is appropriate behavior and what is not. And this kids parents have failed miserably. At no point during the entire time that I was there did I see anyone make any effort to reprimand the child for his unacceptable behavior. Nobody went and took the mic from him, nobody scolded him for interfering with the band, it was all just allowed to happen like this was normal behavior. They just let him run around the entire restaurant and do whatever he wanted to. I can tell you one thing, in any establishment that I have ever worked at, if you go on stage and grab the mic when I'm performing, your getting kicked out immediately. And you might get roughed up a little on the way out. There is absolutely nothing that you would ever say that would make this behavior acceptable. Unfortunately for this kid, he's probably going to grow up to be one of those snotty rich white kids who think that they can do whatever they want to. Maybe he can get away with that in the bar that his dad owns, but he's going to have a rude awakening if he behaves that way somewhere else. Basically, the owner was allowing his child to behave in such a manner ended up annoying virtually everyone in the restaurant. He obviously doesn't understand that his primary job as a father is to teach his child right from wrong and how to behave acceptably. By permitting this type of behavior, the owner has shown that he has has no respect for his employees, the musicians, or his customers. And as a customer, I have a choice where I can spend my money. I will never set foot into this...

A strange place indeed, has ghoulish Halloween decorations all year round but is a family restaurant. Freaked out the kids a bit when there's a skeleton in jail cell under the sink at the handwashing area, and a human hand dangling out of a vicious looking Jaws type shark hanging from the ceiling. Owners certainly have a unique style or maybe they decorated one year for Halloween and just left it there.

Place is not friendly to vegans. There's a vegan burger but it doesn't taste good. It's a mushy mess made from fried mash potatoes only. And it comes with french fries too so that's just too much potatoes for one dish.

Then there's a "Croquet Vegan" which is actually false advertising because it's not vegan at all, it has cheese inside and is cooked in butter. I think the vegan burger is cooked in butter too.

Those are the only two options on the menu and one or both is not a real vegan option. It's very apparent that the owners and cooks (and servers) there do not understand what vegan food is or how to cook it.

The waitresses are moody, and the speed of service depends if they take a liking to you or not, and whether they feel you are important enough to deserve speedy service. They seem to be playing a game sometimes where they know a customer wants something but they keep their head turned the other way and ignore all attempts to get their attention until you actually have to get up from your table and walk over to them where they are just doing nothing and not even busy. There could be only two customers in the restaurant but it can still take forever to get them to bring you water or the bill or whatever you need. Even the parking/security guy has a bit of an attitude.

The wide open space centrally located across MJ Square is a nice chill spot for people watching and the atmosphere is good...just the problem is with the food and the service. And of course, like most restaurants in Santa Fe, it's overpriced. Given the location and the prices, it could be much better...

Good evening. I have a complaint about your staff, Jen. She was extremely rude to me. Jan. 1, 2022 at 8PM my and my husband went to Tiki and ordered Pizza for take-out. We were seated at the bar. After getting our receipt, it took quite some time for our order to finish -- came out this waitress Jen who asked her collegue infront of us if we already paid for our order and that moment i immediately showed her our receipt. I was amazed how she reacted after I showed her bill. She was saying alot of things as if I wronged her when my intention was just to let her know that we already made a payment. While waiting at the bar, she was bending over backwards from the kitchen to the dining area trying her best to be super rude to us. She even harshly landed the menu book on our side. I confronted her as I couldn't take it anymore.. she reasoned out that they are so busy so their actions are barely composed. HER RUDENESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR HECTIC SITUATION. HER CUSTOMER SERVICE IS POOR.

10:23PM As I am typing now, I still can't get over from what happened at Tiki Bar. This is my first time in Bantayan Island, the customer service I received from Tiki has really got into my last nerve. I wish we never tried out the food and ruined my night. I will never recommend this restaurant to my family/friends/colleague/clients if they decide to relax at Bantayan Island.

What a crazy waitress she has been....