Trattoria Altrove — Restaurant in Coron

Terrible Customer Experience and Unfair Policies - Do Not Recommend

I had a highly disappointing experience at this restaurant that I would never recommend to anyone. We ordered a Margherita pizza and a prosciutto pizza with arugula, smashed tomatoes, and truffle sauce. When the pizzas arrived, we immediately noticed that the prosciutto pizza was missing both the arugula and smashed tomatoes, containing only prosciutto and truffle sauce. When I informed the waitress that this wasn’t what I had ordered, she simply replied that they had run out of arugula and didn’t have it.

I explained to her that the lack of arugula was something they should have informed me about when I ordered, as I might not have chosen that pizza if I had known. After trying the pizza, which was very salty and not enjoyable, I asked if I could exchange it for a Margherita. To my surprise, the waitress told me that if I ordered another pizza, she would personally have to cover the cost of the first pizza out of her own pocket, and I would have to pay for the new Margherita as well. I was shocked to learn that the waitress, a young girl, would be held financially responsible for the restaurant’s failure to notify customers of unavailable ingredients.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable with this policy and unwilling to put the waitress in a difficult position, I ended up eating a pizza I hadn’t wanted, simply to prevent her from being penalized. When I brought this up with the manager, I found her response shockingly rude and dismissive. She insisted that this was the restaurant’s policy—if I didn’t finish the pizza, the waitress would have to pay for it. Such a policy is incredibly unfair and cruel, especially considering the high cost of this tourist-priced pizza likely equated to nearly a week’s salary for the waitress.

I left feeling appalled at this establishment’s treatment of both customers and staff. The management showed a complete disregard for basic worker rights and customer service. I strongly discourage anyone from visiting this restaurant. Despite its positive reviews on some websites, my experience was the opposite, and I cannot in good conscience recommend it. Save yourself the disappointment and choose a place that respects its employees and values...

Pizza is great but I think it's right to take issue with their approach to drinking water (service water). We have been in the Philippines for 7 weeks now and have eaten in a range of restaurants from expensive, tourist focused, to much cheaper, local eateries. Each one of those restaurants has offered free service water, which is something the country can be proud of, as it must cut down the use of tonnes of unnecessary small plastic water bottles. When we asked for service water here we were told it was "drink at your own risk" which is a ridiculous comment. Either the water is safe to drink or it's not; so don't serve it. We saw this conversation play out with a number of tourists who bought plastic water bottles for their dinner. Not sure if the restaurant is on the upsell or they have quality issues; which makes you wonder about the other things they source. Either way it is not acceptable. For a tourist restaurant on an island which prides itself on its beautiful reefs and clear blue waters, balancing a fragile ecosystem, more care should be taken by those profiting from it to avoid unnecessary use of plastic bottles (especially given a service charge is added to the bill). If only they took as much care with their environment as they do in protecting their precious wooden floor...you must leave your shoes outside but there is big signage informing you that is also at your own risk if they are stolen (the restaurant's catchphrase). Don't worry though, the sign offers you a "bag" to keep them secure...I didn't even want to know if that was...

Ordered the green salad, the Ragù Bolognese, and the Pomodori Secchi with cold bottles of San Miguel Light beer. Got what we expected from the traditional bolognese, which was good, but the Pomodori Secchi--which was a vegetarian option--exceeded our expectations. Though it was a simple pasta dish with crushed fresh tomatoes, chopped sun dried tomatoes, garlic and extra virgin olive oil, it was refreshing and tasty. If you're into tangy tomato sauce, you'll probably like it, too. What we wouldn't order again is the sad tiny plate of green salad--iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber with Balsamic vinegar and EVOO.

If you have allergies, it is best to emphasize them and remind your server to inform the "dispatcher" at the kitchen. Though the server repeated our order and assured us that the food would be prepared according to our request, we had to send back the food because the request was not communicated clearly with the kitchen staff. The service was great, though; they were apologetic and kind enough to quickly replace our order.

The pizzas in the other tables also looked fantastic, but the servings of the two pastas were already more than enough for us that night. Excited to go back to try those.

Be ready to (1) fall in line as there is usually a long queue at dinnertime (around 6-7 pm), and (2) remove your footwear before entering, Filipino style. There are pigeonholes at the entrance where you need to leave...