Romantic Baboy — Restaurant in Mandaluyong

Don’t care about the recent good reviews here, my experience was a not-so-good one yesterday (5.16.25, 2pm) as a SOLO diner. Just had to write about it.

When I had started grilling, at several instances no waiter was to be found (they were ALL on the other side of the resto) or one was nearby but not paying attention when I needed assistance (looking at them and raising my hand). Once, I had to leave the table and walk to the counter.

Problems encountered:

1. No tissue initially supplied, had to ask for them

2. Online ordering system (umami) was buggy. Tried to choose (+1) my third meat but the quantity counter was still at 0, first 2 selections were ok so I don’t think it was due to 4G/5G signal issue on my phone. Refreshed page and still unresponsive. When I came to the counter (see above) at ask for help, there was a male staff in red (maybe of a higher rank). Got upset when he said to refresh the page (which I have already done), then tap “Place order” first before I can choose my 3rd meat and onwards. Strange because this was not the case in my previous visit about 7 months ago. Erratic. You also don’t want to touch your phone to place refills when your hands are oily/slimy from all the grilling and food handling, even after wiping them with tissue. Plus, phones harbor dirt/germs, not good combination if eating foods by hand like with lettuce-wrapped samgyupsal.

3. The red, sweet-spicy sauce (gochujang?) was no longer in the online menu (used to be before). Also, it was no longer the default 4 sauces served initially (again, it used to be before). Initial sauces served this time was of the unappetizing type (MSG, a yellow kind - not sure if butter, vinegar, etc). Thankfully a waitress came and just had to verbally order the sweet-spicy sauce.

After complaining, noticed waitresses then gave me more attention and stood by near. They offered to refill my lettuce and such, asked if I needed something, etc. — all welcomed developments. If only this was already the case “initially”, before I had to raise my voice a bit at the counter.

After everything, at least the food was...

RomBa just fell off my graces.

Original: I like this place. I've been here 3-4 times already and the service has always been good, especially today when they were having trouble with the online menu. I really like one of their staff, Maria, I appreciate her level-headedness, her ability to multitask is superb, she takes our orders like a boss (pure memory) , and she's just really calm through the chaos.

There were also some really bad hiccups tonight though, because again, chaos, but I also appreciate the way Jen (their manager in charge, I think?) handled the situation. It could be better but it's understandable.

It's a good place to dine in and hangout with friends. The atmosphere is good, the service is good, and I think customers are in good hands. (4/5)

Edit: I was here again yesterday, approximately 4-5 months since the last time due to the issues that happened above (which made it impossible for me to return due to the experience), for a group send off.

It was honestly one of the worst exp I had in this branch. Our griller wasnt cooking, for one thing. We had to ask the other table to cook for us because 30 mins in and the egg and scallops, which were on the sides, weren't even cooking. When raised, the staff said that was the maximum output, na "magtututong na yan mam" but again, hindi nga naluluto, much less magtututong. Kung gusto namin "paluto kayo sa loob", which beats the purpose kung bakit kami nagsamgyup.

That was rude and dismissive. Ayaw naman kami palipatin ng table kasi para sa ibang guests na daw yun. Ok. Noted. Pero sana hindi rin ignored yung table namin.

The only good thing here was the fact na kasama namin yung nasa next table and they were able to cook for us. And Monica, yung server, was trying her best to meet our needs whether maglabas ng food or drinks or side dishes. Like siya lang yung okay out of what? 5 serves in the vicinity? So thank you, Monica. You did your best during a rough night and it is much...

I went in alone and the experience was super horrible.

When I waited for them to prep my table, I specifically said I didn’t want the egg bec I was allergic, but my server placed it anyway. I ordered thru the online app and waited for almost an hour for only 2 OUT OF 12 of my orders to be served. Mind you, I am just beside the serving isle and have made NUMEROUS follow-ups verbally and thru the app. When I escalated that my wait time from the app was already around 45 mins, lo and behold it was reverted to 35 mins and was marked COMPLETED; with still only 2 out of 12 orders coming in. Special shout out to my server MJ for being the worst server I ever had. She was the waiter assigned to my table. Whenever I made follow-ups there would be eye-rolls. For some reason, she was prioritizing other tables besides mine. Maybe bec I was just wearing my pambahay clothes - IDK. I escalated all these things to the supervisor, and yet the only resolution was to “reprimand” her. There was no talks on how they could make it up to me, even a simple “okay sir we’ll expedite”, so I checked out with only having been eaten 2 portions of meat.

Note: I have been a frequent customer for this branch specifically, and just like to add that OTHER SERVERS ARE GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO.

Screenshots below show the following:

I ordered 12:11 PM by 1:01 PM (50 mins elapsed time) my order was tagged as complete with a 35 mins elapsed time. Again, I only received 2 out of the 12...