Shi Lin Ayalamalls Manilabay

Queueing Time (4/5)

• Good note: Seated in less than 10 minutes; 2nd in line.
• Needs improvement: Restaurant has 2 entry points but only one accepts and notes guests to seat. Staff in charge of the queue is also attending to other service-related tasks (i.e., serving food, cleaning tables, etc.)

Serving Time (2/5)

• Needs improvement: Took too long to serve food. Initial serving time upon placing of order is 30 mins. However, it actually took almost an hour to serve all orders (take note that food has been served intermittently, with awkward waiting times in between).

Quality of Service (2/5)

• Good note: Despite the busyness of the resto, one of crew member kind-heartedly granted our request to take a photo of us.
• Needs improvement: Understaffed. Was only able to see 4 service staff, working on queueing management, taking and serving orders, completing bills & payments, handling take out orders, and cleaning tables.
• Needs improvement: One of the crew members accidentally dipped one of his fingers on our soup while serving our order. We awkwardly let it slide as we are also not sure how to handle the situation. The crew member did not mention anything as well (though I know he may have hurt his finger since the soup is boiling hot — hope he’s okay) but this is a big red flag when it comes to sanitation.

Food (3/5)

• Good note: XLB is superb!
• Needs improvement: All food we’ve ordered taste good, though the Shiitake Mushroom with Chives & Minced Pork may have been a little too salty.

Price (3/5)

• Good note: Price is not bad for for the food. A bit pricey as compared to fast-food restos but at par with other casual restaurants.

Convenience (2/5)

• Needs improvement: Card payment is not available when we dined as there may have been some issues on the payment terminal. We were asked to pay cash (good thing we do have extra on hand). We were short changed by PHP 0.87, though not a material amount but looks like they assumed that it is okay to not give exact amount as change (for cents).
• Poor to no cell service (at least for Globe users) on our area (seats near the al fresco entrance).

Location (3/5)

• Entrance of the resto is not in a strategic location if you are coming indoors as you still need to take a little turn from the main hallway of the mall to find it. Actual resto looks fine though there is at least 1 table that is currently unutilized.

Overall Rating (2.71/5)

• Needs improvement. If given other choices, resto may not be on the priority list.