Watami — Restaurant in Quezon City

We dined at Watami Eastwood on July 13 around 7 PM, and wow — if there’s an award for “How to Make Customers Feel Unwelcome in Record Time,” this branch has it in the bag.

From the moment we walked in, the staff’s message was clear: “We’re not here to serve you, so don’t get your hopes up.” The chubby girl who took our order set the tone immediately — unapproachable, unhelpful, and radiating the kind of energy that makes you wonder if you accidentally offended her in a past life.

The food? Mediocre at best, but that didn’t even matter because the service was the real showstopper. Imagine having to ask not once, not twice, but three times for basic things like water, utensils, tissues, and sauce bowls. We were seated right beside them, calling out politely, but the girl with glasses and Miss Sunshine (the chubby one) mastered the art of pretending we didn’t exist. A true performance.

The best part? Watching other tables get proper service — tissues ready, quick refills, friendly smiles — while we apparently scored the “VIP invisibility package.” And yes, we ordered a lot of food, but clearly that wasn’t enough to qualify us for basic courtesy.

When we finally asked for the bill, we calmly gave feedback about the awful service and asked how to file a complaint. The chubby girl, dripping with enthusiasm (not), replied with, “Wala po eh, wala po kaming feedback form,” like we’d just asked her to donate a kidney. No apology, no acknowledgment — just pure dismissal.

And because this place loves to go above and beyond (in all the wrong ways), they started mocking us within earshot. We heard, “Feedback daw ma’am,” followed by what seemed to be her manager saying sarcastically, “Huh, akala ko all out na? Feedback feedback?” — the kind of professionalism that would make any HR department weep.

Never again. If you’re looking for good food and decent service, there are countless other restaurants in Eastwood. If you want to feel ignored, disrespected, and mocked for giving feedback — by all means, pull up...

I recently finished my practicum/OJT at My South Hall in Pasay, which is part of The Bistro Group. Watami has been hyped by the chefs there so I tried it with my family. We dined at the Eastwood branch. Though we love dining out, I have never left a review for anything in my life—until now. That's how bad it was. The service was terrible. The food is expensive na nga, so syempre value for money dapat diba? Here are the things we experienced sa branch na 'to:

It took almost an HOUR to complete our order. Gets ko naman na weeded, pero ang tagal bago mapickup yung food sa counter. Idk if they're understaffed or what. The manager didn't even ask aling chicken karaage i-order namin, because we didn't know na may set pala non. We only saw the ala carte and wanted to order it. After 45 long minutes, hinatid niya yung chicken karaage na SET. I confronted her about it and she tried to say pa na my brother (who was right in front of me this entire time) ordered the set. The audacity. SHE DIDN'T CONFIRM ALING KLASE and we didn't know na may set so we automatically assumed na it was ala carte. The same manager mixed the stonepot order without asking/giving us an option to mix it ourselves or let her mix it for us. Eh we like mixing it ourselves. Di pa ako nakaangal, she was mixing it na. I saw that manager mixing another stonepot order sa tabi namin with her hair down and the ends of her hair close sa order. Kami ngang mga server required na magtali at hairnet pag di maikli buhok, what more the manager? She has long hair. Even the bill had to be followed up 🫠 my brother initially requested for it. Ten minutes na at wala parin. Edi pafollow up.

I could go on tbh pero the main point is that the service sucks. Ang mahal mahal ng food tapos...

Food has been as good as I have had at their other locations. The service has not been great here though during my first 3 visits to this Eastwood location. The staff likes to chat amongst themselves rather than tending to the customers. Often times backs are turned towards the dining room and getting someone’s attention has been a chore. A little more training at this new location will go a long way for a better dining experience here in Eastwood.

The other problem for me at this location is not the fault of the restaurant. It’s the TRAIN on the 3rd floor! I understand kids and parents love it, however there needs to be a something done about the bell on the train. There’s no reason the train driver needs to continually ring the bell. Seriously, the mall operators really need to sit up there, observe and make some adjustments on how that train is operating with the bell. It can still be safe with a new bell regimen.

I don’t know anyone who would enjoy dining out while a fire alarm is blaring throughout their...