Hot Palayok Restaurant & Grill Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

Great example of expectation vs reality. Everything looks great in the photos but in reality, the whole experience was just disappointing.

Food: We came here at lunch time and the dishes lacked variety. They didn’t have sinigang, bihon, bbq, sisig, afritada or even adobo. They served kare-kare, binagoongan (same meat as kare-kare) and ginataang manok (all similar dishes with thick sauces). Shrimp dish was overcooked and tasteless. Fried chicken was dry. They were only serving one type of sushi and it was dry, picked through and wasn’t refilled. The desserts were okay and it was slow for them to refill the cake. There was no halo-halo. Drinks are not free, not even water.

Ambiance: The restaurant is huge but the floors were so sticky it was hard to walk, half the tables were dirty and it took the servers a long time to bus the tables.

Service: Service was sad and it was clear that the waiters and the manager didn’t get along. The manager was the one who seated us so it looked promising, but that was the only interaction we received from him. He was just milling about the place reprimanding the waiters infront of everyone about how the drinks are not refilled. True enough, no one approached us for drinks and I had to hunt someone down to get some iced tea. It was supposed to be bottomless, but it was only refilled once the entire time we were there. I had to ask another waiter for water and was also informed that it was for a charge. I went to the front to pay (our bill wasn’t given to us at the table) and the hostess was on her phone chatting. I stood there for 10 minutes with another family also waiting to pay their bill. Finally she hung up and assisted us because another family came in and needed to be seated.

Overall, we had high hopes coming to this buffet as the pictures showed a lot of dishes including grilled bbq and the ambiance seemed nice. It seems like the management is falling short in all aspects because the whole experience was plain terrible. There are better hole in the wall filipino buffets in the same area that have better...

We arrived at 5:30 PM, thinking it was still too early for dinner, so we made a reservation for 3 adults and 2 kids and decided to come back in an hour or two. When we returned at 7:15 PM, there were plenty of seats available, but none for a group of 5. The table arrangements were either for 4 or 8 people. The hostess was friendly and offered us a seat on the right side of the restaurant. My husband politely asked if we could sit on the other side, which was empty, rather than next to an occupied table since we had kids. She agreed and said it was no problem.

However, the male manager intervened, saying in an irritated tone, “Paano pag dumating…” (what if someone arrives?). I didn’t catch the hostess’s full reply, but it was something like there were other seats available in Tagalog. When I looked at the manager, he just stared at me without saying a word—no explanation, no courtesy. His attitude was far from professional. My husband decided to pay immediately after dinner and we left, and we didn’t even get a simple thank you from him though he was at the hostess’ desk when we left. It felt like we were being treated as if we owed them for being there.

This was our first time at their Dubai branch, and it will definitely be the last. The Abu Dhabi branch is far better in every aspect. I sincerely hope higher management and the owner look into this matter because the staff’s attitude—especially the manager’s—is ruining the dining experience. The manager should be the one addressing guest concerns, not...

Last night, around 8pm, we called in to reserve for 10 persons. We asked them for closing time and they answered 10:45pm. We have informed the staff that we will arrive at 9pm. Unfortunately, since Karama area has horrible traffic during friday night, we arrived at past 9pm. We were welcomed warmly by the staffs there. What was disappointing was the food. We came there for the food and we were really disappointed. Some food has small portions available(mind you, this is a buffet dinner). So one of us asked if the food supply will be replenished. The staff asked back "which one do you like and good for how many people...? We will serve it directly to your table." I was silent and appalled by this response as I was expecting buffet with decent food available. We were eating like left overs.This is highly unacceptable. One of us brought this to the attention of the manager and the manager tried to explain that we came in late or near the closing time thats why this happened. I understand, however it doesnt make any sense because we went there for the buffet dinner plus we have called in early to reserve and notify them that there's 10 of us coming in. We went there for dinner buffet not dinner thats being ordered and served directly to our table. The time of the day affects the quality and quantity of food being served?!?!?! Its a big NO. It shouldnt be like that. We really liked Hot Palayok before, and this dining experience is something that we do not wish to...