"We had made a reservation for 15 people at 7 PM to celebrate a friend's birthday. We arrived right on time and were seated immediately. We placed our orders for food and drinks at 7:05 PM, and while we received our drinks by 7:10 PM, we were still waiting for our food. By 7:30 PM, we asked our waiter for an update, and he informed us that our meals would take another 20 minutes.
We noticed that two tables seated after us had already ordered and received their food within 10 minutes. Assuming the delay was due to the size of our party, we decided to wait a little longer. However, by 8:00 PM, we could see that the two tables behind us were almost finished eating while we still hadn't received our meals. At 8:30 PM, with the restaurant set to close soon, I asked the waiter to speak with his manager.
The "manager" came upstairs, and when I told him we were leaving due to the wait, he apologized and said our food was on its way, citing a "glitch" in their system. As I looked over at the tables behind us, I realized they had ordered the same platters as we did, which made me suspect that our food had been mistakenly served to them. We received no apology for the delay, no offer of appetizers while we waited—nothing.
The only reason we stayed was because we had reservations elsewhere and worried we wouldn't have enough time to be seated and served at another restaurant before our next commitment. When the time came to pay, we were not offered any compensation and were required to pay full price for a meal that was mediocre at best. The so-called manager claimed he couldn't authorize any discount or compensation because he was not the actual manager.
To make matters worse, the rice was undercooked, the BBQ was extremely dry and overcooked, and everything tasted as if it had been sitting out for a while. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, especially if you’re planning a large birthday party or gathering. You will experience terrible service, wait an unreasonable amount of time for mediocre food, and still be required to pay full price after waiting an hour and a half for your meal.
I called the restaurant today to express my concerns, but I was told that there was no manager or owner available to speak with me. I plan to call again later to try to reach someone in charge."
Lechon Kawali
