HUGE serving. CHEAP prices.

Who wouldn’t want to eat on some restaurant that serves big portions for cheap prices? That may sound hard to find nowadays but CASA VERDE in UP Town center is a restaurant just like that.

Of all the times I went to UP Town I have never seen Casa Verde without a bunch of people waiting outside. There is always a long queue who patiently waits to be seated no matter what time of the day it is. I have never been a fan of waiting in line for food, but seeing all the crave outside Casa Verde, one day my family and I decided to eat there just to see what the hype was all about and because my Dad already tried it in Cebu and he told us that their food was good and even in Cebu there is always a long line.

Photo grabbed from Google Images

Here’s how my experience went…

INFORMATION & HOSPITALITY

Upon arriving it is no surprise that there is already a long line of people waiting outside. We proceeded to the personnel in charge of having customers seated and we were informed that we were #17 in line! Imagine having to wait outside the hot weather with no waiting area or seating for those in line. Nonetheless, we still decide to wait it out and they handed out their menu so that we can already decide what we want, so when we are already seated inside we can order faster.

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

CONSULATATION & HOSPITALITY

After waiting for a good one hour to be seated, we were glad that their servers were very accommodating. They informed us of their bestsellers and their must try’s.

ORDER TAKING

They were very quick in their order taking and delivery of food, which kind of made up for all the waiting to be seated outside. They even offered sample tastes for their two types of iced tea so we can decide what we want. We ordered the Brian’s bucket of ribs, roasted seasoned chicken, bacon and cheese potato skins, and their vanilla milkshake. Unfortunately we didn’t try their biggest chocolate milkshake because it kind of looks hard to drink and share.

Photo grabbed from their Facebook page

Roasted Seasoned Chicken (Photo grabbed from Google)

SAFEKEEPING

For me, the safekeeping part is on behalf of the food. They made sure that the delivery of food and the handling is safe and done properly. Another safekeeping is when customers wanted to have the food wrapped up, they need to make sure that it is properly wrapped so as not to spill anything.

EXCEPTIONS

They provided exceptions by handling customer requests such as not wanting to be seated outside, wanting to be seated in the corner booth, they want a long table etc etc.

BILLING AND PAYMENT

When asking for the bill, they were very quick in giving it and they were also quick in returning the change which saves a lot of wasted time from waiting.

All in all my experience in the restaurant was good their food was delicious and big and the fast service is good, except for the waiting in line to be seated. I suggest they think of ways to lessen customer waiting or they provide waiting areas so as not to bore their customers and leave. I would give this restaurant a rating of 4 stars and I would definitely be back, if I have a lot of time to spare, and I would also recommend it to other people. It's a good place to hang out with family or even catch up with friends. Their food offerings are good for kids, teens, adults etc. 

“It’s going to be LEGEN…wait for it… DARY!”

As most of the people know the famous lines “Suit up!”, “Challenge Accepted!”, and as what is stated in the title “It’s going to be LEGEN...wait for it…DARY!” are all lines originally spoken by Barney Stinson, a wealthy playboy, from the famous sitcom How I Met Your Mother or commonly called HIMYM. HIMYM is a series that follows the life of Ted Mosby and his gang (‘barkada’) as he recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meeting their mother, most of which happened in their famous hang out place called ‘McLaren’s Pub’. The series originally ran from September 2005 to March 2014 with a total of 9 seasons and 208 episodes all in all.

The HIMYM Gang 

I have been hooked on this series ever since and when I found out that there is a place in Wilson St., Greenhills called McLaren’s Pub which somehow depicts the same pub that the HIMYM gang hangs out in, imagine the shock and happiness that I felt and I immediately wanted to go to the place and see for myself how similar it is to the series.

PREPURCHASE STAGE & SERVICE ENCOUNTER STAGE

Before I finally decided to ask my friends, who are all avid fans of the series too, to go with me to McLaren’s, I first evaluated the risks that go along with it especially since the place is mostly kind of a bar. I searched different reviews and ratings by people who have been to McLaren’s  and when I saw that most of it was a good rating I got more excited and finally decided to try it for myself.

Upon arriving at the place the staffs were very accommodating and they immediately have us seated in our designated booth. The service personnel all have their own roles and scripts to follow, like there is someone who is designated to greet you at the door and lead you to your seat and there is a different personnel assigned to take your order etc., which helped in making sure that everything ran smoothly. We ordered the marsala thick cut pork chops and the mac and cheese truffles as our appetizer. The restaurant being a high contact service was expected that their personnel would be very attentive and courteous to their customers, as they all were which made the stay more comfortable and fun. The design of the interior of the place somehow resembles the series, but not so much as I expected.  They could have added more HIMYM references so that there would be more HIMYM feels to the place. They mostly incorporated the series references on their drink offerings. But nonetheless, everything about the place and the service is within my zone of tolerance, so I was not 100% disappointed. 

The Interior of the place (Photo grabbed from Google)

Photo Grabbed from Google

Marsala Thick Cut Porkchop (Photo grabbed from their Facebook page)

Mac & Cheese Truffles (Photo grabbed from their facebook page)

POST PURCHASE STAGE 

All in all I was satisfied with the service that they have based on the satisfaction judgment ‘confirmation’ because the service that I experienced were same as expected which is good, although not all were met. There is also some level of arousal and positive affect which will be my driving force to go back to the place for the second time around and even share my experience with other people.

Sweet Cravings!

In and around Manila, you often hear about rising buffets and eat-all-you can restaurants but how many times have you heard of a buffet place where they specialize in desserts? Do you ever just have one of those days when all you want to eat is sweets and nothing more? If you ever had have one of those days or is experiencing it right now, well Gillian Gail: Dessert buffet in Oracle building, Katipunan is the perfect place for you.

Photo grabbed from Google Images

Gillian Gail is a mini café where their main food offerings are desserts, unlimited desserts, and of all the kinds, like cakes, cheesecake shots, ice creams, cupcakes, brownies, candies etc. I first found out about Gillian Gail: Dessert buffet through facebook advertisements and various blogs being posted on the internet. Seeing the rave and craze that it was receiving in blogs and ratings, it finally caught my attention and made me curious about the place since I myself is a sucker for anything sweet.

Upon arriving at the place, you can already feel the coziness and intimate setting that it has to it, it also exemplifies a feminine and fancy feel to it. The place is a cute little café, with couches and comfortable transparent plastic seats to match and add depth and variety to the design of the place. You would think that based on the name of the café, Gillian Gale: Dessert buffet, they would only be having desserts and nothing more, but think again; they also serve rice meals of different kinds at additional costs. Their purely dessert buffet cost 299 pesos with unlimited coffee or tea, or if you don’t like either of the two you can always exchange it for a glass of iced tea. Their dessert buffet with rice topping of your choice, either salmon or chicken cost about 399, but if you want to try their signature chicken dishes you only need to add 100 pesos more, 499. The maximum number of hours that you can stay in the café to chill and feed yourself with their desserts or rice meals is 3 hours.

Photo grabbed from Google Images

My friends and I opted for the dessert buffet only because we felt like we won’t be able to take advantage of all the desserts, if we eat rice first and get full. Being the first timers that we were, we don’t really know what to do first, but gladly their servers and staffs were so accommodating and they oriented us with their different food offerings. The servers had smiles on their face and a friendly feel to them, which helped made the stay easy, cozy, and comfortable. They were all attentive of our needs and they always made sure that their buffet table is never out of food. They even informed us of their other offerings which are not explicitly shown on the buffet table or on their menu like crepes and their modern take on palitaw.

Buffet Table (Photo grabbed from Google Images)

I highly recommend that you try all their desserts and/or you take one from each kind, especially their torched creme brulee, braso de mercedes, crepe and most of all their fried palitaw, since they are all so good and they are served bite sizes so one dessert will not make you feel full and you will still have place for other desserts.

Chocolate and Mango Crepe

Torched Creme Brulee

Gillian Gail's Modern take on palitaw: Fried Palitaw (Photo grabbed from Google)

Braso De Mercedes (Photo grabbed from Google)

Overall the service of the café is of satisfactory because we got the service that our money was worth. The only problem that I could think of with the café, is that when you order something from their kitchen, like the fried palitaw or crepe or if you have your crème brulee torched, it takes a long time to be delivered out. Other than that, we had a good time and I will definitely recommend it to my other friends and I will surely come back the second time around.