Why Ramboy's Lechonan and Restaurant Lost a Customer...

Don't get me wrong. The food remains of top quality. The waiters and servers were nice and happy to be of service. They always served us with a smile... 

Yet, there will always be that employee whose soft skills is--to say the least--missing in action. Frankly, some people in the food industry will always require extensive people-skills training.

Lack of Extended Courtesty CAN Ruin a Good Meal Experience 

That's why I will never eat a Ramboy's Riverside Boardwalk again. Honestly, it shouldn't be a big deal. After all, my overall eating experience was nothing short of satisfactory. Still, I can't get it through my head that Mary Grace not only lied to me, but she just stole away the lingering taste of what should have been a good, memorable meal with my mom. 

Got tired of adding the embedded map. Here's a picture instead.

My mom offered to pay for dinner. She had two five hundred peso bills. I told her we'd split the bill instead (hoping to pay for the entire meal with my credit card). Still, she reasoned out that we needed the change for taxi fare. So, to accommodate her request, I asked the waiter if they could replace our 500 peso bill with 100 peso bills. He went back to the cashier and relayed our request. 

A few seconds later, he came back apologizing, saying, "Ma'am, sorry. Wala." So, I told him, "So, kung mabayad kami sang 1000, wala kamo change?" (So, if we pay you with 1000, you won't have change for it?") With a smile, he went back to her and made a second attempt to Ms. Grace who acted mataray (I think the correct English term that fit that same description would be "bitchy"). Annoyed that she was asked a second time (apparent through her hand gestures and an unforgettable frown on her face), she answered, "Wala gani." 

In short, she would never allow this request. We paid in cash, by the way. And we got the exact change. No hundreds went missing in the making of this post.

Meal for two. Two main dishes, one fried rice, one leche flan, a can of Mountain Dew and a can of Del Monte's pineapple juice. Price is steep. Affordable nonetheless.

I'm not sure if it's the sight of her being annoyed by such request (We were seated near the cashier, and I saw how the entire conversation between them transpired.) or the way she told the guy "wala" in a high-pitched, irritated tone or the way she lied (saying "wala" which means "none" rather than "indi pwede" which means "we can't"), but this really struck a nerve.

Rather than make a scene, I just asked for a name. When he returned with her first name, I asked him if she didn't have a surname. He went back to her again, and she finally peered through the glass display to where we were. I gladly smiled. She wrote it down and passed the piece of paper to him.

Miss Mary Grace Arcenio, smile! You're now Google-searchable.

A good restaurant meal always comes along with two things: good food and good service. If one is lacking, then the experience isn't worth revisiting. 

No matter how great Ramboy's ox tongue, fried rice, and kinilaw na tanguige was, it's a shame that I would never come back to their Boardwalk branch. 

Ramboy's is located at the Riverside Boardwalk,