Last Saturday, R and I ate at Omakase in Ayala Triangle after his work. We both loved Omakase since the day we first tried it—I had R try it out about a year ago when I brought him to dinner with my high school friends. Love at first bite, definitely!

From the moment we had our name on the waiting list, we both tried our best to keep our composure because the hostess wasn’t smiling at all and seemed quite unapproachable. I’m sure they’re all stressed about the number of people they are trying to accommodate, but at least make sure that you seem approachable. After all, if you aren’t, you won’t have any customers.

Then when we got our order, we noticed the serving size of the Spicy Tuna Salad was smaller than usual—and it didn’t look like it was done in purpose though because the American Dream and California Crunch still looked the same. As we got into eating the Spicy Tuna Salad, we found it rather oilier than usual. The thing was literally like a soup! Of course we didn’t find that out until we reached the bottom, eating at least ¼ of it. So we asked if we could have it changed/replaced, and this female server had the nerve to tell us, “Sir, dapat kanina niyo pa po sinabi.” {Sir, you should have said something earlier.} Keeping my composure, I just said inside my head, “Eh hindi naman namin hinuhukay muna yung ilalim bago namin kainin diba.” {But we don’t dig through the food first before eating, you know?} She said she’ll report the concern {without even smiling or apologizing}, but we never heard back from her. We had to report it again to a different personnel, who was more accommodating and was able to replace our dish.

I’m sorry for ranting about it, but I would just like to receive the quality service that we are paying for. If you’re an employee and you know that it’s peak season, you should already know that you have to prepare yourself for the busy hours ahead. Especially in the food/restaurant industry, you represent the name of the restaurant to thousands of people each day. You don’t know which ones are only trying the place for the first time and which ones are regulars. Especially for the new customers, their first time experience will dictate their decision whether to go back and recommend the place to their friends, and say no and share their bad experience.

Good thing I am a regular and I understand that that might have just been a bad night for everyone. I still love Omakase and would still recommend it to my friends. Hopefully, the next time we return, there won’t be any more problems.