A REVIEW: KALDEROHAN SA PINO IN LAHUG & 7-ELEVEN BRANCH IN GUADALUPE, CEBU

Thanks to the 500 peso GC I won over at Y101 FM, we ate at Kalderohan sa Pino for free! ;-)

We know of Pino Restaurant as a catering to the middle and upper class market but they've decided to open a whole new market and now serve our fave Cebuano street foods like balbacua, tinolang Bisaya nga manok, dinuguan and the likes at affordable prices.

The three of us (Itoy, me and Izel) ate there last Sunday night after attending mass at St. Therese Church in Lahug and here is my review...

1. The food was good. The balbacua was yummy - unlike those served in the usual "kilid-kilid" eateries, their balbacua had a lot of ingredients and even had peanuts. Their chicken barbeque and pork belly was also good. I ate two and a half servings of rice! ;-)

2. The dining staff wasn't great. They weren't very enthusiastic and seemed sluggish and sleepy. The "kilid-kilid" eateries staff were definitely more lively and accommodating. On the bright side, the security guard was very friendly and helpful though.

3. The restroom wasn't clean and was reminiscent of CRs in inexpensive beaches, only slightly bigger and with more water.

4. The prices of the food was ok except for the drinks. Their prices range from 8-10 pesos for the barbecue, 75 pesos for the pork belly, 65 or 69 pesos for the balbacua, 10 pesos for the rice and the most expensive entree is the bisayang tinolang manok at 110 pesos. The drinks were a bit pricey and a glass of iced tea costs 40 pesos each and was not bottomless.

5. The ambience was ok and there was a big walking/running area for our little boy Izel. (This is both an advantage and a disadvantage though because he just would not sit down and would always roam and run around.)

Overall, I would give the place a rating of 3.5 out of 5 mainly because of the food and the ambience. We also brought a serving of balbacua home with us and even after a day of refrigeration, it still retained its taste after re-heating so plus points indeed!

I think the staff need training on customer service though so they can satisfy customers and attract new ones. While we ate, a Korean couple checked out the place but unfortunately did not dine there. (Possibly due to the lack of enthusiasm from the dining staff? According to Itoy, the lady was the one who apparently wanted to eat but the man was the one who was hesitant. I guess the dining staff just didn't do a good job at convincing them.)

----

Yesterday, Wednesday, Itoy and I decided to do a leisurely walk from our house in Kalunasan to Gaisano Pavilion in Banawa and stopped over at 7-Eleven to grab a Slurpee...and a review was begging to be made:

1. Unlike other branches, this one seemed a little unkempt. The outdoor tables and chairs were untidy and looked like no one was keeping them clean. (Probably because there was ongoing road construction and there was dust everywhere?? Possible, but I wouldn't attribute it all to that though because other stores seemed to look fine.)

2. There was a service crew moping the floor but there was no signage warning customers that the floor was wet and slippery.

3. The lady in the counter was lousy, sounded irritated when she took our order and held the Slurpee cup in such a way that her finger was inside the cup. (Correct me if I am wrong but don't food servers in chain stores and restaurants get hygiene and sanitation training before actually working in the store?)

I would give this store a negative 1 out of 5. I have always been a fan of 7-Eleven from their Slurpee to their Fundae Cone and the professionalism of their service crews but this branch totally dropped the ball. If I ever have another craving for slurpee or fundae cone again, I am going to another branch instead of this one so I am assured of a better experience.


nmed 04/10/14 @ 2:08pm