Halloween Lunch at Tong Yang

Hubby, the kid, and my bestest, Caru, went to have lunch at Tong Yang after the kid went trick-or-treating in the office. It's my second time there, the first time, when Caru and I celebrated her birthday in advance.

Tong Yang Shabu-Shabu and Barbecue Restaurant offers eat-all-you-can for P399 (all-in), no service charge.  It already includes drink-all-you-can (beer included).  (As if it is possible to eat as much and drink as much in a span of a couple of hours! I'd be immediately dead if I do that) Kids rate is P200.



Soup on the left, grill on the right

Here are my observations:

Smiley Faces:

1. The place looks clean.



The raw section. On the far corner are the cooked dishes.

2. We were welcomed by a friendly receptionist.
3. There was a good variety of choices to cook over the grill.
4. The price was reasonable.
5. The raw food are fresh.



The fresh seafoods available for grillin'.
I didn't take photos of three more sides of the area.



6. There are different fresh green leafy vegetables available.
7. Love the soup (Chicken Satay, which is Spicy, and Sinigang)



One gets two choose two kinds of soups out of three choices:
Chicken Satay, Nilaga, and Sinigang



During our first visit, we chose Chicken Satay Soup
and Bulalo/Nilaga

8. Their coffee is good!! And you brew it yourself! Love their coffee/espresso maker - high tech for my taste!
9. Drinks include four seasons, pineapple, mango, coffee, tea, beer.
10. Ice cream choices are chocolate, melon and strawberry.
11. There were cake slices (saw the box where the cakes where taken out from, they're from Goldilocks).
12. The beef strips are gooooood! (They can be added to the soup, or grilled)

Fruits and Desserts Section

12. No Service Charge!
13. The crew replaced our griller after cooking our first batch of food since it's coated with burnt food already.

Smokin' Hot!

Sad faces:

1. The servers were not friendly in the two times I've been there (except the guy who gave us soups at the start, and who would help us with the grill).  I asked one server near the beef strips section (near the ice cream) for help to scoop the ice cream since it was too frozen, and he just gave me a cup for the ice cream. And he immediately turned his back on me. When I asked the guy in the beef strips section where I can get beef, he got something from one of the counters and gave me a plate of beef strips - without even acknowledging my question. Seemed a bit rude no?

 

2. The ice creams are rock-hard, literally! I could only get about a tablespoon of ice cream, total because it was THAT hard! And even if I asked for help from the servers, the guys did not even acknolwedge me. I don't know, I asked two guys if there were any ice cream that weren't too frozen it and both didn't seem to hear me.

 

3. They only bring out several shrimps for grilling. Considering that I went there for the shrimps, I was disappointed.  You would have to wait many many many minutes (about 15 minutes) before they refill it. And since only few are brought out, you cannot really grab as much as you can as there are still others who would want to have shrimps too.  I asked a server to refill the shrimp platter and he also didn't seem to hear me. Maybe working there can cause deafness.

 

4. During my second visit, there were fewer cooked food available. About five dishes only, I guess.

 

5. There was no plain rice. The little boy didn't like the Yang Chow Fried Rice, so we asked if there was plain rice. The server said there was, but it was inside. (What??? They don't display it?) Anyways, he got a cup of rice for my little one.

6. Very few fruit selections. Though I loved the rambutan.


I give it three smiley faces. I would have been satisfied with the grilling choices, but because in the two times I've been there, they seem to scrimp on the shrimps, then I gave them a lower rating than what I would have given them which should have been four smiley faces.  Also, I don't enjoy having an eat-all-you-can feast with unfriendly servers. It sort of pops the fun in it.

Will I come back? Maybe. Only if Caru convinces me.

Pahabol:  (Tongue twister again. Say ten times as fast as you can: scrimp on the shrimps, scrimps on the shrimps, scrimp on the shrimps, scrimp on the shrimps...)