Allan of All Trades

Monday, July 29, 2012 – It was a Sunday night and San and I were too lazy to cook. We were scheming on how we’re gonna eat. She called one of her siblings to ask if they were going out. And they were. Lucky! They were in Trinoma and will eat at Sizzling Pepper Steak. We hurried and caught up with them.

I love food and can proudly say that I’ll eat whatever is in front of me. And I hate to complain about restaurants. But this place was just asking for it. Before I do that, I want to be clear – The place was packed at the time.

Service

The lady who took our order had a frown on her face. It was like she was being forced to be there. She was cold and not friendly at all. She didn’t offer any assistance. When my mother-in-law ordered something that wasn’t available that day, she quickly said so with a loud and cold voice. After 3 more entrees that wasn’t available, we asked her what else can’t be ordered. She suggested one but in the same tone.

Another irritation were the waiters. One feature of this franchise are the exhaust fans directly above the tables. Ours wasn’t working so we asked one waiter to turn it on. About three times we were told that it was, in fact, on. Because of the sizzling plates, food are steaming when they arrive. And we can clearly see that the steam are not being sucked.

Water, which if you’ve read my other posts, is an important factor for me. I see it as one of the bases for my service review. Here, it took about half an hour to get a glass and another half hour to get a refill. There was even one instance where the waiter took my glass and returned it after a few minutes – still empty. Nice!

Ambiance

Tables  are benches and stools. So my back started to hurt even before my food arrived. The place is brightly lit and looked like a venue for families. The place was full so I can’t comment about cleanliness.

Food/Price

Even with my declaration in the second paragraph, food I don’t like are in the HOT category. Both as hot as in more than warm and hot as in spicy. This place fall in the former. The sizzling plate made my food too hot to handle. I still ate it but in a slow and not satisfying way.

I had their chicken pepper rice. No photo. It had about 5 small pieces of chicken, rice, and some veggies. RIP OFF!!! Price: 204 a la carte/ Php 226 with iced tea.

San and one of her sisters had beef pepper rice. Photo is a bit hazy. Rice, veggies, and a good amount of beef. I even had some because it was too much for them.

My mother-in-law ended up with salmon pepper rice valued at Php 366/388, depending on if you want Iced tea. She didn’t say how it tasted but it looked delicious.

My brother-in-law had ham and egg hamburg. It was a burger patty and egg with rice. Price: Php 242.  He ordered two strips of bacon (php 31 EACH) and an extra cup of rice (Php 37).

I’m not sure what the next photo is. I’m assuming it’s the teriyaki hamburg since it’s the only one not accounted for. Price: Php 181.

And lastly, Boss Cake’s spaghetti with meatballs. Price: Php 208. Sorry for the shadow.

I apologize but I can’t -again- tell you if tax and service charge are added to the bill.

Verdict

I don’t think I’ll go back to Sizzling Pepper Steak. It’s bad enough that it’s always full but the service is just not acceptable. The management has to do some QA on that branch. Better yet, the franchise owners NEED to!

Definitely NOT recommended!

What do you think? Too harsh?

Check out my other food review.