Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Uncertain of Yang Chow


We certainly have mixed feelings about this.


Yang Chow.  Similar to this popular Chinese-style wok fried rice dish, I am still uncertain how to put this review of Yang Chow - Dimsum & Teahouse in Marcos HighwayUso naman ang halo-halo ngayon so better serve it as it is.


The venue is quite spacious, perfect for families and large groups.  A round table can comfortably sit  8 people and it also offers a 44-seater private room that can be divided into 2.



But YOU CAN'T MOVE THE TABLES.  As a policy, furniture cannot be re-arranged.

It has been a month since this incident happened but I'm still trying to calm myself while writing this.  (Kalma lang, sabi nga ni Maya)  The restaurant was virtually empty when we arrived around 4 in the afternoon and our group of 40+ sat in the middle of the main restaurant.  The function rooms' air conditioning were close and no servers assisted us where to sit so we just settled in the main dining hall.  Before I go any further, let me retrace a bit to give you a background why we went there - we just came from our Lolo's burial.


My brother swears on the food.  It really is good.  But to tell you frankly, I lost interest all together when they poorly accommodated us.  Since we just went from a very delicate and emotional event that day, everybody wanted to be together or at least sit closely.  We solicited the help of the servers to assist us on adding some tables but they were unable to do so as per their manager.  Seeing my family's dilemma, I went straight to the manager and asked his help.  "Boss, pa-assist naman please."  He said the owners doesn't want to move the tables.  We can sit wherever we want but we cannot move the tables.  He even pointed the CCTV cameras, and warned us that the owners are watching and they will know if we move the tables.  Wow.

We understand that we can't rearrange the furniture but all we were asking was a solution (and a professional response).  They tried to transfer us to the private room after a long discussion with the assistant manager, whom they pointed as the one in-charge since the manager conveniently took a break after talking to me, but the food were already being served.  And besides, after a very long and tiring week both physically & emotionally, my family did not have the energy for this.  Since the assistant manager handled us politely and we know she was just caught up in the middle of this fiasco with her boss, we decided to eat our food calmly and leave without giving a tip.  Still, for a group of 40+, we paid good money for that.

Our family has been accustomed eating in a Chinese restaurant especially on special occasions.  And have never experienced a Chinese restaurant (even on the eve of Chinese New Year) to be so unaccommodating such as this. 

On a positive note, thanks to my Tito and Tita's kakulitan, the mood was alleviated.  We tried to joked about the whole ordeal - "kalma lang" & "so grrr" were the favorite expressions that after that. 

Tin

P.S. To the owners of Yang Chow, please look into your policies and train your people (especially the leaders) for the sake of your business.  They carry your brand and your reputation.



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6 comments:

  1. We have a long way towards good customer service. I agree with you about Yang Chow's rigidity. We ate at Yang Chow Centris Walk. We just came from the Sunday Market there and were really hungry. They didn't want us to bring in our purchases from the Sunday Market. As if we went in there to eat what we bought at the market. Alangan naman iwan namin at the door yung mga pinamili. Arrrgh!

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  2. It is very interesting that a restaurant will not allow rearrangement of the furnitures. It seems they are not willing to have many customers and limit them to the tables that they have set.
    I agree the delicious food will lose the taste if service is poor. I do hope they look into your observations...

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  3. This is the first time I have heard of such policy. Even hotels would grant request like that.

    xoxo
    MrsMartinez

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  4. What a lame excuse I bet the staff was untrained. I hope they read this.

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  5. I've never heard of a restaurant who does not want to move their tables, so probably this is the first one. Haha. The place looks cozy and the food looks yummy, though. :)

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  6. Interesting. We dined at the Eton Centris branch awhile back pero dalawa lang kami. At the time okay naman yung service, not excellent. But the food was good.

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Thank you for sharing your "Ohh, that!" thought/s. :)