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Why are restaurants in the Philippines such a ripoff?!Moderators: fschmidt, jamesbond Terrence, is that you? Did you announce your screen name change in the Introduce Yourself board? If not, do you want me to?
Nice new screen name. Sounds very bold and daring. lol Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World Check this out. I posted the same rant about ripoff restaurants in the Philippines in PinoyExchange, the largest Filipino forum in the world, and surprisingly, no one was offended by it. In fact, the posters agreed with me! Look!
http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/sho ... p?t=516681 Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
RestaurantsFirst of all Winston why are you going to American chain restaurants in the Philippines? I agree most of the chains do suck, but they suck in the US too. I have had mostly (about 90%) good luck with filling my gut in the Philippines. First of all my Filipina girlfriend can cook better than anyone I have ever known. We go to the market (where the fish are still alive when you buy them) and spend less than 1000 P and eat like royalty for several days. I have had only the finest food served at my table when I am there. I have an apartment in Laoag City now but am there only part time as I am still working in the US. I get over there about every 3 to 4 months now and stay for about a month each time. We have eaten out locally several times and I agree the chains that started in America are pretty disappointing there for various reasons. We ate at an Australian originated chain coffee shop( I think its called Mocha Stop) and had delicious food there. There was a Tuna sandwich that was to die for. We ate in Tuguegarao in April and instead of going to Chow King (which I hate) we had the Trike driver take us down the street to a local mom and pop place. By the way the mom and pop stands/carts are all over the place in Laoag City. We had more than I could possibly eat at the mom and pop place for well under 500P and it was all tasty. I try to make sure (but who really knows) of the meat that is actually being served. I guess you take a chance on that in the Phils. I would like to think I am not eating someone's dog. But that is another subject and pet (pun intended) peeve of mine via personal experience in the Phils. I will bring that back up in another discussion. I am guessing that things are a little different in Manila as opposed to living out in the sticks like Laoag City. I have eaten at a couple of places in the SM Mall of Asia and had good experiences there too. I got taken out to eat by a client when I was in Manila to a great Filipino restaurant. Everything I tasted there was wonderful. A little pricey but that is the kind of restaurant it was. (still cheap compared to an equivalent restaurant in the US) It was at Madre Ignacia and San Andres street in Malate. So other than the chain restaurants sucking there (like they do in the US), I have had rather good experiences eating when in the Philippines. I just stay away from the chain restaurants there and in the US. As far as other prices there, I still find most things you need to live are far cheaper than the US. Yes cars are about the same, motorcycles are cheaper, electronics are cheaper elsewhere, but isn't that the way it is all over the world. When I was in Moscow several years ago I was shocked to see what they were getting for a bath towel or for a meal for that matter. I was amazed to find out what some ExPats are paying to live in Manila. You might as well live in New York City, but some of them are getting pretty nice "Ex Pat" packages to live there too. Other Ex Pats are living on their retirement from the US and living quite comfortably out in the sticks somewhere in the Phils. So I guess its all about choice as to how you spend your money there as well as anywhere you live.
Robincolorado,
I'm not talking about American chains. I'm talking about Filipino chains. Some Filipino chains copy the names of American chains to try to piggyback off their fame too. Can you separate your posts with paragraphs? It's hard to to read. Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
Best Ways to Respond- BOYCOTT or Open Restaurant to CompeteNamaste from Nepal! Best Ways to Respond to such annoyances- BOYCOTT or Open Restaurant to Compete
![]() Life is Short! Traveling and the people you meet and experiences you have "on the road" will enhance your life forever so GO FOR IT! Feel FREE to ask me Questions about living and traveling in Asia & the Philippines.
Here you go Terrence. Olive Garden's $9 special with all you can eat pasta, salad/soup, and breadsticks. See below. http://www.olivegarden.com/Menu/Specials/ ![]() Here is the Pizza Hut menu. You can get a lot of things for $7.95. I think it used to be less. http://www.pizzahutmhat.com/menu/lunch.html Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World Bad Reviews of Filipino Restaurant ChainsCheck out these bad reviews I wrote of several Filipino restaurant chains. They are anything but complimentary. But I've included photos and examples to back up my points. Anyone who is often disappointed with Filipino restaurant chains will love how truthful these reviews are. lol
Chow King Sucks - The WORST fast food chain in the world! viewtopic.php?t=11210 Shakeys Sucks - bland food, small portions, high prices! viewtopic.php?t=11209 Italiannis Sucks - Ripoff, Overpiced, Bland vs. Olive Garden viewtopic.php?t=11207 Margarita Station Sucks - Gloomy, Shoddy Food, Overpriced (expat hangout in Angeles City) viewtopic.php?t=11004 Basically, the typical Filipino restaurant chain consists of the following characteristics - greedy high prices, bland food, small portions, stupid staff who can't do anything but bring food and take money, and no improvement in any of that. Basically, stupidity and disappointment abound in Filipino restaurant chains. What I was told on PinoyExchange Forums is that the reason why Filipinos do not care about taste and quality in food is because they are primarily concerned with NOT being hungry, so they will enjoy any cheap food with no nutrition, such as instant canton, as long as it fills them up and keeps them from being hungry. That's why they don't care about taste, quality or nutrition. Pretty sad isn't it? Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World Here is a vegetarian chain in the food courts of many malls in Manila. One of them is called "Bodhi" and the other is "Evergreen". Here is a pic of Evergreen.
You can see the cheap prices for combo meals posted above. Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
When you order an entree at Olive Garden, you also get unlimited soup on the side, and you can switch to a different soup at any time. Olive Garden restaurants near university campus also tend to hire pretty college girls as waitresses. One method of getting #'s is to chat them up about school -> work -> pay/salary -> ask if she wants a better paying job elsewhere, then exchange contact info so she can call you and send her resume to you. She comes to you, not the other way around. Make sure you have good contacts with employment agencies and hiring managers ;p Look at restaurants. Korean restaurants give you 8 free appetizers before your meal. Chinese restaurants give you free unlimited tea, and fruit for your dessert. Japanese restaurants give you free unlimited green tea and sometimes free miso soup too. Mexican restaurants give you free unlimited chips and salsa. American fancy restaurants give you free bread. But Filipino owned restaurants give you NOTHING for free, NOTHING complimentary! What does that tell you?
Last edited by Winston on November 30th, 2011, 8:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
Check out my fun video clips in Russia and video series Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind and Full Russia Trip Videos!
See my HA Ebook and Join Our Dating Sites to support us! "It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
The reason service is so bad is because usually the owners have some sort of monopoly over the industry. This is especially true in SE Asia when you start tracing the franchises and realize it's the same 5 corrupt families which own everything. They don't care about service because it doesn't effect their business that much. The second reason is the consumer is pig ignorant and lacks taste.
The difference in Thailand is that they are actually kind of finicky about food and I think that is why many Thai restaurant chains are actually decent. For example there's this one hot pot/suki place in Thailand called MK. They have fantastic duck. At least on par with some above average Chinese restaurants in the U.S. Not bad for a general chain. I really do think Filipinos have the worst food culture in Asia. This is why they will eat swill..they just aren't raised on anything better. What it tells you is this: the Philippines is a country
badly in need of adult supervision...LOL One of the reasons it is cheap for a lot of things- it is a chaotic third world circus run by robber barons. It is also a place you can find your niche, keep a low profile, and enjoy things as well... Outwest
I decided to google search "Philippines is a rip off", and I can not believe the first post game up was from Winston himself. I can not believe it because it was his recommendation why I decided to go to the Philippines.
The food is such a rip off it was the worst part of my trip. It is such bad quality etc. I am in Bangkok right now and the food is $1.00 for a sit down meal, even food courts in the malls are around a $1.00 for a good meal. You get so much better value, yet Bangkok is probably a more expensive city and the people make alot more money. Winston, I also noticed the same as you. How do the locals afford to buy all that cheap garbage and why do they put up with it. All these restaurants are loaded with locals. I can not even afford it how the heck do they do it? And the local food? yuck, the only thing that I can eat was plain rice, and basically plain chicken. All the rest of the food was disgusting. I am talking eggs where the chick is partly hatched, pig face, liver, basically all the most disgusting crap you would never want to touch. I can not say enough about the ridiculous small portions. The only place that had OK portions was mcdonalds big mac meal. Jollibee was a rip off, based on the portion sizes, and it was always packed with people. How are there so many fat Filipinos when the food portions are so tiny I wonder. I'm a skinny guy and I lost lots of weight there. Here is a recent post I made in another forum about my stay in Angeles and the food: Title: Crap, Overpriced, Low Selection Of Food Ruined My Trip And Was Driving Me Insane.
No way!Gosh guys I'm shocked - a thread dedicated to "Filipino food" that only talks about how good franchises that offer non-Filipino cuisine (and experiences thereof) are bad quality and a ripoff!!
I have only been to Davao and maybe that's an eating paradise compared to Manila or Cebu, that I'll never know, but in 2 weeks there I could find plenty of shops where you could eat genuine and delicious Filipino food at prices accessible to everyone, I mean less than 300 PHP!! Dudes, how can you go on about Filipino food and never mention chicken/pork adobo and BBQ, liempo, kinilaw, tuna belly, bangus, grilled fish, those great seafood chowders (I forgot their names), even curry etc. You must have a very skewed idea of the food in the Philippines, to say the least! ![]() Have you ever eaten at http://penongs.com.ph/ - you can literally stuff your face with high quality grilled seafood, chicken and pork for less than 350 pesos! Or if you want to go a bit upmarket there's also restaurants like Antonio's Grill who cook a great mix of Filipino and international dishes for a price that's never less than 500 pesos per person. I have been to Italianni's in Abreeza mall - yes it's a very upmarket restaurant and overpriced, but the food isn't that bad at all. And having London prices in mind, spending £15 for two antipastis, one very decent stone-baked pizza, two beers and coffee is still at least 50% of what I would have paid in a comparable quality establishment here.
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