Our Place - A Dining Experience

[John B 325]

I DID NOT say I would not patronize Our Place Again.

I DID NOT say my GF would not patronize Our Place Again.

I DID NOT say I would not eat at Our Place again.

 

I DID say that I doubt my GF would eat there again. Though if she did I am pretty sure the Adobo Plate will not be up for consideration.

 

My GF has NO problem with me doing what I want to do.

As I do not try to run her life either.

 

I reported a good and a bad dining experience. No one castigated me for reporting the satisfactory experience .

[tiger31 359]

well change of eaterie for a moment ,I asked a friend where I can eat some western style food because I dont know my way around yet so he sent me to bananna moon .so off I went with my g f in tow .went inside sat down looked at the menu and thought very nice looked at my g f and her face looked like thunder im thinkin whats up with her ,I asked her why she was looking unhappy she replied I dont like it here .so I never got to taste the food and we left and went home . she then went into the biggest tampo ever ,can someone enlighten me am I missin something here I only wanted something to eat !!! am I likely to get the same reaction If I take her to our place

[shadow 18,483]

Having heard a lot about the food, we decided to eat at Our Place last Sunday, Sep. 11th. I ordered the Fish and Chips and my GF ordered the Adobo Combo Plate, Chicken and Pork.

My fish & chips were excellant. Cooked to perfection.

Both means were served at the same time. Something that rarely happens here in even the most expensive restaurants.

My GF seemed to dabble with her meal and finally I ask why and she said she was full. I did not believe this.

Arriving home I ask her what was wrong. She said the taste was good but the 2 chicken pieces were one part of a neck and a small piece of back. The 4 pieces of pork were 80% fat. Said something about what she would feed a dog. End of that conversation.

Now I am apologizing and will take her to dinner somewhere else. For her, that will never be Our Place again.

 

 

Adobo in restaurants is often bone and fat, that's what Filipinos in general like.

 

Larry in Dumaguete

[Headshot 29,393]

John, it's OK. I was in quality assurance for a long time, and you only did what MOST Americans would do. All this talk about going to the management...hooey. Americans don't do that. If they are dissatisfied, they stop using the product or frequenting the place and tell 1000 of their closest friends about their bad experience. It's what Americans do. That is the reason most businesses try not to make those mistakes in the first place. A customer lost is much harder to get back than a new customer...plus they turn off a whole bunch of other potential customers too.

 

However, now that I know they have good fish and chips and good country fry, I'm going to have to visit Our Place for a meal some time. Sounds pretty good to me. I had always thought of OP as a bar...not a restaurant. Now I have to reconsider that assessment.

 

Thanks for bringing this up.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Headshot

[shadow 18,483]

John, it's OK. I was in quality assurance for a long time, and you only did what MOST Americans would do. All this talk about going to the management...hooey. Americans don't do that. If they are dissatisfied, they stop using the product or frequenting the place and tell 1000 of their closest friends about their bad experience. It's what Americans do. That is the reason most businesses try not to make those mistakes in the first place. A customer lost is much harder to get back than a new customer...plus they turn off a whole bunch of other potential customers too.

 

However, now that I know they have good fish and chips and good country fry, I'm going to have to visit Our Place for a meal some time. Sounds pretty good to me. I had always thought of OP as a bar...not a restaurant. Now I have to reconsider that assessment.

 

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

 

We often eat at OP when in Cebu. The price is good as are the food portions, but as with most every other place, sometimes something is not 100% right. I have yet to find any place in the Philippines where everything is right all the time, especially when owner/manager is in absentia.

 

Larry in Dumaguete

[Paul 55,115]

John, it's OK. I was in quality assurance for a long time, and you only did what MOST Americans would do. All this talk about going to the management...hooey. Americans don't do that. If they are dissatisfied, they stop using the product or frequenting the place and tell 1000 of their closest friends about their bad experience. It's what Americans do. That is the reason most businesses try not to make those mistakes in the first place. A customer lost is much harder to get back than a new customer...plus they turn off a whole bunch of other potential customers too.

 

However, now that I know they have good fish and chips and good country fry, I'm going to have to visit Our Place for a meal some time. Sounds pretty good to me. I had always thought of OP as a bar...not a restaurant. Now I have to reconsider that assessment.

 

Thanks for bringing this up.

 

I hope that, if I ever have a bar / restaurant in Cebu, that you never frequent it and have a bad experience, then.

 

I am an American who will let the owner / manager know if I have a bad experience. How else are they going to know to fix it?

 

And, yes, Our Place is a restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals during all hours of operation.

 

Our Place Bar is located on the corner of Pelaez and Sanciangko Streets, in downtown Cebu City, Cebu.

 

Our Place Bar & Restaurant

Corner Pelaez and Sanciangko Streets

Cebu City, Cebu 6000

Philippines

 

Telephone: (032) 416 8243

Mobile: 0949 969 6216

Operating Hours: 7:00AM to 11:00PM, 365 days per year.

 

 

Take a look:

 

Our Place Bar Website

Our Place Bar (current) Menu

Edited September 14, 2011 by Admin

[mikejwoodnz 515]

my 2 cents : just looking at the menu my wife would expect fatty pork in the adobe (pork belly) and chicken unmentionables - but she would be real pissed at the "mashed" potato and vegetables - it's gotta be rice ! :

 

NATIVE BEEF STEAK 225

Native beef steak cooked filipino style, served with

potato and vegetables

SOTANGHON GUISADO 85

CHICKEN PORK ADOBO 185

Chicken and pork marinated in vinegar & peppercorn;

served with potato and vegetables

 

Edited to add : wouldn't matter if she read it on the menu - it supposed to come with rice !

Edited September 14, 2011 by mikejwoodnz

[pattycakes 4]

Our place for some reason took the best 2 items IMHO on their menu off the menu when the latest owner took over. The meatball sandwich and the John Wayne burger. I really wish they would bring them both back and have mentioned it to the owner (who seems like a really nice guy) a couple of times.

[vancouver guy 4]

AH HA biker daves special dishes It was worth the trip to his resort for the meatball sub alone ... daves gone with his secret recipe to the west

[Stranded Shipscook 2,856]

Haven't heard of biker dave anymore since ages ? Anybody got any contact ?

[Paul 55,115]

Um, he is a member of the site, and you can PM him.

[Spango58 44]

Both Mae and I have had breakfast,lunch and dinner at Our Place and never had a bad dining experience, when in Cebu City we go there often.

 

Cheers

Mark

[Kim_ 957]

I also have had only good experiences in Our Place, when I was visiting i January this year.....

I know it's a new management now and hope they are keeping the same or better standard....

Just wish I would have known about the place when I lived in Cebu 10 years ago...

[Stranded Shipscook 2,856]

One word from my very own perspective. It is very hard to run a Restaurant, and one can not make everything correct. The same reason why i decided to stand in the kitchen myself instead of hiring more or less reliable people.

 

The worst scenario is an unsatisfied customer and the very worst is, when he don' tell me, but other people.

 

Please- if you have a complaint (at least in the fellow expats places ) try to talk to the owners, WE work very hard and we do not play around just for fun.

 

We will do everything to try to make you happy and answer any complaint as good as we can.

 

It is very very hard to get supplies, to keep the equipment running, to have the staff up-to-date (they seldom stay long anywhere, so its always training situation)

 

Then then paperwork and other things.

 

We manage this somehow, and then come all the other problem YOU have also. family, wife, friends. If we ever got time for that.

Reminder, a Restaurant stays open for many hours, most of them 7 days a week, they close way after dark to entertain you guys. We got no real life.

 

Now we somehow live with this and manage also our private life and then....

 

We hear or read somewhere that someone said...

 

And we don't even know about it. because nobody told us.

 

Some of the accusations even happen and are planted by competitors or other people which try to help them.Or people which don't like us or our wifes or the waitress. Envy, Jealousy, General ugly gossip... and all that.

I myself had that a lot in Cebu City and even in Balamban.

 

Now some customers are very nice, they tell me immediately and i can make immediate adjustments. Some even go a step further and write me a note with their cellphone number. So i can make later adjustments.

 

this is probably the best thing to do, if an owner isn't there. Write a small note, and folow up, if you don't hear anything. because most likely you will.

 

But please, do not post negative experiences in an open forum where people all over the World can read it when they google it.

 

Thanks for considering

Edited September 15, 2011 by CATMAN

[Headshot 29,393]

I hope that, if I ever have a bar / restaurant in Cebu, that you never frequent it and have a bad experience, then.

 

I am an American who will let the owner / manager know if I have a bad experience. How else are they going to know to fix it?

Ummm...Paul, I just stated what MOST Americans do...NOT what I do. I am big on bringing my complaints directly to management...just like you are. Having been a quality manager, I am fully aware that a business probably won't improve unless you tell them what is wrong.

 

However...MOST Americans won't do that. They do exactly what I said. At ISO, several studies were run that showed exactly that. And...unfortunately...it isn't just Americans that do that. Every business should be aware that many customers won't complain if the service is bad...they just won't return and will tell their friends about the bad experience.

 

I am actually surprised in the Philippines how often there is no manager (or in-charge) available to speak to. It seems they often don't want to hear any bad news. It is their loss when they avoid complaints and fail to satisfy a customer.