There are quite a lot of food blogs coming out nowadays. I myself read them to know about new places I could try out during the weekends, confirm how I feel about a certain restaurant or sometimes just to let time pass in an entertaining way. Food blogs usually speak of how awesome restaurants are, how certain dishes of this place are far better than their competition’s or how they would raise their “two thumbs” for this and that new discovery.

What I don’t like about such food blogs though is that they usually only talk about how gastronomically delightful restaurants’ dishes are. Are those blogs realistic? I doubt it. Are there really that many "good-blog-review" worthy restaurants here? It’s practically common knowledge that many (if not most) bloggers are getting paid in cash or in coupons to deliver good reviews for eateries. That’s terrible! Why are these bloggers even blogging!

Bloggers like these should instead try landing jobs in ad agencies where they can gain materially from their writing. Blogging shouldn’t be a business; it’s a medium through which people can respect and share opinions, not a way to get free meals for your friends and family.

I offer my blog as an alternative. Obviously, it’s not for money-making. No one would actually pay not to be on my blog, and besides, they wouldn't know who I am. I’ve chosen to keep this blog anonymous mainly because I think the harassment I’ll attract for writing negative stuff about certain restaurants won’t be worth it. So why write a blog like this at all?

One, I LOVE to eat! Over the years, I think I’ve developed a palate capable of distinguishing good food from bad. Two, I love to try new places. I like the fact that restaurant concepts from abroad are making their way here be it through international franchises or similar-themed eateries opening at the Fort, Greenbelt or wherever. Three, I hate it when restaurants serve subpar food at par prices, which is better known to me as a “highway robbery”. It really sucks to see profit-driven fake restaurateurs who are easily blinded by the fame and fortune of the business and forget the true key factors to opening a good restaurant: food, environment, service and cost.

Everyone in the food business should know that a good bang for their customer’s buck means more return customers, which in turn means more profit. Entrepreneurs who do not believe in this are, ironically, now my primary source of strength for writing this blog. Because of them, I’m now excited not only to be awed by a restaurant but also to be disappointed by it.

So I present to you Not Worth Eat: A guide on which restaurants NOT to try. Happy reading, and prepare to be de-appetized! Don't tell me I didn't warn you…

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Thousand Cranes


A random Gong Cha craving brought me and my date to Thousand Cranes at the New Eastwood Mall, what I believe is the “Mecca” of Not Worth Eat Restaurants. We were considering having dinner at Cibo until I felt something terrible in my stomach that made me want to have hot soup for dinner. And where else to get hot soup than in a hot pot restaurant, right? WRONG. Our quick decision led only to disappointed palates and hungry wallets.

Since it was already a bit late at night, we decided to just share orders to keep our stomachs light before bedtime. We decided to go with the “Beef & Seafood Platter” (Php 780) which had a plate of beef, seafood, assorted vegetables, noodles, and mixed balls.   

Beef Plate
Rating:
Disappointingly, the soup was bland, the strips of beef too lean, tough and tasteless, definitely not what I expected when I saw how much the dish cost.

Vegetable Platter
Rating:
Worse, they served the mixed balls frozen, and I had to learn this the hard way. I cooked and bit into the balls three times over and, on seperate occassions, they were still ice-cold inside! What a disappointment! The personnel should have at least defrosted the hot pot ingredients before serving them. No wonder our orders arrived quickly, and no wonder the balls took too long to cook!

Seafood Plate
Rating:
The seafood plate wasn’t any better; it looked pale and unappetizing. The prawns, fish and squid were ordinary and unseasoned, nothing special. Worse, my date and I actually thought twice if we would eat the oysters, which didn’t seem fresh. Then there was the sea cucumber, which was so tough that it was hard to chew, more so, swallow.



My Ratings:
Food:                                          - Terrible, the nerve to command such high prices!
Service:                                                         - The service staff were alert, courteous but not well trained. 
Ambiance:                                                               - It's actually pretty nice.
Price Level:                                - Very overpriced for the quality of the food.
Overall:                                  -I won't be back ever again.

Substitutes:

Choi Garden Hot Pot:                 -A way way better choice. Good food, good place, worth eat.
 
Healthy Shabu-shabu:                                    -Same concept, quality far better.

Cibo:                                                    - Just because it's just a few steps away, we should have stuck with our 
                                                                                          first choice. 



It goes without saying that I am really disappointed with this restaurant. To command such a high price, the quality of their items should, at the very least, be okay. But nope. Not okay at all.  Thank god there was Gong Cha just a few steps away.

Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!

Follow us on Twitter @notwortheat


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Food & Drink - Top Blogs Philippines