tajimaya

honest review:

the food is okay. i have no issues with the food.

however, the service is one of the worst i've ever experienced. i'm not the type to give reviews of restaurants i've been to. but this unpleasant experience is one i just can't ignore.

first, the staff was very rude. the server, particularly the long-haired waitress, banged the plates on our table. she was frowning at us the moment we arrived. to be honest, i would've ignored the whole situation but what i can't ignore is the fact that i heard her tell her co-servers "binagsakan ko nga ng mga plato" (i banged the plates on the table). i think she intentionally wanted us to hear her because her voice was loud when she said that. she wasn't ashamed or discreet at all.

second, whenever we tried to order a refill of something, since we availed of the "all you can eat" package, the waiter and the waitress kept making us feel we were asking for too much. they were constantly giving us frowns and blank stares every single time we called them. honestly, it seemed like they hated what they were doing. when we asked for iced tea refill, the waitress even banged ice repeatedly and so loudly on the countertop of the bar area near to where we were seated. it seemed like she intentionally wanted to show us she was annoyed. we were trying to have a nice dinner with family and what she did was plain disrespectful.

we were very courteous with the staff the moment we arrived. we couldn't find any reason why we were treated that way except that my senior in-laws requested to be seated at the 2/f. we were a group of 4 but wanted to be seated at the 6-seater table upstairs. they insisted we stay at the 6-seater table at the g/f but my senior in-laws explained that they wanted to socially distance from the crowd at the g/f due to covid. we asked the staff nicely, and they agreed so it was confusing why they treated us that way.

despite that, i don't think asking to be seated upstairs was a good enough reason for the staff to disrespect us that way. they could've just said no, and we would've left and picked another restaurant. we were never rude or impolite to begin with. we went there excited because it was our first time there, it was my husband's birthday, and we wanted to celebrate. instead, we had a very unpleasant experience.
despite the rudeness and the unpleasantries, we still gave the servers tip. we said thank you, and we never complained. we never showed any disrespect in return.

i don't think we'll ever come back here. based on google reviews, many customers also complained about the service of the crew. i believe that no matter how good your food is, if your service is bad, the customers will never come back. the staff needs proper training. i would've been more understanding if tajimaya is a fast food chain. but the price of the food here is not cheap. the service needs to match the price of the food you're charging. i think i can spend as much or even less in another restaurant that has better service.

p.s.
when i asked for another cup of rice, they served me a cup of rice with a strand of long hair. i'm giving them the benefit of the doubt about this but i really hope it wasn't intentional.

also, we were there early and the restaurant wasn't full at all (2 small groups at the g/f and 2 small groups at the 2/f including us) so i don't think the staff was too busy or too tired to assist us.

i also hope it wasn't because me and my mother-in-law were wearing pink in support of a presidential candidate. i do hope political preference of customers don't affect the type of service the staff here is giving. it shouldn't have bearing because it's a form of discrimination.

this place had great wagyu beef, a constantly maintained charcoal grill and good service. a little pricey but it is in rockwell so that's a given. they have the yummiest sauce for the grilled meat, it would even work well with plain rice.

perhaps we came at the wrong time with another table that had an utter disregard for other patrons. they were jeering and screaming as if they were the only ones in the world. couldn't wait to get out of the place. we had thought the restaurant itself offered good value for money but this particular experience left a bad taste in our mouth.

service was not too good. we ordered cold sake and
it was lukewarm. we had to stand up numerous times just to get the waiter's attention.

i really enjoyed this place. i read some of the negative comments prior to my visit and did not encounter any of these problems. the charcoal grill makes a big difference compared to the usual gas grill you get at most places like this. also the meat quality made the experience really top notch. i'll be back for sure.

a good alternative to samgyupsal styled restos that have sprouted everywhere. this one offering japanese yakiniku style dining. their unli package is worth trying. though their tablr and seating layout in this particular branch is not that very welcoming and a bit gloomy.

nothing but praise to tajimaya when it comes to their food. quality and taste wise i would say they are on a different level compared to most mainstream samgyupsal/yakiniku places.

people from this branch just needed to be very detailed regarding their unlimited yakiniku rules and fineprints as our dining experience was definitely ruined. we were given 1 and a half hours with our time started not on our first grill but from the time we entered the establishment. it is even noteworthy to take into consideration how long it takes for the staff to serve the food on our tables and setup the grill. do the math and that takes about 10 to 15 minutes max.

just as we were starting to enjoy our food, we were told that we only have 15 minutes to finish what we ordered. if not, we have to pay for the leftover fee of php 200 per head.

15 minutes to wait until the food is grilled and until it is edible and safe enough to eat is not ”realistically” enough and even possible because they said they were already closing. never had we have any experience in any restaurant ever that would ask us to finish our food asap because they were already closing. we are not asking to stay as long as we wanted but just be considerated to let us stay, enjoy and finish the food that we paid for even if it means paying the leftover fee.

an extra mile and consideration even if sometimes you have to bend the rules just to satisfy your customers is a reflection on how you truly value patrons and how you exhibit good customer service. how i wish things were different, we all could have enjoyed your delicious food not just with a full stomach but with smiles on our faces after because of how we were treated. good customer service sometimes supercedes good food quality honestly.

the food given here are unmarinated but really great. i asked for them not to give me the fish and the scallops since i won’t eat them anyway.

for almost 700, you are assured you get quality meat. i don’t like unmarinated cooked meat much but the ones here are really tasty. the sausage tastes amazing as well.

i just didn’t like the 2 hour time limit however. it took awhile for the staff to notice me due to the layout of the tables (i was seated near the entrance) but sometimes one of the waiters/waitress will wait by the door so that helps in getting noticed faster.

i also noticed that for the coals, they burn really really hot to the point that the meat gets cooked in a few seconds. however, it doesn’t last long and the heat will die down and it’ll be hard to cook. so i guess it isn’t constant. i had to ask for the waitress to change the coals for my grill a total of 3 times during my 2 hours worth of eating and everytime it burns really hot at first then later on dies down to barely any heat. but anyway still 5 stars!