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 beseatedat the 2/f. we were a group of 4 but wanted to beseatedat 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 beseatedupstairs 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.