vapiano... non troppo buona!

I should have read Keith’s (see Leap of Faith blog) review carefully and remembered it well. Basta na lang kasi tiningnan ang pictures at na-impress eh talaga namang maganda ang pics coz the author is a superb photog himself. Kaya last Thursday nong nasa Ikea kami and decided to have dinner, sabi ko sa grupo, i-try na lang namin yong Vapiano kasi nabasa ko nga sa LOF.

While waiting for our food, Raoul mentioned na hindi nga raw maganda ang review ni Keith don sa place. And that’s the time I remembered that it wasn’t Vapiano Keith was praising, it was Bona Banana! Eh nandon na kami nakaupo at naka-order so just for the heck of it, sige na stay na lang.

Hindi nga maganda yong ginawa nilang self-ordering scheme (na sabi ko nga kay Keith reminded me of Streetlife in Glorietta). Considering na 6 pa lang kami sa group, hirap na akong i-memorize yong individual orders nila. Hindi naman pwedeng patayuin ko si Tserman at sya ang pa-orderin ko, hindi ako magaling na host pag ganon. Asar naman kung hahanap ako ng paper and pen, aba hindi ko naman pinangarap mag-order taker, gusto ko kumain lang.

So, relying on my memory with a little prayer that it’s still as sharp as it was, I went to the counters where you have to order the pasta, pizza, salad and beverages separately. At least I remembered much of them but in the end, my memory failed me. 1 gig na lang yata ang capacity kaya yong iba nakalimutan agad. Darn! I have to ask Ega to check back on the other two kung ano yong order nilang drinks!

After a while, the food came and I eagerly dove into each and every plate of them. I wanted to placate my growing impatience dahil sa nakakalitong pag-order, sa maingay na crowd (pero mas maingay yata kami! Hehehe) and the place na hindi rin conducive to a fine dining mood coz being in a mall, the ambience was a bit street-like with waiters and customers running back and forth. Kaya nadidismaya na ako and I was hoping the food will salvage my mood.

Kaso, I didn’t find anything that would merit my usual ‘hmmm sarap’ seal of approval. Pwede na yong Carbonara, pwede na rin yong Canillone, pwede na rin yong seafood pesco and the other two dishes na nakalimutan ko na (this time 0.8 gig na lang ang memory! Hahaha). Eh nothing impressive nga kaya nakalimutan ko na. Tapos eto ang coke ni Ega na hindi man lang inalis sa bote, nilagyan lang ng straw. Pati ang apple juice ni Ricky at John, served in bottle din. Minahalan na ang presyo, nilagyan pa ng service charge pero parang bumili ka lang sa bakalah ni Khaldi!

One thing I like about the place is the honesty of the staff na mga kabayan natin. The guy who explained the card system went to the lengths of giving us tip on their bestsellers. Which saved us from ordering a plate of something I would’ve probably given them a thumbs down. Pati yong sa beverage section, sinabi talagang hindi masarap yong death by chocolate nila. Which made me change my mind and ordered just 2 instead of the initial 4 servings I asked for. Tama si kabayan, talaga ngang nakaka-sisi yong cake. Kung sa Bennigans sa Glorietta eh talagang you will ‘die’ because of the heavenly piece of chocolate cake, dito, mamamatay ka sa inis at sa tigas! Parang swelas ng sapatos na pinatungan ng chocolate syrup na ewan!

So what’s my rating for Vapiano? Not so good. Not counting the slight commotion that happened as we are about to leave the place (it’s something that I won’t hold against the resto itself but against an arrogant old man who saw what it’s like when Tserman lost his cool!) but I already said Vapiano is another place I’d never visit again. At sa mga regular sa DS, alam nyong may kasunod yong linyang yon. Unless may mang-libre sa akin para bumalik don! Heheheh.

Place : 3

Food : 3

Service : 4

Price : 3

Total: 13