Mooon Cafe SM North Edsa Annex

At my mom's suggestion, we went to SM North Edsa after mass to have dinner at Mooon Cafe. It would be our second time to try the restaurant, which has been open for about 3 months. During the food tasting attended by my parents and sister last December, Mooon Cafe was introduced as a popular restaurant originating from Cebu. Even the furniture and fixtures were shipped from Cebu.

I was able to try the place last January but my blog entry did not materialize. The food was actually not bad, particularly the Gambas ala Luna (left photo) and the Sun Cooler, and the prices were quite affordable, but service was terribly slow.

2 weeks ago, I actually did not feel like going back so soon but the parents thought we should give it another try. They said service must have improved by then. And so we got to the resto at around 730pm. Only 2 other tables were occupied, nothing the number of servers couldn't handle. Or so we thought.

For starters, 3 items were unavailable - pumpkin soup, sun cooler, and apple juice. I ordered sopa con papas (right photo), and told the server "walang chili ah", to which she replied "wala po". The menu indicated the chopped chili ingredient but I thought maybe she meant to confirm my request and let it pass. I ordered the same soup during my first time there and requested that the chili be excluded. When the soup arrived, there was definitely chili, but no corn kernels as it should have. I did not complain since I might not have made my request about the chili clear. I could stand a little bit of heat but I couldn't give any to my nephew.

The server then came with a tray of glasses and a pitcher of iced tea. And to our amazement, started pouring iced tea in the glasses while still in the tray she was balancing with her left hand. We were amazed, not with the difficulty of what she was doing, but with the stupidity of it. Somebody from our group suggested that she put down the tray first, but she just smiled and continued on. Luckily enough, no mishaps occurred.

The Mooon Steak of my sister was so-so, but for only P169, one can't really expect much. My parents liked the taste of the Mexican Baby Back Ribs (P199) but it's a bit on the tough side.

When almost everyone in the table had eaten half their food, 2 orders still had not arrived. We called the attention of a server. My mom pointed out that the group near us, which came in much later than we did, was already eating pizza but ours had not been served. I also followed up my order of beef stroganoff. I was still calm at the time because I placed my order last, being undecided when the others ordered their entrees. The pizza arrived after a considerable waiting period, but my order of beef stroganoff still did not. It had already been 45mins. since I placed the order.

Very much irritated, I asked the server where my order was. She and another server checked the order slip, then checked their ordering system. We could hear them arguing all the way from our table. It became obvious that the order was written down but not punched into the system, hence no order was placed in the kitchen. Losing my patience, I called out "Hindi na-order yung beef stroganoff 'no? Cancel niyo na!"

The supervisor of sorts approached our table to apologize and explain what happened, something we already gathered from the conversation of the servers. But no amount of apology could bring my appetite back and nothing can drag me back to that place again. Thank goodness for the Dairy Queen downstairs, I was able to drown my anger in double cocoa shake.

Mooon Cafe
2nd level Annex
SM North Edsa

Menu:

Italianni's Greenhills

I have been looking forward to another visit to Italianni's since I redeemed a GC using my credit card points. So I invited my friend to have dinner at Italianni's Megamall last weekend. Imagine our shock when we found out that the Megamall branch was no longer there, and in its place stood BDO. We both frequent the mall but we just never noticed it.

Last night, after watching Green Zone with my mom and sister, I suggested eating at Italianni's Greenhills. I was excited to have my favorite salad again. Ever since I had my first taste of Italianni's Sicilian Chicken salad, I always make it a point to order it.

We were pleasantly surprised by the speed at which our order arrived. Our order of Peppered Fish Fillet arrived soon after. Service was off to a good start. Sadly, the whole dining experience was not up to par.

First, there was not enough dressing on the salad. While it's true that it could easily be remedied by extra dressing, it seemed un-Italianni's-like. Make no mistake though, we still enjoyed the salad. But maybe it was a sign of what was to come.

The peppered fish fillet, another favorite of mine, was blander than usual. My sister even felt that it was cooked using "old" oil. For me, it was just okay, but not nearly as good as I expected.

We ordered the Tortellini for our last dish, which we took home almost untouched. There are other tried and tested items in the menu we could have ordered but we went for the "New" item, and ended up disappointed.

Maybe it just was an off night for Italianni's or maybe it's the branch, I don't know. Next time, I'm not taking any chances and sticking with either the Tomas Morato or the Trinoma branch.