Food Frustrations

January 20. 2010 by admin.

Living in a 3rd World Country was sure to bring about complications with food, nutrition & diet matters.  Added to that is the fact that I am a Vegetarian.  No meat whatsoever.  No fish, VERY little milk, eggs & cheese…..and I’m going on about 12 years so far, so it isn’t going to change anytime soon.  I enjoy all the compliments from people when they guess my age at 28, when in actuality I’ll be 35 next month.  Now, I just need to find a way to keep my head from going bald…..lol

Luckily for me; coconuts, mangos, papayas, watermelons, bananas, pineapples and other delicious fruits are available everywhere here, literally picked from the vine that same day or within the last 24 hours.  Sometimes it’s even cut from a tree right outside the door.  Sounds like heaven right?  Well, it is until I go out to eat at a restaurant….

It should be noted that this does not occur at every restaurant I go to, but rest assured……it’s happening at least 90% of the time.  In America, we are spoiled with the ability to make changes to the dishes we order.  With the health-craze, different diets and numerous allergies…..restaurants know that they have to be willing to accommodate their customers.  Unfortunately, here in the Philippines it is extremely difficult to find that same willingness. 

In my opinion, it is not the ability that is lacking.  It is more about the lack of proper training and genuine desire to help.  The waiter or waitress that I am usually speaking with probably makes less than $5.00 USD per day, so a “desire” to help me and my nutritional needs is not exactly at the top of their priority list.  I’ve had personal experience in the food service industry in America and I know many companies train their employees to never say no…..or at least VERY rarely.  A company knows the value of repeat customers and word-of-mouth advertising.  When I go to some places here and I ask if they can take the teriyaki sauce from one dish and combine it with the vegetables, tofu and rice from another dish, the answer is almost always a quick, “I’m sorry Sir, that is very impossible.”  Asking for a Manager or Supervisor results in the same response.  Even trying to talk to the Chef or the cook directly gets me nowhere.  I can understand that some dishes are pre-prepared before hand, so separating some of the ingredients can be near-impossible.  But when I know for a fact they are preparing a particular dish fresh, it’s frustrating that they won’t try to help me. 

The new response that I have been getting lately is, “We can do that, but then we don’t know how much to charge you.”  I can also understand that response.  However, I can guarantee that the Owner of that restaurant would rather his employees make-up some sort of reasonable price, then sell me nothing, which results in me walking out and never coming back.  I know that I am ”just one” customer…….but in all my experience and customer service training, EVERY customer counts.

Here’s an amazing (and true) example of how unwilling some employees here are to thinking outside of the box:  I recently visited a local Pizza place that also sells spaghetti.  Since I recently had pizza, I chose to order the spaghetti.  But before I did, I needed to confirm the sauce had no meat.  I just wanted Marinara sauce.  The girl explained that they only had the meat sauce.  I asked if she could just take some of the tomato sauce for the pizzas and pour it over my pasta.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  She said she would be back and went to the kitchen to ask the cook.  She came out and said that “We cannot do that Sir.”  Trying to explain my frustration with any sort of logic would have been pointless and a waste of valuable oxygen, so I just walked out.

Here’s another one:  For those of you familiar with Boba Tea or it’s also called Bubble Tea and Pearl Milk Tea…..  I personally love a Thai Iced Tea with Boba Pearls.  Problem is that the Tea places I’ve seen here so far don’t have the Thai Iced Tea flavor.  BUT, my favorite Thai place does have the Tea, just without the pearls.  So, I had the great idea to go get a cup of pearls from the Tea place and dump it into my Thai Tea at the restaurant.  When I went to the Tea place, I asked for just a cup of pearls.  THREE different employees discussed it for a few minutes with empty gazes on their faces and said it just couldn’t be done.  It should be noted that the pearls are sitting right there behind the counter in a big tupperware container.  I just wanted them to give me a couple scoops of it.  I told them I would pay the full price as the largest tea they sell.  They didn’t have to mix, measure, separate or blend anything.  No matter what I said, they just kept telling me how impossible it was to do that.  So, again I left empty-handed.

I was just reading on a Forum this morning about other Foreigners experiences here with the local businesses…..I thought this one should also be shared here: 

I was at the Jollibee in Guadalupe, Cebu City, very shortly after moving here to live. I walked in to order breakfast. At the counter, the girl asked, “Would you like a regular or large drink, Sir?” I replied with, “I would like a large drink, please.” She then replied, without missing a beat, “I’m sorry Sir. We are out of large. Would you like a regular sized drink?” I almost hit the floor.

This type of situation is a classic example of the thinking that goes on in many restaurants and businesses here.  Again, I have been introduced to some good restaurants here and also found some on my own that are more then willing to accomodate my “special requests”…..and I return to those places often.  It’s just a shame that more places here are not so helpful.  I’m sure the Owners of these establishments that have to pay the rent, utilities, salaries, etc., would be more then happy to help me out and earn a repeat customer.  The problem is they are not always there and they are not relaying this sense of business to their Managers, let alone their employees.

Oh well…..I’m off to grab a mango! 

JOHN  

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