31 May 2013

Oceano Acuatico Restaurant

Our Acuatico escapade was a blast. If you read our experience in my other blog, you’ll notice I have not mentioned about what we had. Of course food completes an escapade so I’ll share here our food experience. Acuatico resort only allows in-house food, though we were able to sneak-in few snacks, we still relied on Oceano, Acuatico’s Restaurant, for our main meals. 

Oceano Acuatico is located at the second floor of the hotel. It is overlooking the whole place, which gives you the panoramic view of the resort’s beauty and the beach as well. Oceano offers buffet and sit-down a la carte meals. They also offer complementary coffee and tea, all day, all night. Plus it can be delivered anywhere you want.

Oceano Facade
There is also a floating bar in the middle of the pool, this offers extensive selection of beverages. 

Acua Floating Bar
Mango Shake (P90) from Acua Floating Bar
For our 1st meal, our lunch, we opted to avail of their buffet (P550+/adult; children 7-12 years old pays half the price; and 7 below are free of charge). We wanted to order a la carte but the wait staff advised us that it would take 45 minutes to an hour to prepare the food. She suggested further that we should order in advance if we really want an a la carte meals.

           
                                                               Lunch Spread
My Plates

Table Set-Up
So for dinner, since we know better, we called-in our orders in advanced and we were told that they’d call us once our food was ready. After 45 minutes of no call, we followed-it up, the wait staff informed us to wait for another 15 minutes and after 30 minutes they called us and informed that our table was set and our food was ready. As we seated, our respective food were delivered to our table. But 3 orders, mine included, were still not delivered. So we asked and we waited and asked again. 

After roughly 15 minutes of waiting for food and feedback, I decided I should talk to the officer-in-charge. The supervisor, though knew nothing about the incident, was very apologetic. He was requesting for a little time to talk to his staff but I said we cannot wait any longer, it was almost 2 hours since we placed our orders. So right there and there, he decided to give us complementary buffet (which was actually P600+/adult). 

My Plates and Mr. M.'s Sandwich (P290)
Oceano Acuatico also prepares elegant dinner set-up by the beach upon request, P2100/person. It is a sit-down, set-menu with personal butler. The supervisor was busy attending as a butler here that’s why he was not able to attend to the concerns of the main restaurant. 

I don't want to invade their privacy
Our breakfast was complementary with our accommodation. 

My take: We have no complain as with regards to the food. Although the buffet spread was not as extensive, it still delivers quality food which can satisfy any guest. The only fall back was the presence of fly. The supervisor told us that the flies were really their big concern but it also seasonal. He said, it might be because it’s the harvest season (May-June) for mango farms around their resort. And in-fairness, flies were also present in the whole Laiya stretch. He also said the resort is already installing air-conditioners in Oceano to address the problem.
Tip: As we learned from the wait staff, place your order in advance if you are to settle for a la carte.
The verdict: Courteous staff, good food, great ambiance. Oceano delivered. 

62 comments:

  1. The place looks great talaga. The food cost a bit pricey for a "matipid" mom like me but the food looks great naman. (2 thumbs up!)

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    1. No choice, no food allowed. If gusto mo makitipid, you'll have to drive a good distance for the nearest food establishment.

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  2. Ok jan enjoy! Dnt sweat the small stuff nlng=)

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    1. The staffs were too courteous for you to freak out. Mahihiya ka magtaray.hehe I talked to the supervisor like were friends. =)

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  3. nagutom naman ako sa foods. hehehe...kung laging ganito, panu na ang weight-loss target ko. hehehe

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    1. Kalimutan ang dyeta pag nagbabakasyon.hehe

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  4. the food looks great, costly lang
    sorry, where is this oceano aquatico?

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    1. Inside the Acuatico Resort in Laiya, Batangas.

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  5. Grabe mga 3 years ko na yatang inaasam pumunta jan but I still haven't been able to. hehe. thanks for the tip re food. Medyo mahirap mag ala carte, hindi priority.

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    1. Kaya nga the wait staff actually pushes us to avail of their buffet, para we don't have to wait daw, e mahal nga eh.hehe Naku, as I've heard from the supervisor, 'till July fully booked sila. 2 months ahead ang reservation.

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  6. Looking at your pictures make me wish for one more "last hurrah for summer" vacay. Have been to La Union a couple of weeks ago and let's see if I can squeeze another vacay time this weekend.

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    1. La Union is good. I wish I can bring my family there, too.

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  7. Still fun nonetheless. Looks like a great resort and resto either way. My mom would have reacted negatively if she had to wait that long, the staff would receive a lot of scolding.

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    1. I'm sure you can just let it pass if your there. They're too nice (people and place). I was almost whispering my concern. hehe

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  8. Mango shake is in season now! This summer, we didn't have the chance to go out of town. Everyone's schedule was tight. Glad you had this grand time with your family!

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    1. Mangoes comes with flies. That I proved in Acuatico.hehe Everyone can always take a leave to squeeze vacay, like we did.

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  9. that must really be a nice resort and resto with a view. :)

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  10. I really hate waiting for too long for my food to be delivered so that is a thumbs down for me, specially when I am already hungry. 2 hours is just unbelievable. I hope that is just a fluke and not a regular thing with them.

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    1. We were not really "that" hungry when we placed our orders. We were just advised to order in advance, mas nagutom lang kami nung kumakain na sila at nakatingin lang kami.hehe

      This was isolated case I think, miscommunication lang between the cook and the wait staff. Kasi out of the 4 orders of the same food, 1 actually was prepared.

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  11. A 2-hour wait is too much ha! At least, you had a complimentary dinner. Pambawi sa sama ng loob! Hehehe.

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    1. Pambawi sa pagka-takam actually. Natakam lang kami because everybody was having dinner already, while we were just watching them.hehe

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  12. The place look so great, If i'm gonna wait that long, nevermind nalng siguro lalo na pag gutom na talaga ako.. :)

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    1. For sure, good thing we're not that hungry yet. But no choice, it's the only restau in the place.hehe

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  13. i don't like waiting for food to arrived, i don't like resto that has a service like that

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    1. It's a little disappointing really, but they made up for it - big time!hehe

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  14. Really looks like a lovely place to unwind! Naku flies are everywhere pag summer.. :)

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    1. Sabi nga eh, disgusting lang ang dami kasi nila.

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  15. wow! yummy foods and the place is lovely... a must to visit before summer ends

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  16. With that price of the buffet, it should be something that's above standard na. But I'm glad that the Supervisor was able to give you a complimentary buffet. That's a nice gesture for an apology to be accepted.

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    1. It was on the a bit higher than the regular standard, disgusting lang talaga ang presence ng langgaw that time.

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  17. wow, you waited for so long for the food to be delivered ah, 2 hours. aw, gutom na gutom ka na nun i'm sure. but what the supervisor did was great, in all fairness, he offered you that buffet. :-)

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    1. 2 hours din kami kamain sa buffet para makabawi.hehe

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  18. It's unfortunate that you had to wait for the food, pero in fairness, the supervisor handled your concern very well! It shows that they are well-trained in customer service. And that floating bar is amazing! :D

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    1. Yes, you can feel that the staffs there where quite knowledgeable in handling customers. They were so nice and accommodating.

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  19. That floating bar really looks interesting! :) Yeah, I agree with Marie, they at least know how to attend to their customers. :)

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    1. They're equipped with proper training, I guess.

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  20. The place is so relaxing. The elegant dinner set-up by the beach is really romantic. hmn. I'm just fantasizing! Hehe!
    I commend the supervisor for being able to handle the situation well. Sometimes, unfortunate things cannot be avoided in business, what's important is the people-in-position can manage to fix it and still make their customers feel being treated well.

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  21. Oh I was waiting for this review. Good call by the resort manager. There are some resorts that are not as customer-friendly.

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    1. I am glad the staffs here leveled with the high standards of the whole resort.

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  22. Good thing your complaint was acknowledged by the supervisor! Is the place rented by just you and your family or are there other people?

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    1. We were there for an overnight stay. The resort can occupy up to 60 pax according to the supervisor and it is safe to say that the resort was fully booked that time. But we hardly felt it.

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  23. In any company, customer service and customer experience should be also a priority alongside the product and service. Afterall you sell or render your service for people to avail one should make sure the experience is worth it. Otherwise no one will patronize the product/service/resort anymore. I commend the supervisor for attending to your needs/complaints. :)

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    1. Things happens, it all depends on how one handle the situation. The act of the nameless supervisor here was really commendable. He handled my concern in a very calm and intelligent manner.

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  24. The supervisor is commendable. Baka marami lang talagang tao kaya mejo nadelay ung order nyo. The food looks delectable naman at I think ok na rin ung pricing nila for buffet :)

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    1. Yung buffet yata kasi talaga ang priority.

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  25. Love the deco and food served at that restaurant. It must be really great to eat at such a place.

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  26. love buffets on hotelss... the place is really nice! i hope to visit this soon

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  27. Love everything on this post! I hope I can visit here.

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  28. I hope to visit the place too and hope that time wala ng flies hehehe

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    1. Months of May lang naman daw. Pero baka next year, kahit May wala na.

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  29. I would really want to try the menu there. Hope that we could have an out of town escapade soon.

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    1. Consider Acuatico once you had the time.

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  30. very appetizing. i hope to sample their food and resort soon.

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  31. Mmmmm good food! I love to eat pag sa mga ganitong buffet nakakasira ng diet =) We may have checked in at Acuaverde pero nakakapunta kami dyan sa Acuatico (puslit) di nila alam we were able to use their facilities too hehehe. I love the design of their infinity pool and the floating bar=) I was able to talk to one of their guests and told me about the flies too.

    MomMy Hanny

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    1. That was cool. They're sister companies, but I know they do not allow guest to cross-over nga. But it's really possible na makapuslit, hindi naman sila strict and hindi naman crowded yung pool so okay lang.

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