Last night, we went to the Katipunan branch of National Bookstore to buy an easel, canvass and paint brushes for Alex. We were planning on going to the grocery and seeing a movie at Eastwood afterward but decided to have dinner in Katipunan first. Sam suggested Hap Chan and I said okay. First, I love Chinese food. Second, we had eaten (ordered take-out and delivery as well) at the Antipolo branch of Hap Chan a couple of times before and we were happy with the food and service.
So, we went to Hap Chan. A waiter brought the menus, left, we browsed the menus, made our choices but the waiter hadn’t come back. We had to wave our hands vigorously trying to get the attention of one. When someone finally noticed, Sam, Alex and I ordered wonton noodle soup, Speedy chose asado noodle soup and we also got a few dim sum items — shrimp dumplings, bean curd rolls, pork spare ribs with black bean sauce, asado siopao and quail eggs siomai.
About five minutes later, the waiter came back to inform us that the frozen quail eggs siomai fell apart. We cancelled the order for quail eggs siomai. And we waited for the rest of the food we ordered. A girl brought glasses of water — first one, then two, then a fourth (why couldn’t she have placed all the glasses on a tray and served them all at the same time?). As though reading my mind, Speedy, observing the waiters, commented that waiters no longer seemed to be trained to carry trays properly. But, anyway…
The food arrived. They looked good — large bowls, generous number of wontons… we so looked forward to a good meal.
Then, as I started to mix my bowl of noodles, I saw it.
Maggot, said Sam.
Speedy, Sam and Alex started inspecting their own bowls of noodle soup.
Alex’s soup had a maggot too.
We called the waiter and, without sounding upset nor angry, showed him the maggots in the food (never piss off the waiter — he might spit on your food). He left, came back after several minutes and said that all the bowls of noodle soup would be replaced. Since it was obvious that the maggots were in the pechay Baguio (Napa cabbage), we told him that we didn’t want any more pechay Baguio in our noodle soups. All four bowls were taken away.
Meanwhile, the rest of the dim sum items arrived and we were so hungry that we finished all of them within a few minutes.
We talked about the maggots, naturally. Never mind the impoliteness of talking about yucky things over a meal. We already saw the damn things and not talking about them won’t wipe off their images inside our heads as they were already embedded deeply. Seeing maggots in vegetables no longer shock me because I do find them in freshly bought veggies occasionally especially inside eggplants. I said that finding them in veggies isn’t such a bad thing really because it’s a sign that the veggies aren’t drowned in pesticide.
What was so shocking was that the veggies were obviously not rinsed properly before they were added to the noodle soup. What kind of food handling is that?
After a while, the replacements arrived.
Sam and Speedy wondered if the greens had simply been fished out of the original bowls of soup then dumped into clean bowls. I didn’t think so because the bits of spring onions looked freshly sprinkled. If what we were served were the same noodle soups, the onion leaves would have been wilted and softened after soaking for so long in the hot broth. I felt that the noodle soups were edible and we started eating. We just wanted to finish our meal because we wanted to catch the last full show of MI4: Ghost Protocol and we couldn’t waste time arguing with the waiters or whoever’s in charge.
But there were more problems.
The noodles were all clumped in large tough clusters in Sam’s and Speedy’s bowls. The clumps were smaller in mine. Not even the hot broth could soften them.
We were all exasperated by that time. Still, I didn’t want to ruin the evening by picking a fight. We see so little of the girls as it is and we were driving them back to the condo after the movie so I just wanted a relaxed and relaxing evening out with them. We ate what we could, Alex shared half of her noodles with her dad who couldn’t eat the too tough and chewy clumps of noodles in his bowl, Sam and I just left more than half of the noodles in our bowls.
I went to the washroom and, when I came back, there were bowls of almond jelly on the table. Complimentary, Speedy said. But we didn’t touch them. Sam said they smelled awful. I smelled them and I agreed — they had that distinct artificial smell.
But here’s the kicker. When a waitress brought the bill, Speedy, who didn’t have his reading glasses, asked me to check the items in the list. While I was going over them one by one, the waitress noticed the bowls of almond jelly and gave an exclamation that they hadn’t been included in the bill yet. I said we didn’t order them in the first place. The bill was over PPHP800.00. I paid with a credit card to make sure that my name was on the receipt — evidence, you know, that the photos above and the accompanying story were not just picked up from somewhere and reproduced here.
P.S. Sam took the photos. Thanks, sweetie.
Did they even apologize for that? They are badly in need of a good manager.
Nope. Perhaps, the complimentary almond jelly was meant as an apology? But since we didn’t touch the almond jelly, we meant apology not accepted.
nakakaloka naman yung maggots sa soup (i remember yung recent controversy ng isang kainan sa manila about the big worm in ginisang kangkong). food handling is indeed very important plus good customer service na rin. blessings!
Oh yay the old comment box is back!
Just wanted to mention that..
I am a fan of Hap Chan since I also do love Chinese food, we’ve tried the one in Harbor Square and it was pretty much a good experience. Now that I read this, I think I’m gonna be more cautious with the food being served…
give me north park anytime.
always tastes good everytime.
I disagree. Vehemently.
I agree with you, Ms. Connie.
ano ba yan! sobrang foul naman yung service. but you handled it well Connie. grace under pressure.
had a not-so-happy experience with the same resto at market! market! when we were supposed to be celebrating a milestone. all of us went out lonely from the resto. promise we will never set foot again…
oh my, what an experience. I haven’t been to Hap Chan and reading this makes me not want to try it. Thanks for sharing.
a former officemate of mine had the pleasure of having a well-cooked cockroach in her monggo guisado at the canteen. i may have unintentionally eaten my share of worms/maggots in fruits which i often forgot to inspect, but i think that doesn’t even come close to having a cockroach in your food. oh my.
to imagine that maggots, cockroaches and other bugs are considered delicacies in other parts of the world. i don’t think i’m brave enough to try that!
correction: i meant grasshoppers, not cockroaches, as delicacy.
You know, if the menu says soup with maggots, then, the diner would be forewarned and he can choose whether to treat it as a delicacy or not. But maggots because the veggies weren’t washed properly? Oh my.
lol, that’s true! it’s not like they’ve specified an extra serving of protein in the form of maggots in their menu.
incidents like that make me appreciate home cooking even more!
Thanks for telling us about Hap Chan Katipunan! You can be sure we won’t go there anymore. I bet the management of that restaurant didn’t even have a clue that they were serving a blogger. But that’s just the point! They should be careful with what they serve, no matter WHO they serve. They’re lucky you didn’t get sick from their food, otherwise, they’d be facing a lawsuit now.
Clumped noodles and maggots! Something’s really wrong with their kitchen. Speaking of noodles, did you get my email? It’s also about noodles. Good noodles.
No didn’t get that — which email account did you send it to?
I sent it to connie@casaveneracion.com. Anyway, had dinner at Kanzhu Hand Pulled Noodle. I really enjoyed the noodles. They have a branch in Timog and Abad Santos in San Juan. I had the Beef Tendon Dry Noodles.
Aaahhh I saw it! Kasi, “Pedro” yung sender — I didn’t recognize the name hehehehe Thanks, will try that! I love hand-pulled noodles. And beef tendon is always a treat. Na-miss ko tuloy.
Hahaha…yup, that’s me too! Yeah, i remembered you like beef tendons. Eating there makes me want to try making hand pulled noodles at home.
I remember learning about knee caps from you hehehehe Now that is divine. And decadent. And utterly delicious!
Ms. Connie, im surprised you did not get up and leave, which is something i would have done…gracious ka pa rin..as for that restaurant, they should be reported to the dept of health for inspection for the benefit of the eating public..
love reading your blogs
I’m sorry, but, not really… for your bad experience (s) … you stayed and then you paid the bill… I got as far as the second paragraph of your complaint (s), and lost complete empathy for you and your family… Why did you continue to stay? AND you still paid the bill… ??? …
You should have read through until the very end. The receipt is the evidence.
I’m not looking for empathy or sympathy or even understanding or agreement — from you or anyone else. So, beat it.
Really do admire how you and your family handle an unpleasant experience….you got class in discipline in controlling your emotions…..kudos to your family Connie…
I once work in the kitchen in a cruise ship for yrs. We have inspection every night. Not only cleanliness, organizing, day/date your preparations, but also sanitation. Inspectors have their blue light ready to determine that you clean your station correctly. No magic. No short cut. Or else you do it again. Very strict. Sana ganoon din sa mga restaurant sa aatin. Kasi mga tao rin ang kakain ng ginagawa mo.
We all wish that.
But standards mean nothing when not properly enforced. Good management should be the first step in that enforcement.
i like the handpulled noodles in Mey Lin. Have you tried it Ms. Connie?
I have yet to find a DECENT Chinese restaurant in the Metro… tsk, tsk.
Ayyyy go directly to Chinatown.
my mom, after eating sa mga hap chans on her weekly seniors’ day outings, concludes that not all hap chan restos are good and her theory is that branches that aren’t okay are franchised ones kasi somehow lower ang quality control ng franchise outlet owners, better daw sa mga company owned….
Exactly! There is a difference between branches and franchises. When the waiter at Katipunan said the frozen quail eggs siomai fee apart, I knew that the Katipunan Hap Chan was a franchise because the dumplings are frozen and only reheated when someone orders.
been trying to comment here since yesterday pero sa kalikutan ng mga anak ko narefresh yung page nasayang haba pa man din, been an avid reader of your blog for the longest time na… ayyy dito lang ako nagcomment ng sobra sa gigil, … had a terrible experience with the waiter, i left my food untouched dahil sa first subo pa lang lasang ipis na! and the waiter just informed me frankly, ” newly cooked po yan” so what! how about yung bowl and utensils! i still paid the bill but sadly i had no proof for that, i envy you for handling it well…. kung wala lang akong kasamang malikot na kids naku! lagot sila… @market 2x
Re: malilikot na kids. Don’t worry, they’re grow up soon enough and “likot” will be the least of your worries hehehehe
Hi ! Had a bad experience 2 years ago at Hap Chan Alabang. My son who was 5 years old then, and just recovered from amoebiasis, wanted siomai. While cutting the second piece, we noticed a black round thing, we first thought it was whole black pepper. Then we saw wings, then that concluded it was a fly. I got mad and was worried about my son. We never again eat at any branch of Hap Chan.
This is the kind of legitimate and credible review and complaint from a foodie/food blogger who’s not trying to be pa-star or fishing for hits or likes or what have you from social networks to cause a mob-like response. I just had to comment on the aspect
Thank you, Dexie. That is the most wonderful compliment I’ve gotten in ages.
Hi, Connie! Yes, I agree with Dexie. And with respect to that, you are more credible and I believe you are the kind of person who means what she says and says what she means.
Pahabol: One good lesson this experience points out is–> that we must keep our eyes open and pay attention to food served to us. If it happened na in your hunger eh nag dive na kayo straight on sa food, you might not have noticed the “extra ingredients” that Hap Chan served you. It pays to be totally observant and mindful , di ba Connie? Thanks again.
I always read your blog because I totally agree with Dexie… your posts and thoughts are all your own and uninterrupted by ‘commercials’ unlike many others; which is sad, really.
This is so sad and disappointing…I have fond memories of Hap Chan when it was just two stores – in Manila and Makati Ave. Is this what happens when a restaurant starts multiplying/franchising? So we shouldn’t be so happy when a favorite restaurant shows up in a mall near one’s residence?
hi connie,
we had bad experience also at hapchan west ave., bad taste of food , even their yangchow tastes funny. guess what ? chinese no longer eat at hapchan. moral lesson: EAT WHERE THE LOCALS EAT, that’s what we are going to do (after school ends) food tripping in taiwan , yum yum. Here in the phils, we can do that, we usually go to restos with lots of chinoy even foreign chinese to taste the good food, go to the provinces to taste their native food
My husband ordered Halo in Hap Chan Market! Market! branch, when he was almost done he found a tiny cockroach!! We haven’t been back since. Same with you, we brought it to their attention and we were given complimentary almond jelly for dessert. How sad…