Seriously, this place needs to evaluate their pricing. I've been feeling pretty good that finally, more decent restaurants are opening up in Los Banos. But Mio Cusina, if it wants to stick around, needs to give more bang for their customers' buck -- lest contend with complaints like mine. I may return to Mio Cusina in a pinch, but I'm not returning any time soon.
(Unfortunately for me, I didn't have my camera on me at the time and you will need to take my word for it! Though you can do a quick Google, and you'll see how big their orders are. )
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Pricing -- this is what we ordered:
2 pumpkin soups = P100 each. Granted, the leaf shaped soup bowl was pretty, but there were only about 5 spoonfuls of soup. You could only dip your spoon in a third of way, and you'd already grazed the bottom of the bowl! It did taste good though, though the soup was very watery (not your usually thick and creamy as you'd expect of a pumpkin soup) and a little heavy on the bacon taste.
= P200 pesos and still 2 very hungry little girls who appetites were further whetted because the next dish was taking a while to come...
1 order of beef salpicao = P260. This was the very first item in the list of beef dishes all of which were in this price range. It was also the first entree to be put on our table ... and I swear that I thought there was mistake when we saw 8-10 small bite-sized pieces (a one-peso coin is MUCH bigger!) in the middle of an oily little cast-iron pan. Holy-moly -- was there gold inside each of those pieces? Hell no. Taste-wise, it was nothing extraordinary so I wonder why each of those pieces cost roughly P25 each!?
= total now up to P460. Still grumbling tummies.
1 order of dinuguan = approx P200.* I actually liked this dish of pork in a mild coconut blood soup. Let's call this dish this meal's saving grace.
1 order of pansit luglog = P160. This was acceptable pricing for what you get. Though if your ordered this alone, this would be good for one person only, so imagine how big err, small, this serving was! Tastewise, it was again, something that I could've gotten at a fraction of a cost elsewhere.
3 orders of rice = P25 each. We only ordered 3 because we thought that the pansit would be more than enough. We probably should've ordered another just to fill up on rice because those itty-bitty portions just don't cut it!
(* estimated only based on the total we paid. Come on, I was out there to eat, not to blog)
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Hurry up and eat! we want to go home! We arrived at Mio at 8:30 pm. When we placed our order, they immediately said, please order what you want because we're closing soon! I dismissed it. But when they started serving us, at around 9:00 pm, they repeated this again: any last orders? The clincher: we had barely finished our meal at 9:30 pm when the waitress comes in with our bill and "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me coming in with the bill. But please stay a little longer." Ok, we got the message.
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Mio's Cucina
10395 Lopez Avenue, Los Banos, Laguna
Located behind Community Cable Building along the road leading to UP Los Banos
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I'll make a mental note not to try the place. :)
ReplyDeleteNasa Pilipinas ka ngayon Aloi? So Cool. Hope you are enjoying your stay inspite of your Mio Cucina experience of highway robbery. =) Class kasi name, italiano. hehehe
ReplyDeletenet, thank goodness for blogs :) else i would have vented only to family members!
ReplyDeletealoysius, yup i am! class nga ang pangalan, sayang!
It would be helpful if you can tell us the names of the hotels where you can have a meal for P200/person. The places I have been going to is more of P600 or even close to P1,000.00. Maybe a fast food joint or self service resto would be closer to this price range.
ReplyDeleteDear anonymous, I never said that you could get a P200 hotel meal. But if you add it up, at the minimum to actually have something in your stomach at Mio Kusina:
ReplyDeleteSoup: P100 + Rice: P25 + Salpicao: P260 = P385
Take note, in terms of volume of food, this is of fast food proportions! There is no drink or veg in the equation. Or dessert.
I totally agree with your P600-1000 range for a full hotel meal. In a small town like LB, who wants to pay P100 for 5 teaspoons of soup ... go figure.
(Oh, and it would be helpful if I were responding to someone with a name?)
I have actually tried Mio Cusina and found the prices of the dishes reasonable. And P200 per person, is a small fraction of what a usual meal in Makati costs. That's less than $5, what a steal! Food is art; ergo, it is not always priced according to the collective price of ingredients used unless you are used to karinderia food.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I used to go to Mio's all the time, as well as other people I know. I even used to eat there alone when my partner's out. The prices may not be for students of course but there are tons of places in LB that cater to that crowd. i love their caldereta and paco salad. The place, which is nicely interiored is relaxing too. Yes, it is a small place but it is hardly a hole in the wall. I will definitely go back there next time I visit LB because i miss eating there a lot.