How One Honest Comment Made Our Meal Even Better | Manam

Whenever @gabbiebi and I can’t decide where to eat, our feet somehow always take us to Manam. It’s just walking distance from her place. On some weeks we eat there once, other times twice. It's like we're already regulars there. And since we dine there regularly, we have their discount card to save some money!

_{Manam's Pancit Palabok}

We’ve tried a lot of dishes on their menu, but our table is never complete without my all-time favorite: the crispy lumpiang ubod. I love how it’s perfectly crispy on the outside, tasty inside! Most of the time, they serve it ahead of the other dishes, but since Gabbie and I always have plenty to catch up on, I usually get to it a little later when the crispiness has already faded.

_{Manam's Crunchy Salt & Pepper Squid}

Gabbie always enjoys the sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon. We often share crispy sisig along with a bowl of rice to tie everything together. Sometimes we add in calamari or palabok when we’re extra hungry.

_{From left to right: Sinigang na beef short rib and watermelon, rice, lechon kawali, and my favorite - crispy lumpiang ubod}

But one particular evening, something felt different. The crispy lumpiang ubod had just been served, and when I took a bite right away, it wasn’t crispy at all. I felt a little disappointed because it's supposed to be CRISPY lumpiang ubod but it wasn't cripy at all! but I wasn’t planning on saying anything. Both Gabbie and I are the type who usually let small things like that slide, especially since we worry about whether complaints might reflect on the servers. If your favorite dish came out differently than usual, would you say something or keep quiet?

But that time, Gabbie encouraged me to voice it out.

A few minutes later, the manager herself came by to check on us. She’s familiar with us since we dine there so often, and when she asked about the food, I finally mentioned my concern. She handled it so well. She even offered us a complimentary dish to make up for it: Puto Bumbong with Muscovado Butter.

_{Puto Bumbong with Muscovado Butter}

We were a bit hesitant of voicing it out at first, not wanting the staff to get penalized, but she reassured us that it was part of their service promise and nothing would be held against them. And I have to say, that Puto Bumbong was such a treat! The purple rice rolls were soft and chewy! It was a perfect way to end our meal. Now we have another must-order whenever we dine here.

_{Gabbie with Manam's menu}

That moment reminded me of something important. I should know this better, since in my own career, I’ve always given feedback. As a teacher. As an editor. Feedback isn’t about complaining; it’s about helping things improve. And in this case, it led us to discover a dish that we probably wouldn’t have ordered ourselves.