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| - Tinuno was such a fun experience. It took me three tries before I was able to secure a reservation here.
Attempt 1: Called several times before someone actually picked up. Tried to make a same day reservation but they were fully booked.
Attempt 2: Called on a Monday for a Saturday dinner reservation. Got through on the second try this time but the only time slot they had was for 4:00pm, which leads me to...
Attempt 3: Ended up booking for the following Saturday at 7pm for 4 people. I was able to change this to 7 people a couple days prior to the reservation without any issue. I informed them that we were going to be ordering the Kamayan Feast (a tip I read on here!)
We got street parking pretty easily, I was surprised since it was a weekend. There were lots of people waiting for a seat. As we had reservations, it didn't take too long before we were seated and the salad / garlic rice were served soon after. The grilled stuff took a little longer but that's understandable.
The service wasn't the best but you can tell they're trying to do the best they can. There are a lot of staff but they're very busy. Try to think of everything you'll need in the very beginning and ask for it then (i.e., gloves, straws, extra cup if you're sharing drinks, sauce cups etc). The first thing they did when we sat down was take our drink order but the feast was ready before we got our drinks and we had to remind them again.
I must say, the ventilation here SUCKS and I thought our jackets and scarves would smell for sure, but it didn't. The place looked smokey and they had to prop the doors open with a chair at one point, but we sat by the door and it was so cold for us that we had to shut it : (
Overall, the meal was good but I think what makes it great is the experience (does everything just taste more delicious when you eat with your hands?) My favourite was the squid. I would've loved a beer with this meal but they don't serve alcohol. Mango juice & coconut water is $2.00. Soft drinks are $1.50. Gratuities are included (10%) in the bill. I would 100% recommend trying this out if you haven't been yet!
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