Entrep Food Trip
By Arlo Cristobal
A-Venue Tent
I
have always been a fan of Banchetto
style food exhibits. It’s a place where you can find a wide array of food
choices that are relatively affordable compared to restaurants. It is also a
good avenue to try out innovative food products for vendors since the capital
is smaller compared to renting a space for a restaurant.
For
the food concept, there is a variety of offerings, ranging from isaw to different pasta dishes. Besides
the food option, what makes this place unique is the experience itself. A lot
of times, we find ourselves deciding which place to eat, often thinking of the
food offered in the restaurant. In the A-Venue Tent, you can just opt to go
there without planning and simply decide which food to buy without the need to
break-up the group. For this reason, this had attracted a lot of young
professionals who want to enjoy different types of food, while keeping the cost
down. I also noticed a lot of foreigners in the area, which can be attributed
to the location.
To
add to the variety of food, there was also a stage set-up for a band. This also
gives the place a restaubar feel,
where you can hang-out for an extended period of time. This set-up creates a
lot of interest to passers-by and, in my opinion, is successful in pulling
customers in.
This
venture is definitely a success if the product that you sell caters to the
interest of the crowd. Also, since this isn’t a high-end place, the price of
your food should also be affordable. Another proof of its success can simply be
traced to the volume of people in the area, which is quite significant given
that we visited on a Tuesday.
Dona Dona BBQ
Normally,
I stay clear of Korean restaurants in Manila. The main reason being the cost. The
concept of the Dona Dona BBQ restaurant is quite straight forward – bring the
Korean food experience in the Philippines. Although the ambiance of the place
doesn’t feel very Korean, the food certainly did. Being served by the owner,
Dona from Korea, also pushed the experience to the next level.
The
innovation part of this restaurant would have to be the price. For me,
authentic Korean restaurants are relatively the same in terms of the food they
offer. The main differentiator for Dona Dona BBQ would be how they managed to
lower the cost, yet still offer authentic Korean food. Lower price in this case
is relative to other Korean restaurants both in the Philippines and in Korea.
I’m actually quite interested on how they source and make their ingredients. If
it’s imported, they are doing a really great job to keep the price down. If
it’s sourced locally, then they are doing a really good job transforming it to
a Korean delicacy.
Given
that the restaurant had been there for 5 years, it’s obviously a successful
venture. However, success is really subjective, and it seems that the success
that they are getting is quite limited to their view of success. They may be
profitable, but their profitability may be limited. They are located in a good
venue where traffic of people is high. But still, competition in the area is
also very high. If they really intent to maximize profit, they should
differentiate their restaurant from the competition by starting with the
ambiance. They may offer authentic restaurant food, but I would not have known
that from the outside. To add, the place looks a bit shabby and would greatly
benefit from a good scrubbing.
Goldilocks
To cap the
night off, the group ordered cake and coffee in Goldilocks. Goldilocks had
already made a name for itself so we can’t really argue with their success as a
dessert chain. One thing that could be noted in the branch, however, is that it
was the only dessert place I saw in the area. It’s also quite convenient since
it’s along the street.
No comments:
Post a Comment