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.
Aside from location, the convenience of buying in the place is also quite genius. They were able to maximize the small place, placing a shelf in the middle, while still allowing customers to browse through their products. Their range of offering also doesn't compete with the surround restaurants, but instead complements it. They have cheap, but good coffee. They have snacks, desserts and even cakes that you can buy to surprise the birthday celebrant in the neighboring restaurant. They aren't renting a big space because they don't need to. It won't surprise me if they are generating better profit compared to some of the restaurants in the area.
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