Johnny Rockets New Eastwood Mall, Libis

Last night was a date night with A. We watched the brilliant  Joseph Gordon-Levitt  swap spit  with the wide-eyed Zoey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer.

Then we strolled around and A.  let me  slobber over the window displays of the shoe stores within the mall. Before we called it a night, we decided  to snack at Johnny Rockets, a 50s-style  Diner.

The server, Jeng, was a darling-- attentive and all syrupy smiles. The place was well-lit and the music, powered by a jukebox in the center of the resto, appealed to my old soul. And if, like us, you got seated in a booth with a mini jukebox, you can key in your song request via the contraption. And it costs only a peso! The Johnny Rockets franchise has the nostalgic ambience blueprinted well. It reminded us of  similar food joints that were considered a novelty in our heydays...Sam's Diner  at Quezon Ave and Rosie's Diner in Malate.

The food, however, sent us tumbling down cafeteria memory lane. As it was a midnight snack we decided not to order any of the burgers which were the specialty of the house.

A. got the egg salad sandwich which he found bland.

I shared his side salad which I found boring.

The snack was getting depressing.

And the  melamine dishes on which they were served only reminded us how much the resto was overcharging us for food that was fit to be served in a hospital cafeteria.

It was truly a sad moment when my onion rings and fries combo was served. Jeng's seemingly sincere smile couldn't wipe away my disappointment with the six pieces of dry onion rings and one dozen sticks of fries she placed in front of me. It was a sorry, overpriced excuse of a snack. Tsk... tsk.. tsk... 

Maybe we should've just shared a burger. Maybe we should've just stuck to the fastfood joint across the street. Maybe there will be no next time for us at Johnny Rockets.

I am not one to usually complain. But  really, these international franchises should know better! Good ambience and service will not make up for lousy food (unless it's served on top of a naked Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

I'm not angry, just disappointed. I do hope their burgers taste better than the sucky stuff we got served because it would be doubly disappointing for Jeng to lose her job because the owners didn't do theirs.