Last week, I was going to entertain a guest at M Cafe, only to find out that it’s under renovation and that the new Thursday hangout is the Rocket Room at the Fort (also owned by the same people behind M).

I liked the place. Small and simple. The music was definitely better than M’s. They had two guys on saxophones, which was totally hot. And the crowd was a good mix of beautiful, well-dressed people.

My girlfriend had been there before and raved about the cocktails. I had a sip of hers and wasn’t convinced. My guest was frowning at his mojito, so I tried it too. It was terrible. (I was asking a food writer-friend about bars in Manila the other day, and she said that she liked the Rocket Room but that it had terrible cocktails, so I’m glad to know it wasn’t just me.)

While I’m still off my diet, I wanted to try out my new Paleo drink so that I can get used to it: tequila and soda water. (Vodka, apparently, is now mostly made from grains, not potatoes. So tequila, which is made from agave, is the more prudent choice. The soda water is so that I keep my head on longer than usual.) Since I am not used to mixers anymore, of course, I found my drink weak so, for my second round, I ordered a double tequila and poured in just a small amount of soda water myself. Much better.

We bumped into a few friends and acquaintances at Rocket but, eventually, sat with a group that had just flown in from Singapore.

Later on in the evening, a waiter approached me and informed me that my second drink hadn’t been paid for. By this time, my guest had gone and I had been drinking from a friend’s wine glass, so I was a little bit tipsy. When the waiter said my drink cost P700, I fished out a thousand peso bill from my wallet without any question. It was only later that it occurred to me that the amount was a tad excessive for two regular Cuervo shots (- no, we’re not even talking about Patron here) and a can of soda water. It became even more excessive when the waiter never returned with my change, which I only remembered when I was on my way home.

I mentioned this to one of the girls in the group the next day and she realized that she never got her change either, and she had stayed on at least 20 more minutes after I had left.

So, yeah, the Rocket Room – avoid the cocktails, make sure you see a bill and remember (- if you can, but this is must be what the waiters are counting on, that you will forget) to ask for your change.