Restaurant Reviews

[Zirv]

---

REsto 27 @ crossroads

Bacon Cheese Burger
-Real Beef not meat extenders
-the way burgers should be
-5/5

Pasta with garlic Prawns
-whole prawns giving excellent flavor
5/5

[Addicted2]

@zirv: what about the price?

[jungie]

btaw zirv musta ila price was choosing with it and gourmet cafe ganina we chose gourmet nalang kay mas daghan man tao so we thought mas lami cguro kay daghan man tao hehehe...

ang gourmet medyo mahal2x i ordered the ribs and my wife got fish murag salmon man cguro to 250 man cguro sa ako ribs nya ang fish 250 to 300 man cguro i forgot the price apil na sa amo drinks amo nagasto 700+ rating for the food was 4/5 lami cya pero not the best i had...

overall rating is 4/5 very accomodating ang staff and i think the owner was the one taking the orders

[Zirv]

REsto 27 @ crossroads

Bacon Cheese Burger
-Real Beef not meat extenders
-the way burgers should be
-5/5

Pasta with garlic Prawns
-whole prawns giving excellent flavor
5/5

Burger was 155

and the pasta was 220

[epoycebu]

My Choice....

Italian -La Bona Forchietta. Just perfect italian food. Location is quite hard to locate though. You can also try Guiseppe in Banilad road going to Maria Luisa.
Asian - Spice Fusion in BTC. Value for money. Malaysian Chef Ling from Waterfront. Excellent food for the price your paying. Just make reservations or come in advance since there always full especially at night.
Japanese- Banri Noodle House. The closest Japanese food you could ever taste. Very authentic. Japansese chef Terasawa.
Seafood- Cowrie Cove. Very upscale though complimented wtih a good view. Recommended for romantic dates.
International- Abaca. Located in new boutique resort in Punta Engano. Nice Design, Great Food but very expensive. Go there once in a blue moon. hehehe
Spanish- Arano in Guadalupe. Just love those authentic homemade Basque cuisine.
Hola Espana is a good restaurant too.
Eat all You Can- Marco Polo. Wide variety to choose from. Lowest cost among the upscale hotels.
Chinese- Lai Garden, Ching Palace- There almost comparable to each other
Filipino- Golden Cowrie/ Chickaan
Budget: Salo-Salo and AA's in Banilad
P
[br]Posted on: March 20, 2007, 01:20:23 PM_________________________________________________
La Bona Forchietta is quite expensive. prepare to shell out 500-600 per head. If your into authentic italian cooking, you'll love their food. Pizza as mentioned doesn't have too much toppings and not the usual pizza you eat in shakeys,jca or da vinci's because these are made the italian way. You could also try Guiseppe in Banilad road going to Maria Luisa. Their also have an Italian chef that gives excellent dishes.

Hope I could be of help.

[biangkyJ]

I was sort of a trainee in abaca that lasted for one day - hehehe -- i wasn't part of the service crew or the waitress/waiters group - i was in a telephone operator/office assistant position - i decided not to stay and accept the job for a reason - the place is beautiful - talk about romance and serenity - it's a good place to bring your keridas or sidelines because it's very private - that's the reason why they called it abaca boutique resort - private and small -
now, if you wanted to impress your date, that is you can shell out some serious dough, try it there - minimum charge per person is P1500 - P1700 excluding drinks -- oh well, you can cut down the price range if you decided to eat the salad only and one round of shake -- hehehe -- even there salad is priced between P300+ - P500+ ---

[cindyindy]

asa ang hola espana? location? ty

[epoycebu]

HOla Espana is located in Banilad Road going to Maria Luisa. Its on the left side. It's owned by the Luilliers.

[nonagirl]

pla buffet sa marco polo?

asa man nyc mga restaurants nga mo offer ug buffet?

[food-critic]

Hot Spot

The first stop would be Hot Spot, towards the left of the interior. We sat and ordered Lechon Kawali, Grilled Pork Belly, and a bottle of beer.

Their place is entirely used up for the kitchen with the grill in the middle, a standard setup in most small space restaurants. The interior is red, presenting a warm ambience. The staff is very accommodating, and actually talking to us as we passed by inviting us to try their food. The first reaction was that they have to replace their sign. It’s made of cut out wood with back lighting and it doesn’t give out an effect of attracting anyone at all.

On with the meals.. we waited and waited, saw lots of smoke coming out of the grill and rising into the hood and exhaust system. Made me think that the cooking is done right, after all, it’s been 30 minutes since we ordered.

Finally, our orders arrived. To my disappointment, the pork belly was probably 85% fat, and was literally about 6 inches x 3 inches.. it was that small, full of fat, and cost more than P60!!! Nonetheless, I tried it to taste but couldn’t find any flavor at all! The Lechon Kwawali was so pale, it looked fake. I bit into it expecting a crunch, instead, it felt like I filled my mouth with lard! It tasted nothing but “oil”. Not even the strong pork flavor could be detected.

Overall Rating:

[br]Posted on: March 22, 2007, 04:32:56 PM_________________________________________________M olecule

Although this is a place inspired by alcohol, and their shirts would read "If I dont get you drunk, I'll get fired:", you shuold come by and try their food. here's what we ordered

Porck Chop Silog - P45
Sizzling Pork Chop with Mushroom Gravy - P60
Beef Strips -P100
Spicy Chicken Wings - P100
Kinilaw ; P100
Salt & Pepper Pork Ribs: P100
Sweet and Sour Pork Strips - P100
Chicken Gizzard - P60

I started off with the pork chop silog and I was amazed at how good this is at P45! (rating *****) This truly is value for money.. especially when you've had so much red horse to drink! The other came by two's and getting a taste from each of the dishes is a delight! The servings are generous, and the recipes are well thought of. 5 stars

Sizzling Pork Chop: Great dish at P65! Lots of mushrooms, gravy and a big slice of meat! Rating 5 stars

Beef Strips Their take on the beef steak, tender, flavorful, served with onions. Rating 3 stars

Spicy Chicken Wings: Tender, lots of meat, perfectly fried, and tossed with teriyaki sauce with hints of nori and wasabi. Rating
Kinilaw No explanations needed. rating (request for the cucumbers to be diced, and tossed with the fish instead of just being a garnish. Rating 3 stars

Salt & Pepper Ribs: Delicious! Riblets fried with the flavor of salt and pepper, perfect with spiced vinegar, and beer. Rating

Sweet and Sour Pork Strips Their take on the sweet and sour pork, very good, and you can pour the generous amounts of sauce on your rice if you wish (not my thing, but I see everyone do it!) Rating 4 stars

Chicken Gizzard You wont believe how good this is! It's perfectly sized to fork, and bite once, and finish off the second time around. It's got nice texture, a bit chewy, yet tender. Dip it in spiced vinegar, or eat it as it is. I find this the perfect pulutan for beer. Rating 5 stars

The staff was excellent as well!!! Talk to the chef and request for a dish!

Overall Rating


[br]Posted on: March 22, 2007, 04:37:17 PM_________________________________________________W e decided to try Le Guar last night. My friends arrived earlier and had ordered buffalo chicken wings. This item seems to be a constant on most outlets here at Paseo, so it's safe to say that this can be a gauge for their quality of food.

I ordered beef strips, or whatever it was called. I apologize for not remembering the name, but it would be difficult to do so since they forgot to place my order. (this would be a good thing later on)

The wings was of an oriental variety, served with sweet and sour sauce. Cost: PhP120. Worth it? Not at all. Would have been fine for PhP60 since they only served 6 very little pieces, and you would probably get better chicken wings elsewhere, at half the price, more quantity, and better flavor.

I will try other dishes, at least 2 others, to come to a conclusion, but considering the quality of their chicken wings? We’ll have to see.



[br]Posted on: March 22, 2007, 04:39:15 PM_________________________________________________N ext stop last night was Pitlane. I decided to order their buffalo chicken wings, and baby back ribs. I was interested in their horse tapa but they didn’t have it.

Buffalo Chicken Wings: Fried just right but the sauce is awful. Sauce was some kind of banana ketchup mixed with pepper and a few spices.. the chicken sauce at Le Guar’s was a tad better. (read my review on Le Guar on the previous post) Costs more than PhP120, and obviously not worthy of the price.

Baby Back Ribs: The meat was quite tough, and lacks flavor. I believe marinating it overnight would be a good thing to do. And a comment I heard from someone who had the same dish mentioned (refering to the pitlane kitchen) that they probably thought that the sauce would punctuate the overall flavor with “yummy”. Sad to say, the sauce wasn’t even that good.

*** I’d like to comment on their concept. I find it cool that they placed red racing seats by the bar, hanging coil springs, and the racing motif in and out. They also did a fair job at lighting. I’d suggest they leave the lights in front of the bar lighted, and use a dimmer switch on the high-wattage garden spot-lights to reduce the heat generated by it, but leave a cool lighting in the particular area.

Rating: 2 stars

I'll do further reviews on their house specialties this weekend.


[br]Posted on: March 22, 2007, 04:41:19 PM_________________________________________________H angover clearly has the biggest space so far within Paseo. You have an air-conditioned area at the ground floor with the DJ playing really nice tunes, and a breezy roof deck conducive to binging onfood and drinks, and having tons of fun with friends.

As suggested by their staff, we ordered their sisig and chili wing and a couple of beers. The beer took 15 minutes to get to my table.. tsk tsk

The dishes arrived not too long after the beer, and here are my thoughts on it.

There was generous amounts of sisig on the sizzling platter, had quite a good texture to it, but lacks flavor. This can easily be improved since it’s clear that they did not skimp on ingredients, but the spices.. I would recommend that they add more acidity and saltiness during preparation. Sisig is commonly taken as pulutan, therefore should have a stronger flavor than usual.

The chili wings are equally promising. It was fried just right, tender meat and crispy skin. However, it was served too dry. I would recommend more sauce added to the plated chicken, not too much, just enough that you have it coating your palate to leave a pleasant flavor with the chicken pieces. The sauce on the other hand needs improvement as well. It’s a mix of the regular hot sauce, soy sauce and oil (if I am not mistaken) which comes out too ordinary tasting, and not a flavor you’d remember.


Rating 3.5


[br]Posted on: March 24, 2007, 04:36:53 PM_________________________________________________D oce is well known for their blended cocktails, and I myself have tried several of their concoctions, but let’s do a review on food first.

The house specialty is sizzling mushrooms and crispy pata, both commonly ordered by guests, with the former being the best seller.

The sizzling mushrooms came out too sweet. It is always best to capture the flavor of your main ingredient, not overpower it by the sauce. (It is a common mistake to think that the sauce is enough to complete a dish) The garlic was fried, but was mixed in with the mushrooms and sauce leaving it soggy. The garlic would have been nice if it were crunchy, served on the mushrooms after plating, not mixed in. This way, you get a burst of flavor and different textures from the mushroom, sauce and the garlic.

Crispy pata came out as it is expected, fried, chopped into bite sized pieces, tender meat, crunchy skin, and very good flavor. Dip it in their spiced soy sauce, and you got a good crispy pata experience. PhP 220 might not be in everyone’s budget, but this dish is good for 4-5 people.

Sizzling mushrooms: 3
Crispy Pata: 5