Grub Resto-Cafe

After a birthday snack at our good friend Jeffrey's party, we made our way to Duterte Street for dinner at Grub Resto-Cafe. Louie, me and six of our other guy friends, wanted to find out what delicious grub this restaurant has to offer. Once we stepped inside the place, I couldn't help but notice the crisp and clean ambience and concentrate on that for a second. It gives a homey feeling and a warm sense of comfortable dining.

Looking around, I see a number of wooden tables and wooden benches, all of which, were almost filled up with customers. There are also dining tables and chairs where families eat together and share food on the table. We finally settled for a long table near the entrance. It's the biggest available space they have at that moment.

Our waitress was accommodating. When asked what is the restaurant's specialties, she confidently said the Dino Chops is a favorite and so is the Crispy Spring Chicken. It didn't take much persistence from her to order Dino Chops and Fish and Chips in Supersizes. These entrees are served with a cup of brown rice each.

When the Dino Chops arrived, it wasn't that supersized. It was barely enough for 7 hungry guys and a gal. We ordered a second serving, of course. The Dino Chops was alright. It's priced at Php300.00 which for me, is enough for an entree that can be shared by 5 (if all male) and 6 or 7 (if all female). The Fish and Chips on the other hand, is not impressive. For one, there's no distinct taste and the dip of ketchup and mayonnaise is ordinary. I was impressed though, that they use brown rice. It was my first time to eat such although it wasn't a giant leap of a difference from the kind of rice that we eat at home.

They also have homemade goodies such as atchara, wild berry preserve and banana muffin. I ordered take-out for banana muffins and to eat for breakfast.

Grub Resto-Cafe has good food for group gatherings especially families. Although it's a bit pricey, I would like to eat there again 'cause it's a great place to do some catching up.

Kusina Selera

Last night, we had our late dinner at a new restaurant. It has nice interiors, cozy ambience and well-lit dining areas. We came to Kusina Selera found in Legaspi Suites at Legaspi Street. We left full and satisfied but not so impressed with the food. Well, I think they're still at a hit-and-miss stage.

They serve Filipino dishes. Food that you would also enjoy at home but is just much more comforting to eat at their restaurant. Our appetizer was the pomelo salad. It's a toss of chunks of pomelo, slices of tomatoes, unripened papaya and nuts on top swimming in a boat dish of fish sauce (patis). My first impression is that the tangy-ness of the pomelo is overpowering and made the other ingredients useless. But the nuts makes it interesting and I like that the fish sauce isn't so overpowering. You'll hardly even notice that it is what it is.

Our entrees are Bistek Selera and Boneless Crispy Chicken. My sister also ordered the Steak Rice. To start with, Bistek Selera was my order. This dish is good for two. It is like Bistek Tagalog but the catch is there are breaded onion rings on top. Well, that's what the description said but we didn't get the breaded ones, only the usual onion rings. This, however, I realized after we have finished eating it and found it too late to bring to their attention. Next is the Boneless Crispy Chicken. According to our waiter, it's a favorite among their customers and I agree. It's delicious. My only concern was that it's a bit pricey to pay for a half fried chicken on a sizzling plate with gravy. I don't think it can be shared by two. It's like Bigby's Chix Ahoy but I must say, Kusina Selera's tastes better. And finally, the Steak Rice was my sister's order. It's literally sauteed rice with tenderloin tips. This dish is so-so. Although unique in its taste, I wasn't blown away. And the price again, in my opinion, is not worth it even if it has tenderloin tips. However, this can be shared by two but it wouldn't change my opinion on the pricing. It's still expensive.

I think the Dabawenyos' taste have evolved through the years. You'll see classy restaurants popping here and there. They are flanked by Dabawenyos at first but then die down after a while. That's our culture. We try something new but we almost always go back to the familiar taste. But I still do hope that Kusina Selera will eventually turn into a go-to place, somewhere we can all be familiar with. And I would most definitely eat there again because there are many dishes I haven't tried yet. My taste buds are craving for their desserts.

Super Bowl

A typical meal at Rai Rai Ken is an order of Gyudon, California Maki and a can of Pepsi (because they don't sell Coke products). But that day, I decided to try something else and I wasn't quite hungry.

After many minutes of reading the menu over and over again, I ordered a Tantanmen. A bowl of ramen that is salt-based and hot and spicy. Yum...

I was mainly concerned about how hot it would be and if I could finish it when lo and behold, I was served with a huge bowl of Tantanmen. I grew even weary. But before I knew it, I consumed everything and emptied the bowl as empty as I can. I have discovered a new favorite food at my currently favorite Japanese dining place :) It's really tasty and hot but the spicy-ness is bearable. The toppings are not enough though to create a balance with the volume of noodles. Halfway through it, I was left with much noodles to finish and it makes it kinda boring at that point. Still, anyone who's into hot & spicy noodles will surely get your money's worth. It's a must try!