Category: Quezon City

Filipinos like eating bagoong, a special sautéed shrimp paste. While most would mix their bagoong with green mangoes, pinakbet, kare-kare, lechon kawali and rice, others can eat it straight out from the jar! Whoa. 💡

How say you when you learn that a family has built a restaurant with “bagoong” as its main focus and huge inspiration? In this post, Aldous Calubad talks about his experience together with other foodies at the Bagoong Club, where people’s love shown for bagoong is nothing short of an understatement. ♥

Out of all the food tasting events I have ever attended, I was looking forward to this one the most and it did not disappoint one bit. Bagoong Club opened last January of 2008 to workers repairing the streets of Scout Lazcano. Because of that, the owners gave food to the workers so they would work faster on their part because they would lose customers that way.

The restaurant is owned by the Sevilla Siblings which consisted of 3 boys and 1 girl. The 3 brothers are the ones managing the restaurant, while the sister is their pastry chef. They decided to go with the bagoong theme because it was their childhood favorite and they are from Bulacan. Their mission is to bring Filipino cuisines globally just like what is happening now with Chinese and Japanese.

The trophies and pictures at Bagoong Club would tell you just how popular this restaurant is. The list of celebrities that come here to eat just keeps on getting longer as each day passes by. Their Sinigang na Bangus even won a So Pinoy award.

Do you want to franchise them? Good luck with that. Someone tried to do it but the branch closed down after 6 months because of the conduct shown by the franchisee.

Review of Bagoong Club (Quezon City)

Ambiance: ★★★★★

Whenever you decide to dine at this restaurant, you will feel like you are in the comforts of your own home. That is exactly what they want to make you feel: Right at home.

Service: ★★★★☆

I was impressed with the service crew at Bagoong restaurant.  When we arrived, someone was there to accompany us to our table. After that, they gave us the menu. After we ordered, they gave us the list of drinks and they even told us what their best sellers are.

Food: ★★★★★

First, we were given a sample of the 7 types of Bagoong: Pag-ibig (sweet), Umaga (spicy), Buhay (with coconut milk), Asya (with pandan), Europa (with Basil), Special (with Crab Fat) and the basic one which is Lipunan. I must say my favorite one among them is Europa, but all of them are very good because I just love bagoong.

As usual, we found ourselves waiting for the latecomers but I kept on insisting that we stop waiting because we agreed on a certain time. They served appetizer first and they were Ubod, Pinakbet Pate with Talong Chips and Chicharon Bulaklak. I have to say that I adored all those appetizers but I was careful not to make my stomach full for the main course.

The soup dish came and it was one of their best sellers, Bulalo sa Mongo. You have to be missing half of your life if you have yet to try this soup! It was a Bagoong Club original, just like most of their dishes.

The main dishes arrived and all of them were great. They were Mula sa Puso, Binagoongang Baboy Mismo, Lumpiang Ubod sa Talong, Garlic Chicken Inasal and Ensaladang Cilantro Sa Ginulat Na Tilapia. The dishes are healthy, especially the Mula sa Puso. It was named that way because it is basically the heart of a banana. It actually tastes like pork sisig and we all thought it was, but it is actually not.

With every great story comes a happy ending and that is what we got with two lovely cakes namely Pastillas de Leche and Mango Cheesecake.  We all had a hard time dividing the cakes into small pieces because all of us wanted a piece.

Price for Value: ★★★☆☆

My favorites Bulalo sa Monggo (P350), Chicharon Bulaklak (P250) and Bagoong Club Chicken Inasal (P350) can be expensive at first glance.  However, you will find out all these dishes can satisfy the tummies of 2-3 people.

Bagoong Club (Tomas Morato area)
122 Scout Dr. Lazcano, Sacred Heart, Quezon City, Philippines
For inquiries call (02) 929-5450

Mangan is a Pampangan restaurant, related to Cabalen. In Ilocos, Pampanga and Pangasinan, “mangan” means “eat.” For Cantonese like us, “mangan” or 眼盲 means “blind.” That’s why when I first learned of this restaurant years back, I wondered why the owner branded the restaurant with such a negative connotation.

Current branches of Mangan are in Robinsons Place, Manila; Robinsons Galleria; SM Mall of Asia, Pasay; and SM North EDSA.

Review of Mangan (SM North EDSA)

Ambiance: ★★★★☆

Though Mangan offers traditional home-cooked meals, it projects such a modern ambiance. When we stepped inside, we were rapt with the white plates displayed on the opposite walls as design, while the longer wall imitated a shelf filled with mock violet books.

Elegant chandeliers provided the bright blaze of light valued by diners. The entire rectangular area of the restaurant can have room for about 70 people (yes, we counted the chairs).

Service: ★★☆☆☆

Except for giving us free fritters, the rest of Mangan’s customer service was devastating.

Mangan partnered with BDO credit card for BDO credit card users to avail of Mangan’s promo: buy the bistig bangus belly and get another dish worth PHp 220 or lower for free. You can also buy a dish with a higher price tag but you need to pay for the excess amount (more than pHp 220) later.

Mom inquired about the deal, and the waitress at the entrance corrected us with her own version. She said we needed to dine in and purchase at least PHp 1000 worth of food from them before we can have the free dish worth of PHp 220 or lower. My mother insisted on what she knew (according to what’s written on the voucher) and asked the girl to confirm the thing with her superior. After a few minutes, the waitress returned and admitted that her belief was according the old promotion they had and not this ongoing one we were referring to.

Second encounter was the wrong order the waiter served, which I could probably blame on the name of the restaurant. Mangan, right? Does this actually mean the waiter was not able to clearly see what he wrote on the paper where he listed our orders? Instead of placing the lengua caldereta on our table, he mistakenly gave us lengua with button mushrooms (sauteed slices soft boiled ox tongue with lavish creamy mushroom sauce and hefty mushroom).

I thought they just had a different kind of caldereta (brown, not orange) and even turned to Mom to argue my point. 😛 However, when Mom tried it, she immediately knew it really wasn’t what she wanted to have. So the apologetic staff couldn’t do anything but change it to the right one.

Third fault was another wrong order served by another waiter. He gave us the glass of regular halo-halo instead of our actual order, the special kind. Whoa! What’s happening here? They were all careless. Not to mention customers were not that many for us to tolerate their sloppiness.

After giving us the right desserts, my sister asked for two extra spoons for my mom and me (since we would share the halo-halo). The waiter gave us only one and walked away! ‘哇佬耶!

So this branch should not only stick with the name “Mangan” or blind but should also affix “Jilung” or 耳聾 which means deaf. 哎喲! 🙄

Food: ★★★★☆

Filipinos of any province or region are typically known to be good cooks. And Kapampangans are no exception. Their cooking prowess made them win the reputation for being creative at the forefront of culinary wizardry. That’s why when we learned that Mangan is Kapampangan, we really set our expectations up high.

Mangan did not fail to meet that level of expectation. As much as it offers a variety of meaty dishes, it also has plenty of selections for vegetarians and seafood-lovers. So we ordered: jasmine rice (PHp 31), tofu sisig (PHp 100), bistig bangus belly (PHp 220), lengua caldereta (PHp 220) and special halo-halo (PHp 128).

Absolutely free of meat, the tofu sisig was well served without burnt portions stuck on the hot plate. We just pinched one calamansi for it to taste better and mixed it with rice.

The second course was lengua caldereta, made of soft-boiled ox tongue, garlic, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, potatoes, red and green bell peppers. I can’t believe I ate a piece of lengua! 😯 (Huhu, eww…) Texture was soft and not spongy as I imagined. The potatoes in the caldereta were too solid and hard to chew on. There was not enough time to boil them, perhaps.

The pictures below show the wronged lengua order…

Next we had the fish fare. Because there’s a stable supply of milk fish in Pampangga rivers, locals have tons of resources to experiment cooking with inventiveness and versatility. Mangan reflected on this and included several variants of fish on their menu. Aside from the item we had, there are the likes of sinigang na bangus sa bayabas, kinilaw na bangus, bangus a la pobre and bangus salpicao.

Anyway, the bistig bangus belly was just one among the many results of their intrinsic talent. The central part had the belly fat which was sinful and delicious. The accompanying sauce was flavorful, both salty and sweet.

Finally, we punctuated our meal with dessert. The special halo-halo contained a mix of all the following: a dollop of ube ice cream, leche flan, macapuno, banana and mongo beans with smoothly shaved ice. Every spoonful made us experience one to two seconds of brain freeze. Its sweetness was acceptable though we can add more syrup if we wanted to.

Price for Value: ★★★★☆

All dishes were almost drool-worthy and they had affordable prices to match. Once tasted, twice satisfied!

Menu:

Yabu has been hyper in its advertising efforts in the recent months. Word-of-mouth marketing plus social media, I think, are working at best as this Japanese restaurant also known as “the House of Katsu” is gaining popularity in fast track. Katsu translates to “cutlet” in English, a piece of meat that is deep-fried and breaded. Yabu serves a variety of food in this ordeal, and according to the first page of its menu, the restaurant aims to “elevate beautiful dishes to a high level of culinary art.”

Last January 12, Louie and I treated four of our friends to Yabu’s branch in Robinsons Magnolia. It was a super delayed birthday treat! (We did not find common free times from our busy schedules since June of last year.) It was also a great time to catch up with these good friends and for the first time try out what Yabu offers.

Review of Yabu: House of Katsu (Robinsons Magnolia)

Ambiance: ★★★★☆

Yabu does not exactly give a traditional Japanese vibe but is the stark opposite. This restaurant has a completely modern appeal and a comforting vibe. Look around and you’ll see packs of diners who look like they’re really enjoying their meals. Impression from outside was good as much as the inside. The atmosphere was just chill with warm brown tones. The walls were decorated with huge anime pictures, and everything in the dining floor was organized appropriately.

Service: ★★★★★

Service attendants were efficient. Food came out relatively fast. While waiting for our orders and amidst our conversations, the waitress guided us on how to smash the black sesame seeds and mix them with the special Yabu sauce (thick black dip) to add more flavor to our food. Pictures were gladly taken. Also, because our friends were hinting that it was Louie’s birthday, one of the waiters took notice and gave him a slice of hot chocolate cake with a small scoop of chocolate ice cream for free!

Food: ★☆☆☆☆

I wished I could tell you about the same positive feedback other bloggers are exclaiming on Yabu’s tonkatsu. But from the word “ton” (pork) itself, that plainly would not be possible because I’m just not favorable of eating this dish. Neither did the rest in the group.

I had the healthy choice (Vegetable Mixed Set, PHp 290) and met the most disagreeable fried vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and Japanese silken tofu with crispy bread crumbs. Given the pedigree of ingredients, you can probably figure out the one major drawback here. Yup, it’s the grease. The vegetables were so soaked in oil that the strainer became a very useful tool in getting the excess oil out.

The katsu set came with a salad made up of sliced cabbages we can ask the waitress to refill. We could add either vinaigrette and/or sesame dressing to it. I did add both but they tasted not so fine still. Another disappointment was the hot miso soup, which was even lucky to have been sipped through for three spoonful.

Opposite me was Jeatte who ordered the soft shell crab set (PHp 480) coated with fresh panko. I thought the food presentation looked nice so I tasted it as well. I swallowed my bite slowly, realizing that it’s not only me whose food has gone wrong. There was also something in the soft shell crab that I didn’t like, and I was left unsure if it was mostly just the texture of the crab’s insides or all ot it.

Louie ordered the Menchi Katsu Set (PHp 350), served also with unlimited Japanese rice, cabbages, miso soup and a bowl of fruit. The highlight of this dish was the superior ground beef and pork minced together with Yabu’s special spices and stuffed with cream cheese. The picture on the menu may seduce your taste buds, but the actual thing was not at par.

Price for Value: ★☆☆☆☆

Compared to other Japanese restaurants, in my experience, everything has been condescending except the food. And if food is what I pay for, then I’m sorry to report that it’s not worth the price. If you have not been to Yabu, I’m not discouraging you to try their entrees. Somehow this elegant place is worth visiting once in your lifetime.