Free and/or discounted meals can buy happiness, at least for adventurous foodies. And that’s exactly how we became happy diners at Carol’s Texan 5. Back story: Recently, Zomato rewarded me with a PHp 500 meal voucher at Carol’s Texan 5 for winning their Write for a Bite Contest. I used the GC for an early dinner with my boyfriend last fortnight.
Somehow, we have not been keeping up with scenes in San Juan area. This gives us a valid excuse for not hearing about this restaurant at all. Having the address written on the voucher, we navigated through iPhone Maps application and finally reached Carol’s Texan Five after several U-turns. 😛 The off-the-grid location makes it feel like a real find, and I think the level of food being served would cost double if this spot were located in Greenhills Shopping Center or anywhere nearer.
Review of Carol’s Texan 5 (San Juan, Quezon City)
Ambiance: ★★★★☆
Texas is often associated with the image of the cowboy. Thus Carol’s Texan 5 is decorated aptly with cowboy stuff and colorful Western art. I like the bright ambiance here which makes the place ideal for group celebrations, dates and even client meetings.
I thought there’s supposed to be a band performing at night because of the area that looked like where a drum set is placed. Later we learned that the perimeter is only for taking pictures and looking at your reflection in the mirror as you wear cowboy hats and pretend you can speak Italian.
Service: ★★★☆☆
We were the only customers at that time, yet service was not prompt and a bit below par. There was only one staff behind the counter and it was she who took our orders, served the food, and prepared the bill.
When asked, she said that peak hours are staggering every day, so she couldn’t be sure when more customers would arrive. That’s doubtful. I mean of course she should know! This explains why I gave few stars for service in this establishment. I wondered how many waiters normally work in busier hours and if they are able to handle customers well.
Food: ★★★★☆
It’s an incontrovertible fact that fried foods pair fantastically with other fried foods. 😯 Taking that to proper consideration, we had three dishes which are marked with the “best-seller” sign on the menu: Five Star Fish and Fries (PHp 255), Dynamite Wings (6 pieces for PHp 175) and Calamares (PHp 125) — all fried! 😛
The Five Star Fish and Fries is a dish that is more popularly known as “fish and chips.” So make no mistake about thinking this is one that features “star fish” as the main ingredient. Texan 5’s fish and chips were not as greasy as other restaurants serve. In fairness, this dish was a tasty break from the norm. The garlic mayonnaise was a great dipping sauce for potato chips as well as the fish fillet. It’s one of those splurge-worthy comfort food that never goes out of style.
The dynamite wings didn’t taste hot or spicy as we expected; These were regular breaded fried chicken without the frills of any other noteworthy flavor. Potato wedges (French fries) were okay.
Lastly, the calamares (fried squid rings and coated tentacles) that came with sour cream was appetizing as it was visually appealing. In sum, good food: check!
Price for Value: ★★★★☆
Whether you’re six or 60, there’s little denying that comfort food forms a culinary genre that’s near and dear to most of our hearts. Food in this house are, at large, comfort food. While there’s grease and much oil because of the deep fry cooking and thus the 99.5% chance that it could be terrible for your health, it feels so good going down — and don’t you deserve to feel good now and then?
Carol’s Texan 5 serves good food with affordable and reasonable prices and generous portions. It’s where you can eat your meal anytime during operating hours (see below) without feeling guilty of overspending.
[schema type=”review” url=”https://www.facebook.com/texan5″ name=”Carol’s Texan 5″ description=”(2F) 713 Jose Abad Santos, Little Baguio, San Juan, Quezon City (You’ll find Tea Monkey in the first floor.)” rev_name=”For inquiries, call (02) 727-3843″ author=”Rochkirstin Santos” pubdate=”2013-07-08″ user_review=”15″ min_review=”0″ max_review=”20″ ]
Operating hours:
Sundays to Thursdays: 12nn to 10pm
Fridays and Saturdays: 12nn to 12mn
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