Toni's Grill - Pearl Drive, Fairview, Quezon City

"That was a great lunch!" Cynthia said for the umpteenth time as we were driving home. My wife who is an excellent cook herself very seldom reacts this way after a dining out experience. So what was it at Toni's Grill that elicited such praises from my better half?

The food, of course! We had been to this place along Commonwealth several times before inasmuch as it is very close to La Mesa Ecopark - a favorite birding place of ours, but in those occasions we just ordered from their "99'ers" menu. For the price of 99 pesos (about $2) we get a rice plate - unlimited rice with a choice of entrees and bottomless iced tea. The servings are quite small, which is fair enough considering the price but still the dishes are delicious.

This time, however, we opted for the ala carte menu. We had our friend Irene joining us so we ordered three entrees: Crispy Binagoongan, Seafood Medley and Sizzling Bulalo.

First the Binagoongan. Basically it was deep fried pork loin on top of sauteed bagoong (shrimp paste) and boiled eggplant with hot chili pepper on the side. As the name implied, the pork loin was indeed crispy! The sauteed bagoong had just the right fishy flavor in it that boosted the overall taste of the dish.  We all agreed that this merited a 5 star rating.

The seafood medley was super delicious. It had shrimp, squid cutlets and breaded orange roughy cooked with red and green bell peppers, onion, tomato, garlic and bits of black fungus mushroom with soy sauce. The orange roughy definitely does not have any fishy taste at all which, for me, is a big plus. It had that melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. The squid is a bit tough but then that's how squid meat really is. Because of the squid, we gave it only 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The bulalo (meat around a bone with marrow inside) was served sizzling but strangely not painful-to-the-tongue hot. The meat was served with a special gravy, onion rings and mixed vegetables on the side. The beef was tender and juicy and very well done. Without question - 5 stars.

Complementing the delicious food was the excellent service provided by the staff. Ice cold water was served even before we have made any order. The wait for the entrees were not very long - about 15 minutes which was fast considering the kind of dishes we ordered. The waiters were very attentive and courteous.

Overall rating: 5 stars! Did I mention how my wife kept gushing over our dining experience here?

They don't have a website but you can check out important information (address, telephone number, menu) in this website: http://www.clickthecity.com/food-drink/b/NN33222/toni-s-grill-fairview

Holy Cow - Atrium, SM Megamall

Holy Cow is a Western Ranch type restaurant. The ambiance is of course Cowboy style, or at least trying to be. Even the hosts/hostess and servers wear jeans and cowboy hats. Basically the service is quite good - the servers attentive to the needs of the customers.

This is the second time my wife and I tried this place and if memory serves me right we were quite satisfied with our experience then. Today, however, was a little bit different. 

Let's get to the soup first. For an additional P49 they will serve bottomless iced tea and unlimited soup along with your main order. I decided to avail of that. It didn't take long for them to serve the Creamy Clam Chowder. The first thing my wife said when she tried it was "It's not hot!" I took a spoonful and agreed with her. Warm would be a better description. Then there were the little bits of skin of the red pepper mixed into the soup that somehow kept getting stuck to our lips. Definitely not edible! The clams themselves still had that fishy taste. I'd rate this 2.5 stars out of 5.

My main entree was the Cowboy Ranch Style Porkchop. This one was sizzling hot! I had to wait a few minutes before I could get my first bite. Somehow the pork wasn't that tender. The garlic rice was good but not that delicious. The side veggies were OK though, cooked just right - not too tender and not too crispy. 3.5 stars.

My wife's order was the Beer Battered Rodeo Fish Fillet. Despite the fancy name, it was basically breaded Cream Dory with white cream sauce. At least this dish was up to par. No fishy taste and just the right crunchiness. I don't know about the "beer" thing because my wife and I never did taste any hint of it. 4 out of 5.

Our experience today was a bit disappointing food-wise. The efficiency of the servers was the Holy Cow's redeeming factor. Therefore I will give an overall rating of 3.5

Check out their website at http://holycow.com.ph/

La Preciosa - Laoag City

Our friends invited us to join them for dinner at this restaurant - touted to be the best in Laoag City. It was full at 7:30 pm and we had to wait for about 15 minutes before we were able to get a table. Famous for its regional (Ilocano) specialties we ordered their more popular dishes, starting with the Poqui-poqui - an eggplant omelet combined with slices of tomato and onion. I am not normally a fan of vegetable omelets but this one was really delicious! As our British friend, Rob, said "It is food for the gods! Yummy!"

We also had the Crispy Bagnet which is basically deep fried, crunchy pork loin served with achara (a kind of relish). Along with this we ordered Halabos na Hipon (Steamed prawns) and  Kare-kare (a peanut based stew which includes eggplants, string beans and tripe). All these dishes were done perfectly and tasted really delicious!

For the piece-de-resistance, we ordered the house specialty - the carrot cake. Living up to its reputation, it was the best carrot cake we have tried!

Being a very popular restaurant, reservations are highly recommended. For the walk-in customers, there will be some waiting time before a table becomes available. The waiters are efficient and friendly. The ambiance is just right - it is as if you are dining at a relative's house.

I'll give it 5 stars for the food and 4 stars for the service (because of the waiting time). Parking is very limited so if you're staying in a local hotel or a relative's house it is advisable to take a tricycle to get to this place.