"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
Kampai is a Korean-Japanese restaurant located at the ground floor of the Shopwise building along C-5 in Libis, Quezon City. Inasmuch as we are a frequent shopper at this supermarket, every once in a while we eat here.
October 14, 2013
We ordered the following: For me Chicken Katsu and for my wife, Chicken Bulgogi. Please note that we are now watching our diet and meat dishes are now ordered rarely (and I meant frequency and not quality). Along with our order came four types of side dishes.
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| Side Dishes |
Let's start with that since it was served before the main fare.
First was fried breaded tofu. Some spice was added to it although it was not really spicy hot. It just added a nice "zing" to normally tasteless tofu. I would give this 4 stars out of 5.
Sweet peanuts was next. The slight sweetness somehow took away the crunchiness. 3 stars.
Not being a pumpkin eater, it was Cynthia who partook the slices. She said it was seasoned with salt and pepper and was quite good. 3 stars out of 5
Finally, Kimchi, of course. It was just mildly spicy and sometimes my wife would eat it along with the pumpkin slices. 4 stars.
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| Chicken Katsu |
For the main entree, my Chicken Katsu was served with rice and mashed squash. The Katsu was done perfectly - the breading was crispy and seasoned perfectly. The chicken itself almost melts in the mouth for its tenderness. As I said earlier, I am not a pumpkin eater, but the mashed squash was mixed with potato, beaten egg and had a certain flavoring that removed the pumpkin taste that I don't like. It was so good that I finished the whole thing! Definitely 5 stars!
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| Chicken Bulgogi |
The Chicken Bulgogi was served on a sizzling hot pan. Mixed with the chicken were some mushrooms, red and green pepper and covered with green onions. The meat was tender with a mild hint of sweetness and a touch of saltiness. 4 stars.
The service was very good. Waiting time was about 10 minutes for the main entrees while the side dishes were served promptly. The waiters/waitresses were very attentive and responsive to our requests. Prices were reasonable.
Overall rating 4 stars.
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Kampai Korean-Japanese Restaurant
