Giselle M.
Yelp
Although I never leave reviews, I felt compelled to after what I experienced last night. I had made a reservation about a week and a half out, and was very excited as I have been fortunate enough to experience Filipino food through extended family back in the east coast. I was expecting the restaurant to not only be good, but exceed my expectations of good Filipino food (especially since I have been seeing this restaurant all over social media). But, this was not the case for my party and I. My party and I had ordered the following: Lumpia, Pancit Bihon with prawns, Adobo Fried Rice, Bistek and two sides of Jasmine Rice to accompany the Bistek.
The Lumpia: There was a lot to be desired here flavor wise. It was very bland considering the nature of the dish, and tasted as though it had been out for a while/chronically reheated. The chili sauce that accompanied the lumpia was flavorful but it couldn't save the dish.
Pancit Bihon: A lot more flavorful than the lumpia, but a little excessive on the charring to the point that it tasted burnt. Although a malliard reaction is a massive contributor to flavor, there is such a thing as overdoing the sear to the point that it becomes a burnt crust, and that's what happened here.
Adobo Fried Rice: The dish was flavorful, but the rice was underdone. A common theme throughout this dish and other rice based dishes. When I pointed this out to our server, their excuse was that the kitchen was swamped and they must've rushed through the cooking process.
Bistek: The dish that our whole table was waiting for. Although the marrow was delicious, the steak left A LOT to be desired. Although medium rare, it was a VERY tough piece of meat. Our table spent a good couple of minutes properly chewing each piece that was supposed to be "melt in your mouth" good to avoid choking. In addition to the meat being tough, this dish ran into the same problem as the Pancit Bihon with prawns, the malliard reaction was overdone to the point that both the meat and the cilantro relish tasted burnt. Inedibly burnt. Additionally, the dish tasted as if it were cooked on a dirty pan where there was a previous reduction of soy marinade already there, with the burnt sugars causing the crust to be inedible. So much so that our table did not bother to finish the dish. The jasmine rice that we ordered to accompany the Bistek was also not done. It was hard, and crunchy. When we pointed this out to our server, we were given the same excuse as we had been with the adobo friend rice.
Although our server was great, and the mocktails and cocktails were also phenomenal, this place is definitely a miss. I suggest that people should only go there for the drinks and service and not for the food until they can get their act together on quality, flavor, and pricing (which is incredibly excessive for what you get portions wise and the flavor of the dishes). All in all, very disappointed.