Salt & Pepper

Where it can be found: Herrara Street, Makati City

Type of dining place: Semi-casual dining

Type of food served: Italian

Upside:
The place is open the whole day, serving hungry yuppies for lunch and snacks then turning itself into a good place for a semi-quiet night out (the candlelit tables make the place look cozy). The resto is clean and well-designed and there's a separate room for smokers which makes the rest of the room smoke free (thank God!!!). The food is good too. The dishes are good for 2 people and the idea of sharing it with someone makes your experience in that place even more cozy. And the best thing about this place is there's a 30% off the dishes you order after 3pm. Yay for the budget conscious peeps!!!

Downside:
If you and your friends are kind of a loud bunch of people (which my officemates and I usually are when we hang out together) then be prepared to irritate other diners. Hehehe :) The place is a bit warm so in the middle of the meal we were sweating a little bit (sitting in a candlelit table may look romantic but it also makes the place a bit warmer). Also, the big screen on one side of the place that shows some sport coverage/ mtv show does not really match the feel of the place. The place turned into a combination of a sports bar and a romantic place, and it does not work for me. I personally think that the screen is good for daytime customers but not for dinner.

The food is good and there are a lot of food categories available but the selection of dishes per category are few. Except for the dessert list, which was pretty long, there is not much too choose from if you want to have a semi-heavy meal.

Budget for 1 person: Around Php200.

Must try:
I am a huge italian food fan so I enjoyed all the food we ordered. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of the dishes we ordered because most of them are in Italian and I was also very tired last night. SORRY!!! If I ever get the chance to go to this resto again, I'll make it my mission to remember the names of the dishes. Anyway, what stuck in my mind was the tuna and penne salad I shared with 2 of my friends. The penne noodles were a bit underdone for me but there were no complaints for my friends.

Honest recommendation:
It's a good place to try out with a bunch of friends in the morning and a close friend or two at night, especially if you are more of a dessert lover than an entree fan.

Sentro

Where it can be found:
Greenbelt 3 branch, right beside Bubba Gump

Type of dining place:
Semi-casual dining

Type of food served:
Filipino

Upside:
Great food, accomodating servers and nice interiors.

Downside:
Although the place can accomodate around 70 people, it is always jampacked. So you better make a reservation at least a day before unless you are willing to be waitlisted for an hour or so. Also, the acoustics is not that great. I honestly don't know why restos these days forget this very important factor. You need to speak loudly if you want the person sitting next you to hear what you are saying. It also does not help that the kitchen is somewhat open to the actual dining area so you can hear the clanging of pots and pans while you eat. Plus, most of the people who eat there come in big groups so yes, it does get really noisy inside. The good thing though, is that the noise level is tolerable but if you want to spend a quiet dinner then this is not a good place to go. Lastly, if you are budget conscious you'll find the dishes expensive. Each dish serves 2 people and on average, it costs Php180. It is best to plan your order ahead (a.k.a. strategic ordering) so you can have your fill and get your money's worth.

Budget for 1 person:
Around Php250.

Must try:
I would recommend the corned beef sinigang -- the great thing about this dish is before they serve it, they give you a sample of the soup so you can have them adjust its sourness to your liking. They also serve it in the traditional palayok which makes the dish more appealing (for me anyway). They put the palayok on a silver tray and it is kept warm by the tealight underneath. So throughout the meal the soup is nice and hot. Corned beef in sinigang sounds weird but don't worry, it does not taste at all like the corned beef that comes out of the can. The beef is absolutely wonderful. Their garlicky adobo is also a great dish although if you are a big adobo fan, you may get disappointed. It's a mix of beef and pork topped with toasted garlic bits but it does not taste like the usual home-cooked adobo. The balance of the vinegar and soy sauce is not that noticeable so I wouldn't really classify it as an "adobo" dish. Still, it is very tasty. For your drink, try the sago't gulaman. This is my second fave Pinoy drink (after buko juice) and their blend is different from what I am used to. I think that the syrup they use is made from muscovado sugar or panocha (a type of sweet sold in Ilocos Norte) because it has a strong carmel taste. The drink is a little too sweet for my taste but I still enjoyed it.

Honest recommendation:
When it comes to eating out, I try as much as possible not to eat at restos that serve Filipino food. Not that I hate it, it's just that I can always have Filipino food at home. So why pay a lot of money for something that my family can make in our kitchen (and IMHO, the Filipino dishes we have at home is waaaaaaaay better than the ones served in restaurants)? However, Sentro brings traditional Filipino food to a different level. There's a twist in each dish that makes it different from the home-cooked Pinoy fare. The great thing about it is that it reminds you of home and you also get the sense that you are eating something new and different which makes the meal a lot more enjoyable. If you are willing to shell out more than usual and you love eating with rice, then this is a great place to go.