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.

Shabu Shabu Grande

Where it can be found: Film Center of the Philippines, Manila -- It's at the side overlooking Manila Bay.

Type of dining place: Chinese/ Korean restaurant - semi casual family dining

Type of food served: Seafood

Upside: Okay, I have to admit that I have not tried a single dish from this restaurant. So forgive me because this review will not focus on their food but rather, on their poor service. Before I start ranting, let me tell you that IMHO, a good restaurant must cover three basic points: delicious food, excellent customer service, and cleanliness. If one of these points is absent, then that restaurant immediately falls under "will-never-go-back-there-and-will-warn-friends-of-this-hell-disguised-as-a-restuarant" category.

Downside: Customer service so bad, we did not even bothering eating in this place.

Budget for 1 person: Around P200+++ per dish.... but with service like this, don't even bother coming here and spending that much money.

Must try: Sorry, haven't tried any of their food... you'll see why in my recommendation.

Honest recommendation:
From the outside looking in, the place looks decent enough. It has a mini fountain/aquarium at the entrance and a reception, which I assume is there so that the attendant/waiter/whatever they are called can let you know if there's a table available for your party. The place looks clean and roomy and the tables can seat 10 people. So this resto is obviously not a dating haven but more of a family/reunion/gathering dining place. Once you are inside, the first thing that you will notice is the place is warm. For a place that big and grand looking, this will come as a big surprise. I think they use only one air conditioning unit and they try to spread the cool air with electric fans. The next thing that you will notice is that almost everything written around the area is in Korean and Chinese. I have nothing against this (most of their customers may be of those nationalities) but come on, you are in Phil and if I am not mistaken, 90% of the population is made up of true blue Filipinos, of which around 80% can't read a single Korean/Chinese character. The least you can do is put simple english translations below the Korean/Chinese text so we can understand what the hell is written at the reception area. Even the menu poster board is not translated!!! How are we supposed to know what they are serving? I don't know if it's just me, but I find the lack of english translation insulting because I honestly felt like I was the foreigner IN MY OWN COUNTRY. So okay, since we couldn't read the poster board, we asked for a copy of the menu -- we figured that maybe it will have some pictures and translations that can guide us through their dishes. And in comes the third shocker... THEY HAVE ONLY ONE MENU. As I said earlier, this place can seat around 10 people per table and there were around 15 tables in the entire restaurant. There's only one menu for a possible 150 customers. SOMEBODY STRANGLE THE OWNER AND PUT SOME SENSE IN HIS IDIOTIC BRAIN!!! As you can imagine, we were pretty pissed off by this time but we were so hungry that we patiently waited for our turn to look at the menu. When we finally got hold of it, we were happy to find english translations for each dish but the downside is that the restaurant served only around 15 dishes. Not much choice there but since my family and I are seafood lovers, we immediately picked 3-4 dishes we liked. Surprise, surprise NONE of the dishes we ordered were available. Really irritated now, we decided to wallow our hunger in sodas. Good thing the resto has them. Right after we received the drinks we immediately handed paid for it. Big mistake. My dad, being the righteous person that he is, insisted that they give us a receipt for the sodas (he loathes tax evaders). We watched as the waiter approached the owner (well, we think she's the owner) for the receipt and the owner in turn...looked at our order slip, glanced at our table and did absolutely NOTHING. As in she just went to her throne (chair near the reception) and pretended that we weren't there. So we just sat there and waited for around 15 minutes for our official receipt but it never came. DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRIES, CHECK OUT THIS RESTAURANT FOR POSSIBLE TAX EVASION!!!! In the end, we left the place with our blood boiling and stomachs grumbling. It was a bad way to end a nice Saturday evening. So in conclusion, warn everyone not to try this place out if you want to spare them from painful suffering.

Hong Kong Spring Deer

Name: Hong Kong Spring Deer Restaurant

Where it can be found: Timog

Type of dining place: old style chinese restaurant - semi casual family dining

Type of food served: Chinese

Upside:
Their food is authentic, very fresh and delicious. Among their best dishes are their seafood, of which are all available alive and fresh for your picking - with no extra charge. Any seafood order you make, no matter how simple, will be cooked with something that's fresh and alive. They even host a number of unusual dishes; abalone, eel, rock fish, and even some which I can't name. Their steamed shrimp or halabos is a must try (although the price may seem steep at first glance), but you probably have never tasted shrimp fresher (if theres such a word) than this. Their peking duck is also much cheaper when compared to other upscale restos serving the same. About P400 for half the duck, with the wrapper, cucumber, spring onions and hoisin sauce. Its little heaven in a bundle.

Another upside is their unbelievable service. Even on a moderately busy day, their waiters are attentive, courteous and alert to your needs - to the point that its almost ridiculous. Halfway to reaching for a dish on the far side of the table, their waiters have already picked it up and putting food on your plate. Sometimes it feels bizaare, but if youre bothered by this, just tell them.

Downside:
On the outside, the restaurant is nothing impressive and if youre bringing a kikay,hard-to-please date, be sure to prep her to the ambiance. The ambiance feels very old chinese restaurant, like a place you'd go to Binondo - not that thats a bad thing, some people just may not like it.

Budget for 1 person: About P200 if youre thrifty and order 'strategically'. On average about P400 to P500. Its best to go there as a group or a family.

Must try: Peking Duck, salt and pepper squid, steamed shrimp.

Honest recommendation:
I personally love going to this restaurant. The food is great and the ambiance oddly reminds me of my childhood (going to Peach Blossoms which was also a 'happy' place for me). Some of the prices may seem expensive, but can serve 3 or 4 people, and the food definitely well worth it. The food is so good that my family treks from Antipolo to Timog almost every Sunday just for lunch.

Ihaw - 1

Where it can be found:Philcoa

Type of dining place:Hip/Casual Dining

Type of food served: Pinoy sizzling

Upside: very good food thats friendly to a college student's budget. The well-kept restaurant, with a hip interior design and ambiance is a welcome breath of fresh air to the UP student's dining options.

Downside: It can get pretty crowded on busy days and parking is a hassle.

Budget for 1 person: P100 to 150 for a full meal with drinks

Must try: Squid sisig; among my personal favorite sisig recipes. Their inihaws are also great.

Honest recommendation: Ihaw-1, tacky name aside, is quite a surprising find in the philcoa area. Its not quite fastfood but not quite upscale dining. The food is very reasonably priced and portions are pretty good. Their iced tea in a fish bowl is a cute way to reel in your date too if you're a student on a budget. ^_~

Milko

Where it can be found:
Malls/ Supermarkets

Type of dining place:
It's an ice cream stand

Type of food served:
ice cream

Upside:
Ice cream doesn't melt easily

Downside:
It's not a popular ice cream stand so it's hard to find

Budget for 1 person:
P10-P25

Must try:
Depends on your preference really....

Honest experience:
Unlike the popular Snowpy stalls selling soft ice cream that tastes like cold whipped cream with lots of sugar, milko offers the standard ice cream with a consistency like the ones that come out of a gallon tin can. The ice cream is a little too sweet for my taste and the consistency is more sticky than creamy. I do prefer my ice cream to have a creamy texture but I guess its stickiness is what makes milko stay firm longer than the average ice cream (which melts as soon as it touches a cone). At a very, very affordable price of P10 for a small cone - one scoop - (P20 for a bigger cone with two scoops of your choice and P25 for a cup with two sccops of your choice), the stickiness can be ignored. The flavors are few -- double dutch, cheese, halo-halo, rum with raisins, cookies and cream, chocolate marble -- and although they do not have the basics (like plain chocolate and vanilla), I bet everyone can enjoy at least one of the flavors available. I've tried the double dutch, cookies and cream, and rum with raisins and they all taste pretty good. The latter however tastes just like mocha ice cream. Go figure.
And so.... would I rercommend this ice cream stall? Sure!!! At a very cheap price, you can have a cold treat which is ALWAYS enjoyable in a tropical country, so I personally don't have any complaints.

Other great places to eat

I found a forum in pinoyexchange where people share unknown dining spots "good finds". If you are having trouble with the link, just go to pinoyexchange > Pinoy lifestyle > food and drinks > di sikat pero masarap