getting the fish out of the water

this time around i had dinner with my friends from company x. it was a bit tough choosing the right resto and after several reroutes or restos rather, we ended up in fish out of the water. we had expats with us as well so food has to be picked out correctly. let's see if we got a relatively good score in terms of food selection.

for appetizers we got gambas al ajillo (PHP 289). it was ok, nothing special about it, i actually like my gambas glistening with oil with loads of peppers, this one is not too oily which is good for diet conscious people and the chilli seems to be the bottled ones bought in supermarkets.

the stuffed kalabasa flowers (PHP 169), is a unique and delectable dish. deep fried pumpkin blossoms stuffed with cheese, herbs and pork. the batter was light which is perfect for the delicate blossoms. i would have wanted it super hot and very crisp but over all it was a nice pick.

another one is the crispy baby squid (PHP 235), all along i thought they were baby squid cooked tempura style or something breaded. but it was fried to almost being burnt. very crispy and has the balance of sweet and salty but the "squidness" was no longer evident that you'd wonder what is it made of. as my friend k puts it, "ang mahal na bukayo" (an expensive coconut candy).

the entrees...finally! first is the grilled saranggani bay milkfish belly with risotto (PHP 299) . this is a perfect dish. the belly was well seasoned and the risotto complemented the fish without any overpowering flavors from the lucban longganisa. i liked this one.

we also had the crisp changi butterflied tilapia with black pepper sauce (PHP 295). nothing extraordinary on this one, my friends liked the uniqueness of the pepper sauce. i would have to say that an uber crispy tilapia would have made this dish perfect.

also got singaporean chilli crab (PHP 1400 ++). again, i somehow tasted a hint of those commercially available garlic chilli sauces out in the market. i had better tasting crabs than this.

we also got primo's clam and seafood paella (PHP 475), it was a huge serving for its price which makes it a good choice. but there's not much flavor in it, all i could taste in the rice was the peppers and saffron. ample seafoods on top, but it would have been much better if the flavors seeped through the rice as well.

lastly, as if the carbo from the risotto and paella are not enough, we also had percy's shrimp penne (PHP 295). the sauce was really flavorful even though i wasn't able to get any of the shrimps and it was just the pasta and sauce, this one was definitely a hit. i would have to thank c and s for ordering this =).

overall it was a good meal, prices are not over the top as i expected them to be. filipino food with a couple of twists - good place for balikbayan and expats to try out. service was a bit off probably because we were seated outside and the place was packed. but still, i think they ought to improve on that one.

fish out of the water
3rd level, greenbelt 5