If you fell in love with the old ‘Smokin’ Hot BarBQ‘ restaurant in Greenbelt 3, then you would too with the new ‘Siklab‘. Bistro Group led ‘Siklab‘ Pinoy Favorites basically just had a name change to better reflect the Filipino cuisine they serve. The menu and location of the new restaurant remains the same.

Basil Lemondae

Upon Siklab’s invitation, we got to try some Filipino favorites off their menu last week, including familiar desserts with a twist. 😛

Starters

For starters, we had the Crispy Bacon Belly (P255) and the Kuhol sa Gata (P225). The former is a sumptuous set of bacon-cut pork belly fried to a crisp with atsara on the side. Although it’s a bit pricey, it was a sumptuous crispy treat true to its name.

The latter was even better with golden snails simmered in coconut milk with green curry, chopped chillies, and lemongrass.

Crispy Bacon Belly (P255)

Kuhol sa Gata (P225)

Main Dishes

With starters setting the bar high, the main menu was at par.

Surprisingly, one of my favorites that night was the usual 2pc. BarBQ Chicken (P235) leg and thigh parts which were 6-hours marinated in their BarBQ sauce fhouse blend producing a sweet-tangy taste. Other sets of 4pcs costs P 455 ; 6pcs – P680; 8pcs – P895.

Another top favorite that night was the Pork BarBQ skeweres (top photo). These are pork bbq skewers marinated in their house BarBBQ sauce and grilled (about P120+ per skewer).

This was followed by the Binagoongang Liempo (P325) which was a chunkier version of the Crispy Bacon Belly above. The Binagoongang Liempo (crispy pork belly) rests on a bed of eggplant sauteed in homemade shrimp paste.

2pc. BarBQ Chicken (P235)

Binagoongang Liempo (P325)

Although I’m cutting down on rice-intake recently, who can resist the Sisig Rice (P245) which came albeit belatedly. It’s a  stir-fry of pork sisig and rice topped with scrambled egg and pork cracklings.

For the veggie-lovers, the Pinakbet (P175) is a must try combining squash, eggplant, string beans, and bittermelon sauteed in shrimp paste with some  pork skin crackling.

Pinakbet (P175)

Veggie Fruit Blast (P110)

Siklab Beverage

It’s worth noting how much I loved the Veggie Fruit Blast (P110) beverage I had. It’s a combination of celery, watermelon, apple, and orange. Classified under the ‘healthy drinks‘ category in the menu, this comes highly recommended by NomNom.

The Cucumber Breeze is also good which is a combination of  pineapple, cucumber and orange. The Basil Lemonade was ordinary though.

Filipino Desserts

Filipinos are known for their delightfully sweet desserts, almost deadly for the diabetic actually. Anyhow, we had the Biko and Turon 2.0; no it’s not Android’s latest OS.

The ‘Biko‘ (P155) is a chunk of visually appealing sticky rice served with chocolate soil and white latik on the side. it is meant to be poured on top and spread.

Biko (P155)

Turon 2.0 (P 235)

The Turon 2.0 looks like pinoy sorbetes on cone. Actually, underneath the ube ice cream is a surprise of Filipino flavors from the combination of banana, langka, and macapuno held together by caramelized cones. A serving consists of 5 cones. It’s a bit expensive at P 235 but worth a try before it becomes Turon 3.0 in the next incarnation.

I’ll surely be back in Siklab wanting to try more Filipino dishes such as Aligue Rice tossed with crab fat, Ginataang Kalabasa at Sitaw, Pinaputok na Tilapia, Pork Belly Adobo, Stuffed Laing with taro leaves stuffed with ground pork and dried alamang. For dessert, the Buco Lychee Sherbet shall not escape.

It was a great Filipino dinner at Siklab in Greenbelt. If you’re craving for some Filipino dishes in Makati, Siklab Pinoy Favorties will not disappoint you.

"Better Pizza starts in the Kitchen"

Pizza stores are on a roll in the Philippines, I think. In the last six months, I was invited to press launches and gatherings in relation to almost all the following developments:

• Pizza Hut added Venus Raj in the list of its celebrity endorsers.
• Pizza Palace opened in Makati Avenue.
• Domino’s Pizza came back in the Philippines and the 2nd branch just opened in Pasig.
• Greenwich has combined it’s two top endorsers John Lloyd Cruz and Anne Curtis into one commercial.
• Angel’s Pizza is beefing up its marketing

Dining at Papa John's

Moreover, I also heard about Papa John’s Pizza having also entered the Philippine market. However, it was only last March when I got to try the pizza brand in their Robinsons Galleria Veranda branch.

The Veranda is one of the newest foodie hangout in the Ortigas area as part of Robinsons Galleria‘s answer to the market’s increasing demand. It was also my first time in the Veranda and they have an intresting mix of restaurants and food spots. More about the Veranda restaurants this month of April.

Back to Papa John’s, I was able to try a bite of their Chicken BBQ and Fisherman’s Catch flavors in both large, hand-tossed, and thin crust servings.

The Chicken BBQ pizza consists of grilled chicken, bacon bits, and onions. I love the sweet and tangy BBQ sauce lining the top layer.

Large 14" Chicken BBQ Pizza by Papa John's

The Fisherman’s Catch is a combination of shrimps, calamari, green peppers, onions, and signature garlic sauce. Ideal for the upcoming lent, the Fisherman’s Catch is a good one. Other lenten specials options include Garden Special, Simply Cheese, and Margherita Special).

Large 14" Fisherman's Catch Pizza by Papa John's

Papa John's Pizza Box

After tasting them, I knew then that founder “Papa” John Schnatter got it right. I believe they will be able to capture the Filipino palate and go a long way.

Both 14″ large pizzas are priced P530 ( 12″Medium – P430 ; 9″Small – P300 ; Jr. Papa – P150 ).

But the star of our meal was the Super Papa.

As its name suggests, Super Papa seem to have it all with the combination of pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions, green peppers & black olives.

At P550, this is NomNom’s recommendation among the three (although all three were superb, promise).

Large 14" Super Papa Pizza by Papa John's

Papa John's @ the Veranda, Robinson's Galleria

Although their pricing levels are a little above the average ones we have in the market, the taste and quailty of their hand-tossed pizzas seem to match it. Better ingredients, better pizza, indeed.

Check out Papa John’s at the Veranda in Robinson’s Galleria. I sure am going back, Mama!

😛