Sunday, July 8, 2012

Red Garlic


I had my colonoscopy a few days ago and it was a terrifying and rather embarrassing experience. The doctor had me down two huge bottles of this ill-tasting oral preparation that's supposed to purge my entire gut of everything that's in there - good or bad. And it was a totally miserable and enervating experience. Thankfully, my doctor found nothing major and I am happy that I can continue eating what I want to eat.


Anyway, before the procedure, I feared that I have a condition that would put diet restrictions on me, so before I had those probes stuck up my gut, I made sure to have my supposedly "Last Supper" somewhere. I decided to just go to a place close to our house as I was feeling a bit weak and, well, sick this day, and thought that Red Garlic's probably the best place to visit.


Red Garlic has this very cool and relaxed ambiance, and it's pretty nice to know that you can just linger here a bit and read some while drinking a cup of coffee or having a hearty meal. However, I was so disappointed with the service here as the waiters literally ignored me when I walked inside the restaurant.

I had to raise my hand a couple of times, wave at the waiters who were happily chatting with each other, and shout at one before being noticed. That was just outrageous! I felt discriminated. I almost left the place because there was literally no service. But I stayed since I was hungry and I was sick (I didn't want to travel much).

I was handed their menu and I immediately ordered in straight English to make the waiter realize that I am educated and I can pay for my meal. However, I was so annoyed at the fact that the waiter didn't even list down what I said as if he is gifted with some sort of eidetic memory. Alas! Because of his idiocy, he forgot everything I said and had me repeat my order, which was extremely irritating! 

Anyway, let's not dwell too much on their poor service and head on to the food.


Napa Valley Salad (P 299.00)

I started the meal with this interesting salad they call Napa Valley salad. The menu says that it is composed of assembled layers of fresh watermelon, ripe mangoes, chicken breast, and fresh baby romaine served with their Peppermill Signature Dressing. There's also a lot of cheese on top of this salad, but the menu does not say anything about that. 

Surprisingly, I found this salad very pleasant and refreshing. My meal started right because of this dish. It's different but in a wonderfully good way.The serving size's also big and is good for sharing. 


Bologna (Beef Lasagna) (P 385.00)

Next off is the Bologna, which is just a typical baked lasagna dish. Indeed, it was so typical that I got bored eating it. It's also a bit weird because it looked greenish and the pasta was soggy. I am not sure if there's too much sugar on this dish, but I felt like this one had a sweet-and-spicy Filipino edge or something. This does not even touch Mom & Tina's heavenly Chicken Spinach Lasagna, though I have to admit that I loved the idea of putting nachos on the side in place of garlic bread. 


Tomahawk Grilled Pork Loin Chop (P 535.00)

The menu says that their Tomahawk Grilled Pork Loin Chop is highly recommended so I ordered it straight away. This one's a thick slab of pork glazed with their special Mango Chipotle sauce. It looks really nice but tastes really bad. I had to check if it was really Grilled Pork Loin or Tocino I'm eating. It was too sweet! I was expecting more from the 30-minute cooking time, but it was just, well, blah! It was also too tough. Slicing this loin without a chopping board is almost an impossibility! This is even worse than Burgoo's pork chops! I didn't bother finishing this meal and went ahead with the dessert immediately. Yep, that's 500 bucks down the drain. 

New York Cheesecake (P 180.00)

For dessert, I had a slice of cheesecake. This one's nice and dense, but clearly an ordinary cheesecake. It's also too hard to consume, being too sweet and heavy. But it's baked so that exempts it from being a disastrous dessert.


Panna Cotta with Fresh Fruits (P 135.00)

To finish off the meal, I tried their Panna Cotta with Fresh Fruits. It was so pretty to stare at but, to be honest, it was so bland and tasteless. I think I can make a denser, creamier, and better Panna Cotta than this one. Their recipe's got too much gelatin, and this felt like eating Jelly Ace with fruits. I hate to say this but this is even worse than Tokyo Tokyo's Mango Panna Cotta.

So, that ends my last supper and hopefully my very last meal in this restaurant. This is completely banned from my book. Their bad service coupled with their generic if not excessively sweet food is just not worth coming back to.


FINAL SCORES
Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 2/5
Service - 1/5
Value - 1/5
TOTAL - 2/5

Red Garlic Bistro, Blue Ridge
(02) 682 1860
218 Katipunan Ave, Blueridge A
Quezon City



2 comments:

suzette said...

'Though you aren't quite satisfied with your eating in this place Sir brian, what seems to be thankful for is that you could still eat with no diet restrictions. Congrats,cheers! cheers!

The line you had said and may I quote - " so that ends my last supper, and hopefully my very last meal with this resto.." made me laugh Sir. Life is unpredictable anyway, and that what makes us going.

suzette said...

I'm sorry to know that you were not treated fairly because of the waiters' lack of hospitality and training, added to the fact that you were not feeling so well that time. How ironic Sir! This supposed to be "an-excellent-resto-for-relaxation-fitted-for-intellectuals-and professionals-like-you" turned out to be disastrous. Anyway, looks can really deceive, right Sir Brian? hehehe. I hope you would experience a nice try again to your next gut project. Good luck po! ^_^

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