Persian Square's another one of my favorite restaurants, not necessarily because of the good food served here, but because of its breath-taking interior design. 

From its high-arched portals, to its decorated columns and raised terraces, its architecture is truly a majestic wonder, exuding a sense of nobility and traditional style.

It looks like a mosque from the outside. But wait 'til you get inside.

Without a doubt, the interior's appearance could pass for a first-class restaurant. The tables look very sturdy and expensive and the seats are all custom-made. Everything in the restaurant looks posh and  luxuriously Persian. 

There's even an indoor fountain inside...

...and a mural with a map of Iran (Persia).

Plus, they have free Wi-Fi access inside the restaurant for those who would like to linger a bit and, perhaps, read or study. The place is also very private.

Of course, with an ambiance like this, the food also does not come cheap. I and my friend found it very hard to pick which ones to have on the menu as everything's really pricey. We're on a tight budget during this meal since we've had lunch and afternoon tea somewhere else before we went here for dinner, so we didn't have enough cash anymore to splurge on their very expensive kebabs. 

Barbari Bread (P 20.00)

After much deliberation, we started the meal with a ridiculously cheap piece of flat bread, which they call Barbari (this one's the cheapest food item on the menu so we made sure to order this). It was still hot when served and we've noticed that, unlike other ordinary flat breads, it's toasted. I wouldn't really say that it's the best flat bread I've tasted but, for the price, I think this one's pretty satisfactory. This can be slightly difficult to eat though as it's a bit hard, but it's okay for me.

Koobideh Kabab (P 125.00)

As we were budget-constrained, we also thought of ordering their cheapest kabab, the Koobideh. The menu says that this is a skewer of juicy strips of charbroiled seasoned ground beef mixed with onion and Persian spices. I wasn't too sure about the juicy part, but I thought that it tasted okay (although  I felt like eating meatballs while munching on this). It was a little bland but the sauce that came with it was spicy enough, giving this dish more flavor and making it, overall, interesting. It's not too bad for the price.

Red Sauce for the Koobideh Kabab. It's spicy!

Bakhtiari Kabab (P 345.00)

But, of course, we also wanted to try those kebabs from the upper price range, so we picked this well-garnished and colorful dish, called Bakhtiari Kabab. The menu describes this as a skewer of charbroiled slices of chicken fillet and beef tenderloin marinated in lime juice and onion. I thought that it was actually good. The chicken fillets were tender and the meat was juicier and more flavorful than the Koobideh. The mayo-like sauce (which I think is probably yogurt sauce) actually gave this dish a Shawarma-like feel, but I still loved it anyway. This was easily the best dish of the night.

Mayo-like Sauce of the Bakhtiari Kabab. It tasted like the garlic yogurt sauce on Shawarma wraps.

Watermelon Shake (P 95.00)

To douse our flaming and almost burnt palates, we had a glass of this refreshing watermelon shake. It was sweet and really fruity. It's the perfect drink for an extremely spicy meal, and it looked cool with the slice of watermelon on the glass (which, of course, we ate as well). 

Our meal here wasn't really what I would consider exquisite, but it was at least satisfying. The service here was great, everyone's attentive, and the ambiance is worth coming back to. Surely, this place would always be remembered. I just hope that I have more money to spend the next time I pay this restaurant a visit so I can try out their rice dishes (Chelo) and other kebabs.

FINAL SCORES

Ambiance - 5/5

Food - 3/5

Service - 5/5

Value - 4/5

TOTAL - 4.25/5  

Persian Square

(02) 470 77 00

101 Julia Vargas Avenue

Ortigas Center, Pasig City, M.M.

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Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe

Have you ever experienced an extremely laid-back Sunday morning on a warm sunny day? How about a wonderful day you spent with your family, sitting on a comfy couch and chatting over pastries and coffee? Well, probably, at least once in your life, you have. 

         

However, in this time and era, most, if not all, people do not have the liberty to experience that quiet calmness anymore. Everyone’s just so busy and, even if a lot of people just want to take their minds off the things they need to do, spend some time off, and enjoy the moment with their family, they do not always have that opportunity to do so. This is where I think Mom & Tina’s Bakery Cafe enters the picture.

Just stepping outside this restaurant brings you right away to a place that seems so fantastical - it’s almost dreamlike. The place looks nothing like any local restaurant. Can you see the bricked walls and the architectural design of this place? It’s like going inside a theme park or warping yourself straight to Europe.

And it gets better as you go inside.

It’s such a quiant and homey environment.

It’s clean.

It’s bright.

And, most importantly, there are lots of sweets and baked goodies inside!

We spent a lot of time looking at their very cute menu until, finally, we decided to complete our order list.

What’s on our table?

Blueberry Muffin (P 45.00)

Well, of course, we prioritized the sweets and pastries more than anything else, and first on the list is the Blueberry Muffin. This was okay. Nothing extraordinary, really. I guess blueberries are better made as a syrup and topping on cheesecakes than used as a flavoring for muffins.

Hershey’s Kisses Brownie (P 32.00)

After we finished the Blueberry Muffins off, we munched on this tiny piece of brownie next. It was the smallest treat we had for the day, but, oh, what a delectable little brownie this really was. It was just heavenly! My goodness! I had to clench my fists so tightly, close my eyes shut, and almost scream “Mamma Mia” at the top of my lungs after taking a bite off of this brownie. It was that good. Mom and Tina, whoever you two guys are, thank you for perfecting the chocolate brownie recipe. Without exaggeration, this is definitely the richest, moistest, and densest chocolate brownie I’ve ever tasted in my life, and the Hershey’s Kisses at the center just gives this piece of heaven a creamy chocolate goodness. Too bad the serving size is too small. We screamed for more, but we had too much on our plate to consume.      

Baked Oreo Cheesecake (P 150.00)

Oh, and it just keeps getting better and better. We had the cheesecake next, and it was absolutely enchanting! This is certainly one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted in my life. I forgot about Italianni’s New York Cheesecake, Banapple's Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake, and Secret Recipe’s Caramel Cheesecake after trying this one out. It was simply divine!

Beehive (P 65.00)

We already had a sugar overload after eating too much sweets, but we still went on and devoured the Beehive next. I initially didn’t like to order this, but my friend insisted on having it because of the cute little bee on top of the chocolate coating. She had her eyes set on the bee even before we went and looked at any other cupcake on display. I think the bee has a hypnotic effect on her and she instantly got lured to eat it. 

Alas! The Beehive got butchered and, as expected, it was a coated chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow filling. It was too sweet, but my friend still enjoyed eating the sugary bee candy whole. 

White Chocolate Chunk Cookies (P 64.00)

We aren’t giving up, are we? Up next on the chopping board is the White Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It was crumbly and crunchy and, well, not really my type as I like my cookies to be a bit chewy. Nonetheless, it just had the right texture and flavor - not too hard, not too sweet. The white chocolate was also a pleasant addition to the cookie. 

By this time, we’re already running out of water and the silly waiter is still not refilling our glasses even after calling his attention plenty of times. What a way to ruin our epicurean adventure. We were parched to death!

It’s a good thing they served the lasagna already so we’d have something salty to snack on while waiting for the glass of water.

The lasagna came with two pieces of bread, which I think were reheated. They were okay, but I prefer a better pastry paired with the pasta.

Chicken Spinach Lasagna (P 175.00)

But who could complain with a pot of lasagna like this? This is just lip-smacking good! Scrumptious, I should say. The flavors of the spinach and pasta sauce blended so well with each other, and the pasta was simply perfect. It reminded me of what my late mom would always cook for us when we were kids (and she cooks really well). I didn’t want to share this small portion of pasta with my friend, but she helped herself anyway. Again, the serving size was just too small for heavy eaters, like us.

We were refreshed a bit because of the savory goodness of this dish, but still no water came. Heck! We were already suffering from dehydration when our glass of water was refilled, finally. I wonder if they have water shortage in the store.

Lost and Found

So, we left the place, without tipping the waiter as he was irrevocably incompetent. However, happy with the food, we went ahead without me noticing that I dropped something on the floor of the restaurant. I left my sunglasses underneath the couch! It wasn’t that expensive anyway, but it’s still a nice Kenneth Cole shades, which I can’t easily find here in the Philippines. Having realized that I left it in the shop, I called them up right away to tell them about the incident, and they assured me that if they find anything, they’d send me an SMS right away.

After one day, they indeed sent me a message and told me that they’ve found my sunglasses and I could claim it at the counter. Happily, the next couple of days, I went back to their store and had a box of cupcakes and muffins taken out as a sign of appreciation for their honesty. This pretty much makes up for the incompetence of the waiter we had the day we dined in. It was redemption at its finest.

I went back at around 7:00 PM and this was  what the store looked like at night. Neat, right?

Here’s the box of my take-away muffins and cupcakes.

Box of Six Muffins and Cupcakes (Varies)

I had six muffins that day. In order (clockwise from the top), they are the following: Blueberry Muffin, Chocolate Fudge Cupcake, Butter Cupcake, Carrot Cupcake, Mocha Cupcake, Mocha Fudge Cupcake, and Banana Cupcake. I shared these with the folks, of course, and according to them, the best ones are the fudge cupcakes (both mocha and chocolate). You can never go wrong with anything that has chocolate in this shop.

Overall, I’d still recommend this cafe. Sometimes, the waiters can be a bit grumpy, slow, and incompetent, but the food was absolutely delicious and the price was just right. I hope they can make bigger servings though.

FINAL SCORES

Ambiance - 5/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Value - 5/5

TOTAL - 4.5/5
     

Mom & Tina's Bakery Cafe

(02) 914 0833
106 E. Rodriguez Jr., Ave., Brgy. Ugong
Pasig City, Metro Manila

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