Gulliver’s for steak, Salo for Pinoy food

It’s been sometime since I wrote about some restaurants I enjoyed dining in. Some regular viewers and readers had mentioned that they did enjoy my suggestions. Here are some new recommendations.

Gulliver’s Prime Ribs of Beef in Makati Avenue, 10th floor of the Great Eastern Hotel. Zsa Zsa Padilla had mentioned to me right after the Christmas holidays that she’d heard from her friend and neighbor Ruby that this restaurant served excellent prime rib. We are both meat lovers and looked forward to giving the place a try.

She beat me to it, because she and Tito Dolphy had eaten in Gulliver’s about a month ago. This Tuesday I visited her home to get to see her newly re-tiled swimming pool, complete with newly installed waterfalls, and to admire her newly landscaped garden. We were starving and since I was really craving a steak dinner, we decided to have dinner in Gulliver’s.

The restaurant is actually the Philippine branch of a San Francisco-based steak house. The dining area was pleasantly decorated in an old English pub style. The chairs were purposely mismatched, giving the place a down-home feel. The waitresses were costumed as old English bar maidens.

I was starved, so I decided to start with the shrimp cocktail as appetizer. The bread we were served really tasted freshly baked, the butter was generous, and the basket was constantly replenished. The shrimps were firm and sweetly fresh, and the cocktail sauce was the right blend of sweet-spicy-tangy tomato.

Zsa Zsa was smart to have chosen the petite cut of the prime rib. I opted for the Gulliver’s cut, which came complete with the full bone. They also offered the sides of the prime rib, which some people prefer because they are tastier and crustier. I could only manage a little over a third of my order because it was truly huge. The meat was of superior quality, because from its appearance alone, I was able to see the rich marbling of the beef. It was tender to the bite, and even without the meat’s juices that they offered to pour over the meat, my cut stayed moist and flavorful. The prices are a bit on the expensive side; the petite cut was P680 and my full bone cut was P1,180. We did feel that we got great value for money because the meat was really one of the best we’ve had locally, quite comparable to Intercon’s Prince Albert and Mandarin’s Tivoli.

For Filipino food, I really enjoy Salo, located in Quezon City, very near the ABS-CBN compound. I am addicted to their tokwa’t baboy, because of the generous cuts of pork, which is fried to a crisp, the good quality of the tofu that they use, and the right blend of the vinegar-based sauce. Bar none, they serve the best tokwa’t baboy that I’ve ever had.

My other favorite dish in Salo is their "sizzling balut sisig". Ever since I was a child, I’ve always really enjoyed eating balut, and I’ve never felt squeamish about eating even the sisiw. In fact, while pregnant with Josh, I would happily consume two to three whole baluts a night. You must try how they innovated and made the balut so much more appetizing and convenient to eat.

The Kapampangan in me really enjoys catfish or hito. Given a choice, I’m not going to opt to order a fish dish, but they butterfly the hito and serve it with a really delectable dipping sauce that seems to blend bagoong, vinegar, and some fresh, leafy spices. The fish is crisp and not oily to the taste.

To wash all this rich food down, I normally have their pandan juice. The juice’s appearance takes some getting used to because it’s a very green, almost "Nyquil"-like shade. But it is very refreshing and palate cleansing.

For dessert, I always indulge and have their turon saging. They prepare theirs with generous amounts of langka, and instead of caramelizing the sugar, they generously sprinkle the fried turon with white sugar, much in the same way you’d have a sugar-raised donut.