Fifteen Twenty One (1521) Restaurant
1521 is a Filipino restaurant located along Shaw Blvd. in Mandaluyong. They are not that easy to spot because Mr. Poon, which is located right beside them, has a gigantic restaurant sign.
Anyway, here’s what I think of the resto:
First of all, the location is convenient because you can park right outside their restaurant. Secondly, their Monggo na Mayaman is to die for! The place is also awesome because the interiors stayed true to the Filipiana theme and I’m impressed with the implementation.
After that, the good stuff ends because their food serving is very small but expensive and paying an additional 10% service charge isn’t really thrilling.
This is how expensive their dishes are, and I am so hoping that they reassess their rates:
- Their monggo soup costs 240++ for 1 small bowl just enough for 2 people
- Their rib eye bistek costs 340++ for 1 small slice of beef
Aside from Monggo na Mayaman, we also ordered Bistek Filipino but it didn’t taste special and was kind of hard. Lastly, we had to ask for a receipt before they issued us an OR. I mean, every restaurant I know gives a receipt automatically right? Here’s how it happened:
- Bill came
- We paid
- We received our change but the official receipt or even the bill-looking receipt was not there
- We asked for the receipt but they gave us the bill-looking thing again
- We were about to leave with that piece of paper but they stopped us
- The girl at the counter told us that they’ll issue an OR instead
Weird huh?!
For information about 1521, read this article.
———
1521 Restaurant
547 Shaw Blvd., Brgy. Wack- Wack
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
Telephone: (+632) 794-0433; (+632) 794-0433
Mobile: (+63917) 8606687 ; (+63917) 8606687
Email: fifteentwentyonerestaurant@yahoo.com
Smoke Restaurant in Tagaytay
After 27 years of existence, at last, nakarating din sa Bora!!! Thanks to Nes and Ian for inviting us to their wedding kasi kung hindi pa dun, di pa din siguro kame pupunta ng Bora =) During our first day there, hubby and I had our 3pm lunch at Smoke Resto (with Inggo’s recommendation), and no regrets for that 
The chicken curry rice topping that husband ordered was superb! I mean, the chicken no longer tasted like chicken (you know how boiled chicken tastes right, that’s what I mean), but tasted totally in sync with the curry. The sauce was perfectly creamy, the chicken, potatoes, and carrots tender and cooked just right.
On the other hand, the sizzling bicol express was behind in quality… too bad. The pork was not tender enough, the dish lacked coconut sauce and it was kind of dry.
Since I really loved their chicken curry, we went back during our last day with friends and ordered Bulalo soup, lechon kawali, spicy kangkong, chicken curry, and buttered shrimp. Here’s what we thought:
- Bulalo soup – others found this great tasting but for me, it was just okay… there were lots of meat though, so I guess it’s worth the price
- Lechon kawali – yummers!
- Spicy kangkong – tasted sweet instead of spicy due to lack of chili, we forgive Smoke because they warned us beforehand
- Chicken curry – as expected, everyone loved it
- Buttered shrimp – all of us found it ironic that Bora restos failed to serve quality seafood dishes but thank God because we found one resto who did serve fresh shrimps hooraaay!
On another note, don’t expect lavish interiors because Smoke Resto is bordering turo turo slash carinderia kind of resto. But hey, who cares? I don’t, as long as they serve yummy curry, I’ll keep coming back.
As for price range, the rate of their dishes range from Php 80 to Php 200. I think the curry rice topping is approx 120 while the bulalo that fed all 5 of us was around 180 pesos. Totally not bad right?!
————————————
Smoke Resto caters and delivers too. You may contact them at (036) 2886014 and (036) 2884565.
Revisiting Antonio’s Tagaytay
Went back to Antonio’s for the second time and the place looked more beautiful in broad daylight. The food was better than I remembered and the service was above average.
My order: Seafood Sampler @ PHP 1,600
From left to right:
Prawn Thermidor – I think this dish was the best among the three because it gave me the right amount of flavour without becoming too salty, and creaminess without overpowering the natural flavor of the prawn. This dish actually made me regret that I ordered the Seafood Sampler instead of the Mixed Seafood Thermidor
Crispy Cod Fish Glazed with Kombu Sauce on Peppered Egg Noodles – The glazed fish came off a bit too sweet for me and it kinda reminded me of turon (banna fritters). On the other hand, I loved the noodles so much, I think it tasted better than chinese misua being served in popular chinese restaurants.
Pan Seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed, Truffle Cream Sauce – This tasted delicious but it didn’t offer something new and unique the way the thermidor has; it tasted like a normal scallop ;p
Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamon Beurre Blac @ PHP 1,650
Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), Sauerkraut, Chateau Potato, Cabbage @ PHP 1,000
(not sure with this one yet, I’ll have to check)
Organic Free-Range Roast Chicken Leg with Bourbon Tomato and Boiled Potato @ PHP 1,200
My friends were raving for this… its aroma reminded me of my all-time favorite Fazolis’ chicken.
Mixed Seafood Thermidor (scallops, prawn, mussles, and cod fish) @1,450
*drools* I wish I ordered this instead =(
My order: Sorbet (guava, green mango, lamolime, green apple, watermelon, calamansi) - This tasted like an ice shaved off from an ice candy. After tasting this one, I immediately swapped with Nats because I couldn’t bear eating one more spoon of it.
I swapped Sorbet with Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce
This one tasted a liitle better because of the bread and ice cream but I did not like the very generic taste of its chocolate. This is so far the best among the dessert offerings of Antonio’s.
Overall, Antonio’s is so worth another visit. Their main course dishes are awesome but don’t expect much on their dessert because you’ll be dissapointed.
*Antonio’s main course meals come with salad, soup, dessert, and coffee for free
——–
Antonio’s Restaurant
Bgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite
+63918 8992866
Spicy Pork Adobo
Finally! I was able to replicate the specialty of hubby’s cousin;p This version of adobo is spicy and supperrr yummy! Here goes…
Ingredients:
- 1/4 kg pork kasim (pork with fats) cut into cubes
- 3 pcs. siling labuyo (Capsicum frutescens)
- 1 cup Coconut (brand name) soy sauce
- 1/2 cup Del Monte vinegar
- 8 to 10 cloves of garlic (the more the merrier)
- 1/4 teaspoon whole pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 pcs. hard-boiled egg
Procedure:
- Put all the ingredients, except the vinegar, in a sauce pot. Boil over medium heat for 40 minutes.
- Add the vinegar and egg and boil for another 30 – 40 minutes.
- Make sure that the pork is already tender before turning off the fire, otherwise, cook for another 10 to 20 minutes.
Enjoy!