RUB

Last Saturday we ate at RUB. We just had to try their Baby Back Ribs.

The beef dish we ordered (can't remember the name!) came ahead. It was tender and the gravy dip was delicious!

The baby back ribs came so we attacked that next. The pork was good, the BBQ sauce sweet, which was a contrast to the beef we just ate. The side dish of spinach and mushrooms was excellent!

Still feeling hungry, we ordered the pulled pork sandwich. It was sweetish and the pork wasn't chewy.

Hawaiin Punch is on the menu! The brewed iced tea (from tea bags) that comes in a pitcher is a welcome change from the powdered variety.

Dining at RUB is a carnivore's delight, definitely meriting a return trip.

RUB is located at 64 Scout Rallos Street, Q.C., just off Tomas Morato.

Pages Deli

After trying to book a ticket to the last full show of Le Marquis at the French Film Festival at Shangri-La (which was unsuccessful), my friends and I trooped to Pages Deli for dinner. The menu items were a play on words on classic literature. However it escapes me what the names of the dishes we ordered were. This wasn't the first time this has happened (see my entry on Crisostomo). Note to self: jot down the names!

We settled on Aglio Olio pasta. Simple and tasty.

Next up was the salmon. My friend Kato told the waiter to only have it half-cooked, and it turned out good with the mustard sauce. The boiled vegetables, particularly the carrots, were over done and felt like mush.

The highlight of the evening was the Pizza Milano. It was a 10" thin crust pizza with thick sausage toppings (not the usual pepperoni slice). By the time we remembered to take a picture, there was only 1 slice left. That was how good it was.

For dessert we had the cheesecake and the apple crumble. The cheesecake was light but its flavor wasn't memorable. The apple crumble was good, with a lot of cinnamon and apples. Its crust was firm enough and the crumble was sweet.
Pages Deli is located at the ground floor of the Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong City.

Crisostomo

We decided to try Crisostomo, which boasts "turn of the century Filipino cuisine". With its wide selection we had a difficult time choosing from the very thick menu. Oddly, the drinks and desserts are apparently in a different menu. With the help of our waiter, we eventually chose the tinapa with salted egg as a starter, and crispy pata, beef morcon, dinuguan, and garlic rice for our main course.

Around 15 minutes later, all our food arrived at the same time, although my aunt noticed that it was just warm, not hot. Hungry, we sampled the tinapa with salted egg wrapped in lumpia wrapper. I was impressed by its flavor, although my mom found it too salty for her.

The beef morcon was decent; tender beef but the sauce is a bit thick and on the sweet side. Not outstanding as I've tasted better elsewhere.

The crispy pata was, as what was becoming a trend, not bad but not great either.

The dinuguan was better than the usual fare, wherein they used pork cuts instead of the standard innards. Again, I've tasted better (Nathaniel's comes to mind).

When we tried to order a cup of plain rice, however, the waiters seemed to not know where they were. Our waiter was busy at another table, so we tried to call another waiter. When finally somebody came to us, we asked why they didn't want to approach. He said it was because they first had to check whether an order wasn't served.

All in all, decent but could have been better.

Crisostomo is located at the Newport Mall at Resorts World Manila. They also have branches in Nuvali and Eastwood.