Duo Steakhouse

Ground Level, Serendra
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila

632-8561200, 632-8561300

The Line: A combination of excellent food and impeccable service to provide you the perfect dining experience in a comfortable setting.
The Bait: Good steaks, according to glowing reviews
The Hook: An extensive menu and like the line says, impeccable service
The Sinker: Always crowded
The Catch: P1,000++ per head, excluding wine

"Ano! Foie Gras na naman!" Okay, that sounds terribly noveau. And it was meant as a joke. But half meant after all the rich food we've had during the holidays. So even if it's our anniversary dinner, we were hankering for something that resembled comfort food. Duo is not the obvious place to find comfort food, but we've been wanting to try it for a long time.

For starters we had Seared Tuna Sashimi (P320). Good, but nothing beats the first time I've had something like this at Good Earth. Then we had Beef Carpaccio (P345). Mmmm. I'm trying to stop my eyes from rolling up as I remember it. It tasted divine and so fresh I could imagine the cow grazing just hours before it selflessly dedicated its life to us. The carpaccio was topped by this very refreshing vegetable, which the waiter told us was miniature arugula. Of course, we had to order the famous Tessie Tomas Salad (P390 for small and P675 for large), which tosses together roasted prawns, salmon, shitake mushrooms, and greens. What I loved about the salad is the not-so-ordinary balsamic dressing; very, very good.. And the small sized order is quite satisfying.

Good start. Okay, those were not necessarily comfort food but we were comforted by how good everything tasted and the fact that the good reviews were not just hype.

Moving on to our entrees. The menu presented an overwhelming list of steaks, seafood, and steak and seafood combinations. We were intrigued by the Blackened US Angus Porterhouse (P730) served with fried potatoes so my husband ordered it. It did not disappoint. I especially loved the Cafe de Paris topping.

But what made me a Duo fan was my entree, the Seafood Saffron Stew (P590). The waiter described it as something like bouillabaisse so I was a bit disappointed when I saw that the sauce was more like broth, rather thin. It wasn't what I expected, but it was a very pleasant surprise to taste it. I'm no food expert and I don't have a trained palate, but I can tell that this dish was created by a genius. It was such a soulful dish it was elevated immediately to comfort food in my book. And it felt healthy to be eating fish and mussels too.

Another thing that made us happy was the way the manager obliged our request (made when we reserved) for a discount on corkage for our first bottle of wine. Service was very good. The restaurant was booked for a birthday party and so we had to take the outdoor tables. We were afraid the service might suffer because of that arrangement. But our waiter was very attentive and very gracious. Not snooty at all as one might expect from such a restaurant. I also liked that even if we forgot to indicate that we preferred the small serving of the salad, that they automatically gave us the small one when they could have conned us with the large order.

The weather was very cool that December evening. The food was, as promised, excellent. And we did find comfort food on our anniversary.

Fish & Co.

3/F Greenbelt, Makati - +6327297431
G/F South Wing Mall of Asia, Pasay - +6325560683
G/F Streetscape, Shangri-la Mall, Mandaluyong- +6329102140


I’ve always liked dining at Fish & Co. Sometimes I lie awake thinking of the tender, peppery juiciness of the grilled calamari. Okay, I don’t. But I was so giddy about Sunday’s lunch that I want to wax poetic.

Sunday, of course, as the whole Republic of the Philippines knew, was the day of the Pacquiao – Dela Hoya fight. And those who wanted to watch the fight live, real time, ahead of the can’t-pay-per-view hoi polloi (which included us -- we were just being treated by our host) had to watch it in cinemas, bars, restaurants, or fork up 80 grand to Solar to watch it at home sans Ricoa and Motolite TV commercials.

We actually had reservations at Italliani’s but something conked out and so they couldn’t serve the fight together with pasta and pizza. What?!!? How will we watch the fight?!?!, was the silent scream inside our heads revealed only by our panicked faces. They tried to compensate by telling us they’re going to try getting us seats at Fish & Co.

Fish & Co. had a fight day promo -- 600 pesos per head for a little pan of fish and chips plus watching the fight from the LCD TV and giant screens scattered throughout the establishment. A successful promo it was as the place was packed. Those who had reservations were seated; some not so comfortably as booth chairs designed for 3 lithe diners had to carry 4-5 people. Gym-going men had to practice some butt contraction and semi squatting exercises as 2 men shared one stool. The kitchen couldn’t serve their fish and chips fast enough. Those without reservations were hogging the entrance doors, shouting reservations to the floor manager as if they were brokers at the NY Stock Exchange. A mass of non-paying humanity was inching dangerously close to toppling the velvet ropes and flimsy barriers (see pic). Some jerk of a guy was whining about his food not being served and extra seats blocking his vision. Testorone, adrenalin, and other violent hormones were on the rise as the excitement was building up as people were waiting to watch Pacquiao clobber dela Hoya or vice versa. It was madness. With all the potential for restaurant service disaster.

But it all turned out well. We got seated. We had good food. We got beered up. Pacquiao won. And the Fish & Co. service crew delivered top quality service. An altogether pleasant experience.

Aside from the promo fish and chips, which were served bite sized, we also ordered the non-promo version which is served as a big fillet of fish (P465). I liked the latter so much better. Tender, moist, flaky fish in light, airy breading, and a pretty good dill sauce. We ordered the fried calamari (P405) too; I like the grilled version better. The good food highlight was the Marsala pizza (P380), which I’m about ready to declare one of the city’s best, not just because of the piquant sauce and fat shrimp topping, but because of the unusual crust. Crust like croissant bread. As if layers of filo pastry, and not the usual dough, were used. Really good.

It was hard not to feel guilty having our lunch and watching the fight in our seats when inches behind us were people who stood up the whole 8 rounds, hungry, straining their necks, and probably touching other people’s sweat. There was one senior citizen near to me to whom I was tempted to lend my chair until he started smoking, a dangerous and inconsiderate thing to do in that dense pack of people. As the F&Co. staff and mall security were trying to crowd control. I was hoping no one would get unruly and the staff won’t become rude. As far I saw, they were relatively polite.

Good service that withstood the challenge of a high-stress situation. I suspect the floor manager, Lilet Martinez, headed for the spa right after that lunch ordeal. If she did, she totally deserved some pampering after managing the stress and keeping customers relatively happy. Our server, Jasper, was also able to keep her cool. She managed our expectations by warning us that ala carte menus would take longer than expected. So, we adjusted by being patient, but the food arrived earlier than expected. And the food was worth the wait. We were happy.

The situation, of course, might have been a bit different and all this sense of well being absent had Pacquaio lost.

D' Original Dawel Restaurant

Dagupan, Pangasinan

We parked at the side of a bridge and entered a dank, dimly lit tunnel. It felt like some subterreanean hideaway. At 8:45 PM, the place was empty, except for an old woman watching TV sitted on an antiquated chair. These are bad signs if you're looking for good eats. But we remembered that we were in rural territories and on that easter sunday, the locals are already home ready to retire. That's why we ended up here in the first place, because every other place in town was close.

They served us a each a heaping plate of rice and I gasped at just how much rice each person gets. At the end of the meal, those plates were empty. Rice shortage, notwithstanding, we put all that to good use to accompany the flavorpacked dishes. We started with sinigang na malaga, the malaga so tender, practically melting in our mouths, going perfectly well with the fish bagoong (balayan style) and calamansi. Of course, we had to have the requisite inihaw na bangus. My husband admired how the fish was cooked completely, no raw flesh, no blood, yet still very juicy. I silently thanked God that I was going to have all that succulent bangus belly. No, I wasn't being selfish. On the top 10 list of things I love about my husband, somewhere in between sexy sense of humor and his Don Bosco training on everything mechanical, is the fact that he does not eat bangus belly. It's bangus belly that makes you close your eyes, forget your name and the fact that fat is a bad word. But the dinner's pièce de résistance is the adobong talaba. While blanched on the shell still remains my favorite way to have oysters, this adobo style comes a very close second. We wish we could say we could say we wiped all our plates clean, but there was enough for another person.

No desserts. But it was sweet to pay only P510 pesos for all that. The only negative thing was the presence of stray cats traipsing around the resto. That cost them a star.

Seafood Island

Cuisine:	Seafood
Location:	Shopwise Arcade in Cubao, Eastwood, and Market Market!

After a stressful yet victorious event, the 5 of us were hungry.

So we got into Seafood Island and ordered the boodle, which according to my famished friends, is a pirate term for foodfest. The menu said it can feed 5-6 people. It wasn't in the fineprint, but they must have meant 5-6 little girls with anorexic tendencies. Because it wasn't enough! If real pirates were served this, they would bang the tables with their forks, machetes, and hook hands, then stage a mutiny against the chef.

We had to order more to satisfy the stomachs of 4 normal adults plus one freak of nature whose intestines reach up to his knees, one who eats as if he hasn't eaten for a week and as if there were no tomorrow. I won't mention my glutton friend's name, but it rhymes with Doom. He and his hugemongous appetite spelled doom for the wallet of the one who was sponsoring this dinner. Because aside for the boodle, we had to add 3 more dishes. And had dessert at Volare afterwards.

This is good comfort food though. Well, good enough. No extraordinary flavors. Nothing novel. Just the typical Filipino grill type food they usually serve at barkada inuman places.

It was Saturday night and the place was packed. The tables and chairs were too tightly crammed. I know from my architecture classes that this kind of arrangement violates personal space bubble requirements for public dining. Ah, how I wish we had city standards for such things.

But the service was pretty fast even on this busy evening.

No particular dish lingered in my memory. But I remember that among us, we drank bottomless iced tea enough to fill up a generous sized hot tub. We had to drink that while watching our aforementioned glutton friend wipe out everything dead or alive on the table.