Balboa - Italian Restaurant, Gellatisimo and Need for Speed with fambam

Sunday movie date and mirienda at Balboa

Like any other Sunday, I spend today with family.  A date with my grandfather, brother and a few cousins.  It's movie day, I scheduled the 6 of us to watch Need for Speed at 3:20 at Shangrila Cineplex and since we are a bit short of time, we just bought snacks and off the movie house we go (Happy Lemon, Popcorn, Nachos).  After the movie, we usually go to Tratoria Gourmet for some pasta and pizza since my cousin Jullian doesn't eat any meat.  I had to suggest and beg him to try a new place.  So there we are, the first store I saw was Balboa, my cousin checked if he can order something on the menu and hooray, he found one. 

At the door, we were greeted by the receptionist and was lead to our seats.  First I noticed was the place looks a little fancy, well that's expected as it was on the East Wing.  I was welcomed by the nice design on the floor, the lighted chairs and somewhat I felt I was in another century.  It was nicely designed comfy couches, wooden table (a little bit shaky thought, it being a new restaurant.) There was a big clock and a painting to most of our conversations over while waiting for the food went to.

Okay, so now the menu. It was plain and simple, Salad, Pasta, Pizza, sweets and ofcourse, the drinks.  My cousins ordered the squash soup and it was a 2 out of 5 rating for me for taste, my mom's squash soup is way better (creamier and thick).  This one was a little thin but was okay.  For the price, 279 if I remember it right, it's kind of pricey.

We ordered a Four cheese Pizza and half of a Porsciutto Spinach Truffle pizza (16 inches) to share, which I would like to point out that was gone in a breeze as soon as it was laid on the table. The cheese was very good, the pizza crust was very thin but brick over cooked and fresh, toppings were okay and taste was just right but for my liking was a little bit bland (needing more salt).  My rating will be a good 3 out of 5 for this and the cost is 700 pesos, hey pricey again!

Now, on to pastas.  My grandfather did order some Italian Sausage in Pesto Sauce, nothing fancy, just okay.  For the Penne Arabiatta, it was the normal tomato sauce pasta with spices.  

Lastly, I did order the Truffles Linguini with mushroom sauce.  Since I love mushrooms and truffles, I liked this pasta and I would rate it a low 3.5 out of 5, not that super wow factor for me but it's something that I would eat for sure.  My cousins and I shared this family (for sharing) dish.  Then, mama ordered the Pomodoro pasta, again, nothing spectacular but all of the pasta dishes were kind of pricey for the serving and taste.

 We ended up the meal with a Eggs Benedict Burger with Panchetta (in the picture had 3 pieces of panchetta but only had one on the serving). I love the taste of the bread, and the patty itself, this tasted like a curry burger/taco burger alike for me.  We ended up the day with Gellatisimo scoops, I had choc mint, I was able to taste the other flavors too at the counter.  

Overall, it was a very great day with the family.  Catch me on my next adventure folks! :)

xoxo,

Julienne

Behrouz - Persian Cuisine

As the years go by, I did notice that my palette has grown, and learned that I have a distinct taste bud.  Many of the foods I eat is not everyone's cup of tea.  But I'm not here today to discuss my whole love for food but to share with you my thoughts on a place that is called Behrouz Persian Cuisine.

To give you a brief background, my cousin who was always in Metrowalk introduced this restaurant to me a couple of years back.  One time she brought me there and the rest was history, I would always have cravings and at times, i'd just go to merely get me some takeouts.

So last night, me and my friends went to our usual #TropangKape night at Starbucks where we chilled for a couple of hours and just talk.  We were quite hungry after chilling, so we ended up going to Behrouz at Metrowalk.  

Looking at the design of the place, it seemed like a casual dining place, me and my friends would always dine here after a good drinking session of just cravings for Persian Cuisine.  The place may not look like it's going to show great food but it does.  Anyways, I always order the usual Shawarma Plate (price: 150) and Ox brain (price:80) and some soda.

Okay, so the Shawarma plate would come with the seasoned beef and either cucumbers or onions then tomatoes.  The seasoning of the beef is just right not too pungent and just right for me, not too salty not sweet.  For the price, I would say, it's a good run for my money.  The Basmathi Rice (Long Grain rice) which is back in the days I did ask one of the waitreess' and she told me it's like 200 pesos per kilo (whoah, expensive).

.


The Ox brain, in this restaurant, I assumed that they steam/fry the brain so it's served a little soft and bit crunchy.  The taste of this dish is like the yolk of the egg or for Pinoy's its like the yolk of a balut.  I know, it's weird but it has that creamy yummy taste.  Mind you I know for one that its packed with cholesterol, so yeah I don't do it all that time but for the past 2 weeks I have been here 2 times already. (It's so good, I can't help it).

To top it all off, I love their Yogurt Garlic Sauce, compared to the other Persian Cuisine places that I go to, I would say it would rank 2nd for the taste (#1 would be the Hassan's Yogurt Garlic Sauce).  Their sauce is creamy, garlicky but not so much and a little tangy. The hot sauce is really spicy, it's made from pureed chilis I would say.

They also serve the Kebabs and Kobideh's and they are great too.  I once tried their Hummus and matched with the garlic sauce it's great too.  The Yogurt drink their is perfect as well but little more tangy (I like the Yogurt drink of Hassan better though).

I am now salivating thinking about it again, but my over all verdict for this restaurant for the food itself would be a 4 out of 5 stars.

My only complaint would be the place, they should improve it, mind you the customers going there are not just regular people, you would see celebrities going there too. Secondly, the staff, they always look like their super tired and while they try to be super accommodating, they would look snobbish most of the time.

I hope you guys did enjoy my review on Behrouz. Do let me know what things you'd like me to review soon.  Thanks! 

xoxo,
Julienne