Zomato x WestGate Food Crawl
Last month I had the most wonderful time tasting food and being in great company with Zomato x WestGate Food Crawl... It's a gastronomic celebration of some of the Guilty Pleasures that the restaurants of WestGate have made for the upcoming holidays... Here's my Food Journey... :)
Bugsy's
If you're looking for a place to unwind and chill with your friends or barkada after a hard day's work, Bugsy's is the place to go. I find that the WestGate area is quite big and that it's awesome cause it's actually the test kitchen branch of the Bugsy's Franchise.
This is our first stop for the food crawl. What we had were platters upon platters of tasteful and artfully done chicken. We had a taste of their classic Buffalo chicken tenders with blue cheese dip, and this is the first restaurant that I have gone in where I can actually taste the blue cheese, unlike others where it's very subtle . I love how their buffalo wings is on the perfect sour to spicy ratio, and that the spicyness is mild to moderate only, so no need for the buckets of water as the kick of the spice is not that overwhelming.
The next dish we had was chicken wings in Honey Sirracha sauce, which to me tasted quite garlicky and sweet with an undercurrent of a tangy flavor to it. I can also taste the thyme which kinda reminds me of italian herbed chicken, but you know it's not cause of the crisp batter that is under the honey sirracha sauce. It's quite mild to extra spicy upon first bite but it's the kind where it makes you want to get more.
Then we were tested as guinea pigs for Bugsy's newest concoction, the Chicken no. 7 which is a Jack Daniel's inspired dish, and they also used said liquor for the chicken. I personally found it too sweet for my liking, and I think that it would help a lot if they added a fresh slice of lime to be poured over the chicken before that first bite. It does have that asian flavor/ character to it though, which makes it quite special.
Out of the three I'd say that their Honey Sirracha Chicken is the best one to have with drinks, and that if you want the real deal buffalo wings, then Bugsy's is the place to go.
Sushi Ninja
This place has an awesome ambiance, quite the take on "Modern Japanese". It's the second place for our Guilty Pleasures food crawl, and the chef of Sushi Ninja gave us something that's off menu so to speak, which is the Kobe Toshi, which is basically fried japanese rice rolls topped with a slice of wagyu (seared). a little bit of foie gras, wasabi, and uni. The taste of all them in my mouth was like a melody being played beautifully, and the little rolls of delight were artfully done. The only downside is the seared beef, which I find a little too tough..
Then we were served the spicy tuna salad, which I don't have any reference of as it is my first time to eat such japanese salad. It was comprised of fresh tuna fillet, some sort of spicy mayo and nori among other things.
Personally, the mayo kinda overwhelmed the freshness of the tuna which is sad cause I think a little less of the mayo (with more of the spice) would have made this dish perfect. Hmm... well, I guess it's getting there. ;)
Neil's Kitchen
THIS IS IT PANCIT!
If you're looking for that perfect date place or a family gathering or you just want to chill and bond some more with your friends with some seriously delicious food along the way then please don't hesitate to come inside Neil's Kitchen.
We had the Sinigang Paella with Grilled pork belly which I felt is actually the deconstruction of how a pinoy eats sinigang. The soup and flavor of sinigang is within the paella, and they used the sticky rice variety or kaning malagkit to attain the paella.
The grilled pork belly is really soft, but not to the point of it being too jelly, it's really just right and perfect. The crispy kangkong that came with the dish is also awesome as I can taste the remnants of sinigang flavor and yet it feels as if I'm eating veggie fries or something. :)
My daughter Jenae was actually even fighting with me cause she wanted to finish the whole thing. Yep, it's that awesome.
And their Iced Tea? It paved the way for memories of when I wanted to buy some Ice candy at the local store in our province, as it is a house blend iced tea with what I felt was probably a vanilla or pandan flavor to it. Ah, it's a mystery worthy of the Mad Hatter's concotions for sure. YUM!
This place screams AWESOME upon entering. I mean, come on, it felt like I was in the Mad Hatter's kitchen upon entering the place, and I love the way that they made it so artistic, homey and you can really feel the love and wonder of the place.
The signs and sayings that adorn the walls feels like the chef's way of saying welcome and I hope that you enjoy my cooking cause it's from the heart and that sort of thing. Overall?
YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS PLACE.
Melo's
I really felt the Christmas cheer with Melo's offerings for us during our food crawl. It was their Christmas Steak Roulade with Turkey stuffing and sweet potato. They served it in a beautiful gradient of well done(seared) on the outer part and medium rare to almost rare on the innermost part.
It was served with a couple of sauces, one made from chicken gizzard and another from cranberries. I preferred the cranberry sauce more with the taste of the stuffing and the meat, and the way that Melo's cooked up the meat was pretty awesome, as I always go for medium to medium rare when it comes to the done-ness of the steak.
The taste of it all when combined is something to behold, as it gives you a sweetness and meaty experience like no other.
But really, I think I'd love to come back here to try other dishes, as I felt that the stuffing overpowered the taste of the meat in some areas.
Oh yeah, and my daughter Jenae also loved the meat and sweet potatoes combined with the cranberry sauce for this one, and I felt that the gizzard sauce was just a bit too robust in flavor for me. :)
Detoxify Bar
The last stop to our food crawl is Detoxify bar... Upon being outside the premises of the building, you can already smell cucumbers, fruits and veggies wafting the place. The place is also light and relaxed, which I thing is perfect cause after having a couple of heavy meals like Grilled Liempo and Steak, a bit of detoxifying is the way to go.. :)
We were served the Berry Smoothie Bowl which is mainly comprised of bananas and walnuts and berries for the smoothie part, and slices of kiwi and strawberry. I loved the fact that the dessert is healthy and light and it did help me unwind the meat sweats that I am beginning to feel in my tummy.. :)
Bugsy's
If you're looking for a place to unwind and chill with your friends or barkada after a hard day's work, Bugsy's is the place to go. I find that the WestGate area is quite big and that it's awesome cause it's actually the test kitchen branch of the Bugsy's Franchise.
This is our first stop for the food crawl. What we had were platters upon platters of tasteful and artfully done chicken. We had a taste of their classic Buffalo chicken tenders with blue cheese dip, and this is the first restaurant that I have gone in where I can actually taste the blue cheese, unlike others where it's very subtle . I love how their buffalo wings is on the perfect sour to spicy ratio, and that the spicyness is mild to moderate only, so no need for the buckets of water as the kick of the spice is not that overwhelming.
The next dish we had was chicken wings in Honey Sirracha sauce, which to me tasted quite garlicky and sweet with an undercurrent of a tangy flavor to it. I can also taste the thyme which kinda reminds me of italian herbed chicken, but you know it's not cause of the crisp batter that is under the honey sirracha sauce. It's quite mild to extra spicy upon first bite but it's the kind where it makes you want to get more.
Then we were tested as guinea pigs for Bugsy's newest concoction, the Chicken no. 7 which is a Jack Daniel's inspired dish, and they also used said liquor for the chicken. I personally found it too sweet for my liking, and I think that it would help a lot if they added a fresh slice of lime to be poured over the chicken before that first bite. It does have that asian flavor/ character to it though, which makes it quite special.
Out of the three I'd say that their Honey Sirracha Chicken is the best one to have with drinks, and that if you want the real deal buffalo wings, then Bugsy's is the place to go.
Sushi Ninja
This place has an awesome ambiance, quite the take on "Modern Japanese". It's the second place for our Guilty Pleasures food crawl, and the chef of Sushi Ninja gave us something that's off menu so to speak, which is the Kobe Toshi, which is basically fried japanese rice rolls topped with a slice of wagyu (seared). a little bit of foie gras, wasabi, and uni. The taste of all them in my mouth was like a melody being played beautifully, and the little rolls of delight were artfully done. The only downside is the seared beef, which I find a little too tough..
Then we were served the spicy tuna salad, which I don't have any reference of as it is my first time to eat such japanese salad. It was comprised of fresh tuna fillet, some sort of spicy mayo and nori among other things.
Personally, the mayo kinda overwhelmed the freshness of the tuna which is sad cause I think a little less of the mayo (with more of the spice) would have made this dish perfect. Hmm... well, I guess it's getting there. ;)
Neil's Kitchen
THIS IS IT PANCIT!
If you're looking for that perfect date place or a family gathering or you just want to chill and bond some more with your friends with some seriously delicious food along the way then please don't hesitate to come inside Neil's Kitchen.
We had the Sinigang Paella with Grilled pork belly which I felt is actually the deconstruction of how a pinoy eats sinigang. The soup and flavor of sinigang is within the paella, and they used the sticky rice variety or kaning malagkit to attain the paella.
The grilled pork belly is really soft, but not to the point of it being too jelly, it's really just right and perfect. The crispy kangkong that came with the dish is also awesome as I can taste the remnants of sinigang flavor and yet it feels as if I'm eating veggie fries or something. :)
My daughter Jenae was actually even fighting with me cause she wanted to finish the whole thing. Yep, it's that awesome.
And their Iced Tea? It paved the way for memories of when I wanted to buy some Ice candy at the local store in our province, as it is a house blend iced tea with what I felt was probably a vanilla or pandan flavor to it. Ah, it's a mystery worthy of the Mad Hatter's concotions for sure. YUM!
This place screams AWESOME upon entering. I mean, come on, it felt like I was in the Mad Hatter's kitchen upon entering the place, and I love the way that they made it so artistic, homey and you can really feel the love and wonder of the place.
The signs and sayings that adorn the walls feels like the chef's way of saying welcome and I hope that you enjoy my cooking cause it's from the heart and that sort of thing. Overall?
YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS PLACE.
Melo's
I really felt the Christmas cheer with Melo's offerings for us during our food crawl. It was their Christmas Steak Roulade with Turkey stuffing and sweet potato. They served it in a beautiful gradient of well done(seared) on the outer part and medium rare to almost rare on the innermost part.
It was served with a couple of sauces, one made from chicken gizzard and another from cranberries. I preferred the cranberry sauce more with the taste of the stuffing and the meat, and the way that Melo's cooked up the meat was pretty awesome, as I always go for medium to medium rare when it comes to the done-ness of the steak.
The taste of it all when combined is something to behold, as it gives you a sweetness and meaty experience like no other.
But really, I think I'd love to come back here to try other dishes, as I felt that the stuffing overpowered the taste of the meat in some areas.
Oh yeah, and my daughter Jenae also loved the meat and sweet potatoes combined with the cranberry sauce for this one, and I felt that the gizzard sauce was just a bit too robust in flavor for me. :)
Detoxify Bar
The last stop to our food crawl is Detoxify bar... Upon being outside the premises of the building, you can already smell cucumbers, fruits and veggies wafting the place. The place is also light and relaxed, which I thing is perfect cause after having a couple of heavy meals like Grilled Liempo and Steak, a bit of detoxifying is the way to go.. :)
We were served the Berry Smoothie Bowl which is mainly comprised of bananas and walnuts and berries for the smoothie part, and slices of kiwi and strawberry. I loved the fact that the dessert is healthy and light and it did help me unwind the meat sweats that I am beginning to feel in my tummy.. :)
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