Birthday Treats (Pepper Lunch and Amici)

Pepper Lunch
Rockwell Mall, Makati

Pepper Lunch is unabashedly proud of its peppers. You taste it from the first to the last bite. This naturally makes the default taste of all meals spicy. There has been some blogging buzz about this resto chain's first Manila branch so we traveled from Quezon City to Makati purposely to taste its offerings.

I ordered the Hitokuchi Cut Steak meal (345 pesos) which had thin strips of beef, veggies, a cup of rice, and Coke.

Mavis had to settle for the Salmon Pepper Rice meal (312 pesos) because the salmon and chicken combo wasn't available. We arrived at around past 2pm. She completed her set with iced tea, and added miso soup (48 pesos).

Our meals were both tasty. The bean sprouts and the greens were notably crunchy. Being first timers, we were assisted by the server in "cooking" the ingredients in the hot plate. The smoke and aroma wafts to the diner as the entire meal sizzles. The miso soup didn't scrimp on ingredients, and was good.

The standard salt and pepper shakers were present, but they were complemented with vials of garlic soy sauce (karakuchi) and honey brown sauce (amakuchi). The karakuchi was very mild and not salty compared to say, Kikkoman. The color was brownish and the consistency was also more watery than the dark soy sauces more commonly found in restos. The amakuchi had a spicy sweetness which I liked better. It had more character and better complemented the meal. Both condiments didn't overwhelm the meal, which was good.

Complaints? Mavis wished for more salmon and less rice in her set. And if you're ready to pay at least three Manuel Roxases for viand and rice, you should be given the option of real fruit juices, not just Eight o' Clock. The added cost would be offset by the satisfaction of having a better quality drink.

My steak strips were okay. They didn't melt in one's mouth (we admit we have to pay much much more for that quality of beef), but the pieces were flavorful, not sinewy, and easy to chew. The rice was slightly aromatic and sufficiently sticky.

The chopsticks were the hard plastic kind, not the disposable wood usually found in other establishments. A nice touch, but more of a challenge to use because these were more slippery.

Sadly, the service staff were quite "obsessive-compulsive" and obtrusive. Maybe they meant well and maybe they were anticipating we would ask them to remove our plates anyway, but they cleared our table just minutes after we finished our meals. We would have preferred to have been left alone to deal with our mess in our own table at our proper time (read: at about the point we decide to leave). In fairness, they were totally polite. Still, obtrusive.

The food was good, the prices were quite on the high side. Would we go out of our way again and travel for a bite at Pepper Lunch? Not anytime soon.

Amici
Makati
A. Arnaiz Ave., cor. C.Roces Ave
818-4444 (delivery)

Quezon City
Bellagio Square
To. Morato cor. Sct. Fuentebella
(delivery launches on June 2)

I used to do a magazine project for a foreign foundation based in the Salcedo village area, and had some lunches at Amici di Don Bosco (literally, "Friends of Don Bosco") cafeteria almost four years ago. It was a simple, homey place located at a street corner of the Don Bosco compound, quite near the church and the technical school. The place was run by the Don Bosco brothers, and they served pasta, pizza and gelato which was all prepared and made in-house. I distinctly remembered they had good gelato, so today we went farther into Makati for dessert.

The place was still where it was when I last visited, and it was better-looking this time. It obviously has done good business in the ensuing years.


You knew the gelato was yummy just by looking. Flavors on offer were Ciciolato (Chocolate), Cocco (Coconut), Ciciolato con Noce (Choco with Nuts), Guianduia (Choco Hazelnut), Fragola (Strawberry), Mango Jubilee, Vaniglia (Vanilla), Langka, Blueberry, Sans Rival, Nocciola, Mint with Choco Chips, and Macapuno.




I ordered the Mirtillo (Bluberry), Mavis got the Espresso (at 50 pesos per cup), and on our way out we shared a Choco Hazelnut. All were excellent. The flavors stood out. Very well worth the visit. Better still, they had opened a branch in Tomas Morato. We didn't have space in our tummies anymore for any heavier meals, so we agreed to visit their QC branch some time.