Friday, January 30, 2015

FOODIE FRIDAY : Sebo Pacific

Saw this a few days ago on my FB timeline:
FOR REAL?!? I am pretty sure gastro-delight places like BF and Kapitolyo started one great dining place at a time in the neighborhood. Could this be the start of something big in garage-based restaurateur in Bacoor? I instantly got curious and checked their FB page. Found out that the place is just a mere 10-minute leisurely walk from my house and also took a quick look at their menu:

photo grabbed from Sebo Pacific's FB page



So I together with my sister, 2 nephews and of course, my ever loyal foodie companion Ken went there at around 1920H on a Thursday. The place can comfortably seat at most 18 dining guests. When we got there, we saw a couple and 2 other guys seated on opposite tables who were already done with their meal, there was a family of 4 waiting to be served, and a group of 3 people who have yet to place their orders.

We wanted to seat together so we opted to wait for the other diners to finish. While waiting, copies of their menu (similar to the one above) were handed to us. My first instinct was to check the back of the laminated menu sheet that they gave us, hoping to find other options. But that was it, but I figured it is fine, after all they just started a few days ago.

When the couple left the table, we immediately helped ourselves to be seated. My sister knew one of the guys who just finished eating and exchanged pleasantries with him. She also asked what was Sebo Pacific's specialty and she was advised to try the crispy dinuguan. This confirmed my gut feeling that this is the dish that they are most proud of since it was listed first on their menu list.

Since me and Ken still had other plans for the night, we went to place our orders first. Ken chose the crispy dinuguan and I opted to try the sizzling bulalo. We asked the guy taking our orders to describe the dishes. The guy was knowledgeable enough and explained that crispy pork bits similar to lechon kawali will make the dinuguan crispy and that the bulalo will be served in their specialty white sauce.  My sister and 2 nephews each ordered something different. We ended up ordering everything on their menu except for the longanisa. We also ordered a pitcher each of iced tea and dalandan juice.

A few minutes later we were served soup. I am not a huge fan of soup so I politely declined. I don't know but maybe if they can have soup served upon request, it could help lessen cost and spoilage as most of us did not even touch the soup. Sayang naman.  Drinks came next, together with glasses with ice cubes.

After a few minutes the person who took our orders served the pork steak, burger steak and the buffalo wings. It was also around this time when my sister-in-law came and placed an additional order of buffalo wings. At this point Ken and I were starting to get pissed. How come their orders came out ahead of ours when we placed our orders first? At 1950H my sizzling bulalo was served. The first thing i tried was the white sauce. It tasted good... I mean really good. It was creamy and buttery, at first look, i kind of felt that it will taste like salty-starchy but I was wrong. I really liked it. The meat was also very tender. Overall i think it was priced just right for PHP 140.00.

Ken was growing impatient, after all, my sister was done with her first serving of rice and was waiting for her extra rice to be served and my nephews have already finished their meals but Ken's crispy dinuguan was still nowhere in sight. I offered to share my sizzling bulalo and told Ken to just share his crispy dinuguan with me once it arrives. We were almost finished with my sizzling bulalo when Ken lost hope and decided to just have his crispy dinuguan for take out. So I advised the guy who took our orders to not serve the crispy dinuguan anymore but I was informed that they did not have take out containers and would just place it inside a plastic bag. Oh well that was the last straw, we decided to have the order cancelled. And barely 2 minutes after Ken's order was cancelled, my sister-in-law's buffalo wings order was served. Like seriously?

A lady went to our table to apologize, it was a very nice gesture but the excuse given was so flimsy it did not help at all. Ken was told that the reason why his order was taking too long to prepare was because they were making sure that it was crispy. No. Not buying that crap.  I think what can help them is a little tutorial from my 2007 hometown hero Flo.


We left the place in a rush, just left the money to pay for our meals meal with my sister.

I liked the food, the white sauce was impressive,  the place : nice and cozy. Their service? Not quite there yet. Maybe they can hire an assistant too like what Flo did?