Red Piquante Grill
Avenue Square Naga City
It was the first time for all of us to visit the restaurant
after Carlo’s Pizza was transformed
to Red Piquante Grill like magic.
after Carlo’s Pizza was transformed
to Red Piquante Grill like magic.
The transition
was very subtle...
The restaurant did not cease operation-
they just slowly covered the old Carlo’s Pizza
with new wall papers…
...added few Filipino
(Bicolano) inspired decors,
...changed restaurant crew uniform,
and viola- Red Piquante was born…
The ambiance was comfortable,
beautiful and homey-
but the TV that used to show cooking demos
from TLC in silent mode…
was replaced by irritatingly loud- mouthed hosts
of a Filipino noon time show.
My daughter showed no interest on the menu…
she ordered a Grilled Chicken Sandwich.
That was the best decision she made-
the sandwich was so good and tasty
and one of the best sandwiches we ever tasted so far.
There was a lot of choices of Filipino dishes
and they look promising on the menu….
But everything tasted just ...
so… so…
so… so…
The Fried Chicken
was far from juicy...
A catsup would have added lubrication
but here was nothing on the table
but a horrible tasting banana catsup...
..Max's is another restaurant that serves
disgusting banana catsup but one rarely needs it for
their sarap to the bones chicken.
(It's different for Red Piquante-they would need
a good old tamato Catsupto perk up their chicken.)
I have to admit that
their Bulalo tastes great...
But other offerings like
Grilled Blue Marlin...
and Grilled Tilapia
tasted well- just okay...
Adobong Hito sa gata
was good
...but the Pinagat looked and tasted
as if it was not cooked by a Bicolano...
Even the plating
doesn’t look appetizing...
And we ended up taking home most of what
we ordered in a doggy bag.
Aside from the chicken sandwich-
and maybe the Bulalo and Hito,
there is nothing really to rave about
the new restaurant.
Caramba! 
I miss Carlo’s Pizza already.
I miss Carlo’s Pizza already.
See related Carlo's Pizza post here:
This s a great blogsite and I enjoy reading your entries.
ReplyDeleteI’ve just noticed though that you seem to be biased to anything that if Filipino…
You raved about Chinese (Crown Park), Mexican (Mexicali), American (Mojave in Iloilo), Italian (Carlo’s Pizza and Grissini), Greek (Terra in Iloilo) and Japanese (Maki Yaki) foods but most of the Filipino restaurants seem to have a negative impact to your taste buds.
The Oriental’s Bagnet and Filipino breakfast, the Guimaras’ Seafood Buffet, Tatoy’s Manokan, and this time the Red Piquante (including the iconic UFC Banana catsup) were reviewed negatively.
Anyway, it’s just an observation or just me becoming paranoid.
Keep on blogging so I would have something to look forward to every week.
Your classmate- Cris.
Indeed, indeed.
DeleteI didn’t notice the pattern Cris.
But my ranting should not be interpreted as anti- Filipino. I love Filipino dishes and this maybe be the reason I'm harder to please when it comes to Filipino food as I grew up with it.
Remember, I also praised (and raved) some outstanding Filipino restaurants like Bauhinia (in Iloilo), Papa Krispy (West Park Naga), Reyes Barbecue and Max’s (SM City Naga).
They all got excellent ravings from me.
I love the Filipino breakfast at the Oriental as they have my favorite "Neuluk" but the comment was rather meant that the said breakfast was not compansatory to the room price of the hotel.
As for the UFC banana Catsup- well I never learned how to like banana ketchups until now. I don’t know why but my taste buds tell me the Hunt’s, del Monte and Heinz (not necessarily in that order) taste better.
Maybe, I would never be able to explain my preference to tomato ketchup until I find the answer to my daughter’s question in the past- “ if it’s a banana ketchup why is it colored red?” (lol)
Or maybe after you explained why you signed in as anonymous and still identified yourself at the end of the comment. (lol)
Banana Catsup are for Filipino restaurants so it is just right for Max’s an Red Piquante Grill to serve a genuine UFC or Jufran catsup. It may not taste as great as Heinz but that’s the way it is.
ReplyDeleteLeave the tomato catsup to an all American restaurant like McDonald's.
Anyway, Filipino dishes are naturally salty and oily and most can get away without a catsup. When there is a need for a diner to use one - something is wrong with the food.