Friday, October 4, 2013

Daddy’s Grill, The Third Time Around

Daddy’s Grill
The Third Time Around

It was Sunday, 3:30 PM and it was the last day
of the very long Penafrancia holiday, and we opted
to dine for a very late lunch at what  we call
“The Best Seafood Restaurant in the City”.


Although we found the physical appearance
of Daddy’s Grill unappealing, as it is open air,
it is not air conditioned and they have this
unattractive‘kamalig’  type native dining sheds,

 
…it is their delicious fresh seafood that made us
return three times this month on this physically
uninviting  but otherwise wonderful restaurant.


We were the only costumers around that day,
and the staff  had  just began arranging their
seafood display on the counter in preparation
for their “Paluto” dishes that would start at 4 PM. 



Fresh seafood were stacked on an open 
ice- topped counter where the diners could
choose what they want and have them cooked
by the chef the way they desire them to be.


We were excited to choose our orders from the
seafood counter but the waitress informed us
that we could only order what was in the menu
as the ‘paluto’ is not open yet and would only
be available at 4 PM and it was only 3:30 PM. 



We were a bit disappointed but it was okay-
as they still have a lot of choices on their
regular menu and they are just as yummy.



The good thing in ordering on the menu,
it makes us consider ordering their other
dishes not displayed on the seafood counter.

 

We picked up Cheese Sticks as appetizer.
Me and my daughter are both cheese lovers
and however it is cooked- we would always
rave and crave for any cheese based dishes.


We also chose Tinolang Manok for our soup starter
which had Papaya and Sili and it tasted very good-


…but I was looking for the extra tangy flavor of
 green sili leaves which are regular ingredients
of most home cooked native chicken tinolas.


I spotted several ‘Hito’ or Catfish in the aquarium,
and we ordered one and they fried it to perfection
as it was crispy on the outside and very, very juicy
and tender on the inside despite being well done.


My son wanted to have a fried ‘Tilapia’.
He ordered the same dish the last time we
dined here and he ordered one again this time.
Just like the ‘Hito’ and just as it was cooked
the last time we visited  was perfectly done.
Crunchy but well done and very succulent.


One of our meal time favorites is ‘Beef Ampalaya’.
We always order this dish whenever it is available
in the menu and this Daddy’s Grill version is
very delicious and surpassed our expectations.


We ordered our favorite Buttered Grilled Oysters
but the waitress refused to take our order as it
would still be available at 4 PM- ‘that is what
we came here for…” I bargained. 


She was pretty determined not to serve the oyster
until the chef intervened  that it’s okay to order
any of those at the paluto area anytime of the day.
So we feasted on the delicious buttery grilled oysters.


We ended our meal with a
sinfully sweet Mango Float,

 

…and Banana Turon topped with
Vanilla Ice Cream.


One thing we noticed though, unlike our previous
visits when the owners of the restaurant were around
the service was excellent and the staff was attentive,

^^^ taken during our first visit

…this time however- they seemed to be always
out of reach as they were either busy texting on  
phone or preoccupied playing the computer…


…or chatting at the counter, and it was been
very difficult to catch their attention.
Oh- well, what would we expect with what
the little rodents will do  when the cat is away?


Anyway- despite a lot of naughty 'mice' playing around
we still had one of the most satisfying meals in our lives 
at the best seafood restaurant in this part of the world.


 Read here for similar posts;

6 comments:

  1. Hi Ramon,

    I am a Nagauena and based here in U.K as a chef. I haven't been home for nearly three years now so I' m looking forward to indulging myself to our Bicolano food.Occasionally , I would browse your food blog as your the only naga based food blogger I can find who is consistent and dedicated food and travel blogger as yet and very we'll detailed with your food experience account, so Kudos to you!..I am going to check Daddy's grill since you got me curious with your review on it , hopefully my experience would be just as good as yours. I love seafoods and I can't hardly wait to try our local stuff.... I''m on a mission do create a Gourmet ala carte version of our ginataang dishes esp.. Sinatulan whilst I am there since my Filipino Street food evening starting to gain attention here now with the locals.. So I might play around with our Traditional Bicolano dishes and make it my own and serve to the food lover locals here.. I might let you try it if you're ok with it and give me your honest opinion if you ever have time for a food lover like yourself...
    Big up for you!.. And looking forward to reading your local food reviews,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for reading my food and travel blog. It is nice to know that a chef is browsing a food blogger who only knows few words to describe the food. Delicious, yummy delectable, and some generic phrases like 'tastes very good', 'liked the food very much' and 'did not like it'.

      I also use the word sweet, salty and sour a lot and beyond those, I am lost for words to describe the food. (lol)

      I don't know if I'm worthy to review dishes created by professional a Chef like you as you may get disappointed with my limited culinary vocabulary.

      I love Filipino street foods, but I have not introduced my kids to try them yet, and I will do so when they are old enough and their resistance have matured to take the risk of eating food of lesser sanitary standards.

      As a non culinary expert, I am easier to please and as long as the place is clean, comfortable and the food is palatable, then it would usually get a favorable review from me.

      Again I would like to thank you for reading my blog, and it is a honor to have a professional chef as a regular browser.

      Delete
  2. Hey it's from my previous comment..sorry I''d accidentally sent publish comment without editing my post so please excuse my grammar and spelling misuse.haha! I can't redo it anymore as it's already been sent unless I'm being a moron :( .Hope you don't get headache reading it, haha!.... Thanks Mr. Careers!.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's perfectly okay. This is not an English educational blog meant to teach grammar. I do have a lot of grammatical and spelling lapses that I hope the readers wouldn't mind at all.

      But I am willing to be corrected though so I could edit any mistakes that I might have overlooked.

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  3. *Caceres* oops sorry autocorrect..b/ween.. I normally serve Continental , British and French cuisine but with eclectic and contemporary feel to it.... I reserve Thursday evening for Southeast Asian street food fusion evening which is the most tricky to make as fresh ingredients are not readily available most of the time.... So looking forward spending Christmas in the Philos and try new and old favourites in naga... All thanks to you with your food review...:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may also try to read our dining experiences in some of what I consider the best restaurants in Naga like Grissini, Chef Doy's and Pro Chef's Office.

      I have reviewed them in my previous blogs. It sounds that you have a restaurant in UK or somewhere. We travel every other year to Europe, and we are scheduled to return next year with Sweden, Denmark and Finland as itinerary.

      Since PAL is now flying to Europe via London as an entry point, we have included UK as one of our destinations. I would love to visit you restaurant there should you have any.

      But I always come incognito. :).

      My family would be in Indonesia on November and I could not wait to review the food and the family tourist destinations in the biggest Archipelago in the world.

      Again, thank you for reading my blog and it's an honor to have you here.

      Delete