Tuesday, March 24, 2015

1st Colonial Grill, Centro: Showcase of Indigenous Bicolano Dishes

1st Colonial Grill Centro 
Showcase of Indigenous Bicolano Dishes

This is the second time we dined in Colonial Grill,
the first time- in their SM City Naga Branch,
which I already reviewed in my blog in the past.


This time, we dined at their second branch in Centro and we
had the chance to enjoy this wonderful restaurant once more.


The restaurant was full packed and we were able to get
a vacant table on the second floor after few minutes,


…the staff was helpful, the service was
good and got our orders fast and easy.


They we again suggesting to try their Tinapa Rice,
as it was apparently their specialty but I found it too
salty then, so there is no way I would order one again.




I also did not like their sinigang in SM City branch as
I found it too sour, but still ordered one. I wanted to give
 it a try in this branch as it may taste mildly  here.
We tried the Sinigang na Bangus this time. It was
a disappointment- it was just as unpalatably sour.


No one touched it and our soup bowls were left unused.


But everything turned for the better, or I may say,
the best when  they started serving their main dishes.


We again ordered what could be the most delicious
Bulanglang in the Philippines. I already raved about
this dish when we dined in their SM City Naga Branch
and the Colonial Grill Centro version was no different.


It was just as delicious. The fresh veggies were crunchy
and not over- cooked. I do not understand why they still
topped it with bagoong when it already tasted very good.
It would make the Bulanglang very salty (and of course
nauseatingly smelly), and I would recommend to scoop out
the disgusting bagoong to enjoy this very delicious dish.


The Tilapia Steak  was a revelation. It was made of perfectly fried breaded 
tilapia fillet, bathed  with a sweetish steak sauce and was very delicious.


Their Crispy Spring Rolls was also very delicious.
The rice wafer wrapper was crispy and wasn’t greasy,
while the ground meat and veggie filling was very tasty.


We all loved the yummy Classic Liempo.
The pork was tender and the marinade  was
sweetish and  had a right hint of sourness


It was the Kandingga that blew me away. This dish is made
of stir fried pig’s lungs, and most of the regular CamSur’s
versions are the saucy type. The Colonial Grill’s version is
the dry, chewy type with a hint of onion and vinegar. I grew
up in Albay and that is how we do it there, and since this resto
originated from my home province, they exactly do it the same
way and made better by serving it super hot in a sizzling plate.


We concluded  our dinner with some of
their popular desserts like Leche Flan,


Banana Split.


…and of course, a scoop Sili Ice Cream for me, as dining in 
Colonial Grill is never complete with this popularly unique dessert.


The Colonial Grill, I observed may have an uncompromising
true blue Bicolano chef that and does not resort to fusion cuisine
just to make it  suitable and agreeable to the non- Bicolano palate.


It is therefore a wonderful restaurant that showcases
authentic Bicol dishes, prepared the traditional way,
using indigenous ingredients, then faithfully cooked
on distinct, time-honored methods with no short cuts. 


Click the link below to read for related posts 

 1st Colonial Grill SM City Naga: Authentic Bicolano Cuisine

3 comments:

  1. Upon your positive review, I took my meryenda at the sentro branch of colonial grill and found it, sadly, disappointing. Their calamares dish had a mango sauce which just didn't work. The bland mango dip didn't complement the calamares and was a sweetish add to the tough and chewy squid made worse by the hard greasing. A for effort, F for taste and palatability.

    Their fried vegetarian egg rolls came with (would you believe) sweet vinegar dip. Why this hang up on every dish made sweet?

    The fresh lumpia was ... Blah. Nothing to write home about.

    The pinangat was tasty, but Naguenos would be well advised that this is not the naga version where minced river shrimps (buyod) are wrapped in gabi leaves and immersed in gate. Instead it is the albay version (camalig) where gabi leaves are slathered with gate. It's good but doesn't even come close to the naga version.

    I wish they didn't have to try to impress with their nouveau/fusion dishes but instead go full blown traditional while served in a fast-food ambience at a MOre affordable price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for reviewing some of the dishes that we have not tried in this restaurant. Indeed, I agree for the A rating for the effort and I would also agree on F on some dishes when it comes to palatabilty, in my case, it would be the sinigang and the Tinapa rice.

      The restaurant is pretty popular among tourists and I would say, this is a place to try to gain a boasting right of having dined in this popular restaurant.

      As for the dishes, well, there are those that are really good like the Pinakbet, and there may be some that really nothing or no right to boast about.

      Delete
  2. Sorry the auto corrections are wreaking havoc on my posts--- gate should read gata and greasing should read breading.

    ReplyDelete