Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Charmed By A Girl Named Maria

I missed doing all-day food trips thus I decided to organize another one last February 4 and target stops were Gayuma Ni Maria, Pino, Pipino, and Sancho. Yes, we’re back at Maginhawa for another Quezon City food trip. (And to help me accomplish one of my goals this 2012.)

My friend H and I met early as we both live a bit far from Quezon City. We were expecting that it will take us an hour before we reach Maginhawa. Wrong! We arrived around 10:30 am and not a single FOOD establishment was open. (I just had to emphasize food as Ricky Reyes opens early.)

We decided to roam around instead and I got to see other restaurants I was not aware of. There was this vague sounding restaurant that I have to try next, a cute café called Zombie Café and I heard that there’s this place offering pizza all you can. (The phrase “eat all you can” never fails to entice me!)

Soon, restaurants started to open and we met up with our tour guide, yet another foodie who lives a few steps away from Pino. Lucky guy!
 
Our first stop was Gayuma Ni Maria as we planned on eating something heavy as it was almost lunch time.

We got mesmerized with the restaurant interiors that it took us 10 minutes before we realized that we didn’t order yet. (We even borrowed the sungka board.) The servers must have thought that we were just there to hang out.
 
Ordering took longer! The names were pretty witty that it was so distracting! There were interesting names such as Unrequited Love, Size Doesn’t Matter, and Please Be Careful With My Heart. Each one was really thought of and it was such a treat reading the menu alone. I also had Grape Shake (PHP125) as beverage.
 
We finally decided to order: Lumpiang Barako (PH125) as appetizer, Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back (PHP225), and Please Be Careful With My Heart (PHP240). For dessert, I ordered Beats Sex Any Day, formerly known as Better Than Sex (PHP75). I also
 
While waiting, I went up to the second floor which diners could reserve for more intimate gatherings. The second floor also serves as a small boutique of one of a kind garments and bags.
 
As for the food…
 
The Lumpiang Barako, cheese logs with hot green pepper, was delightful simply because it was not spicy. It was not very tangy yet it makes you salivate more for the next dish.
 
The Please Be Careful With My Heart, on the other hand had this faint taste of garlic. Chicken twice cooked in olive oil, it was truly enjoyable. The meat was very tender. The taste actually was not very strong but eating it with the garlic bulb served with it made it even more delicious. It somehow reminded me of Pepita’s Lechon.
 
The Once You Go Black, You Never Go Back was a hit to our group. Who would have thought that breaded cream dory would go well with chocolate sauce? The chocolate taste was not overpowering and you could still taste the slightly seasoned cream dory. Soft fish, crunchy breading, sweet sauce, it was one memorable dish.
 
I heard from so many people that if I ever get to pass by Gayuma Ni Maria, I have to order their chocolate cake called Better Than Sex and I did.
 
It was quite… dark. We had difficulty taking photos of it as it disappears in the dimly lit restaurant. It was also quite hard. Truly a chocolate overload but it failed to make my taste buds happy. The texture of the cake was somehow different from what I am used to. It was very hard and not moist at all. It was a disappointment actually. Maybe I should have ordered Chocolate Sin instead.
Nonetheless, the savory dishes were really good and I wouldn’t mind dropping by Gayuma Ni Maria again soon. Let’s just say, I was charmed by Maria.
 
Gayuma Ni Maria is located at 123 Maginhawa St., Quezon City.

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