Friday, May 3, 2013

Restaurant Discovery: Balboa

It has been a tradition for my friends and I to celebrate our birthdays through lunch or dinner dates. A few weeks back, A celebrated her will-not-mention-her-age birthday and we decided to explore the new wing of Shangri-la (my new favorite place!) and have an early dinner there.
 
While walking around, we spotted Balboa, a casual restaurant that serves pasta, pizza, steak, and the like. We browsed through the menu and liked what we saw so we ended up staying.
We had a hard time choosing as A has a strict budget to follow (I kid). But Balboa has a lot of tempting choices but we cannot order too much as we wanted to have room for dessert. In the end we ordered Spinach Artichoke (PHP249) for appetizer, Shrimp and Sausage Spaghettini (PHP328) and Half Roasted Chicken (PHP399; PHP689 for whole) for our main course, and Cucumber Pineapple (PHP138) as my drink. 
Service was quick (well, given there were only 2 other tables being served). Our appetizer arrived in less than 15 minutes.
The spinach artichoke was served really hot and it sure was stretchy. It had a slightly tangy flavor which I love and it was a great way to start the meal. I just hope that they gave us more toasted bread (crostini). 
 
We were almost done with our appetizer when the pasta and chicken arrived.

The pasta was perfectly cooked and unlike other oil based pasta I tried, this one wasn't very oily. The shrimp was undeniably fresh and I love the cheese that they used. I wasn't very fond of the sausage though.
 
The roasted chicken... was love at first bite! I just love how savory it was in every bite. I also love the slight herb taste of it from the rosemary. I also enjoyed nibbling on the mushrooms. Really yummy and a must-order dish!
As for my drink, cucumber pineapple, it was really refreshing. It is one perfect drink to battle the scorching summer heat! It wasn't very sweet so you won't end up getting thirsty afterwards.
I will definitely go back for more of Balboa's roasted chicken and I will try the salmon next time. :)

Balboa is located at the 4th floor, East Wing, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City.

1 comment:

Comments or other recommendations? :)