GUDO - Pasta Pizza Steak Periperi

03/27/2015. Chea and I met up at sm north to have dinner. Chea just came from up cdc where thirdy just got waitlisted for his batch. I came from sm novaliches after paying some bills.

We decided to eat elsewhere so we didn't have to pay for parking at sm. Cheapskates.

We drove along Visayas Ave towards Tandang Sora Avenue and we didn't find anything interesting so we decided to make a right at Congressional Avenue. We drove all the way to Chimes building where we had dinner a few weeks back, but decided to turn back since and try our luck with Gudo.

It was the steak that got my attention.

We saw that there was a free space for parking in front of Gudo so we decided to try it.

The signage

There was a group ahead of us, but since it was just Chea and myself, and there was a free table exactly for two by the road, we got seated immediately.

It was full inside so we were seated by the side of the road. You could probably seat just 15 pax inside.

We were given the menus and I was pleasantly suprised. All of the dishes were priced below 200 pesos. And here I thought they'd be around 250. No wonder it's always packed.

The only available steak was T-bone (175 pesos), so I opted for that. Chea was skipping meat since it was a Friday during Lent so she opted for the 3 cheese pizza (130 pesos). My order came with a side of either mashed potato or rice. I chose the mashed potato as suggested by Chea, and ordered an additional plate of rice, since it was cheaper (Rice is 15 pesos, while the mashed potato is 20).

I was really amused with the prices. They're relatively cheap. The Tbone steak at Everything at Steak, which I felt is already a bang-for-your-buck dish, is around 220 pesos.

People keep coming while we waited (mostly in cars). Some just bought take out since there wasn't any more available seats. Those who wanted to dine there, really had to wait.

Water

As for the food, we didn't have to wait at all. The pizza came and it looked like it was about 8" -10" across. Chea had a quick bite and she loved it.

130 pesos only. Any cheaper and I'd buy one everyday.

My steak came and I was even more surprised. The steak is freaking huge. All that for just 175 pesos? You've got to be kidding me.

See the spoon? That's your standard 7" spoon. That's how big the steak is.

The steak was ok. I asked for a medium well, but it wasn't dry as you can see from the picture with the meat glistening from what may be oil. The insides were about pale grey. It tastes pretty much like steak with a good amount of pepper.

The gravy was a bit of a miss. It kinda tasted like corn soup if you can imagine it.

The mashed potato tasted like oatmeal except that the texture is evenly smooth like your typical mashed potato.

I also sampled the pizza.  It was thin but not crisp. Although there's still a bit of crunch. Some burnt edges. It was definitely cheesy, so much so that it tasted like I was eating cheese curls. Lol.

Overall, it's a pretty awesome experience. Inexpensive, good sized dishes. I'll most likely return soon just for the steak, but maybe I'll try the chicken as well. You could certainly afford both at the same time. But eating all of that at the same time? That's a different question.

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Agape Pastries and Tartines

03/15/2015. After doing some groceries, Chea, Thirdy, Tita Fe and myself decided to eat out for dinner.

We decided to try out some restos along congressional avenue near Luzon avenue. There's a new building with a few establishments called Chimes. We parked fronting 711. We opted for Agape Pastries & Tartines since it was empty and we could have a quiet dinner.

The place is very new and clean. It looks roomy with a somewhat high ceiling. Most of everything's made of wood.

There are chairs outside for those who smoke or wants fresh air. You could probably fit 50 people at the ground floor. There're stairs to an upper floor but we didn't bother to check.

stairs to the upper floor

Chea ordered the four cheese pizza (320 pesos), seafood in squid ink pasta (250 pesos), alla carbonara pasta (220 pesos), beef tenderloin breakfast (120 pesos), and a coke zero in can.

Thirdy couldn't be bothered as he's busy with the chocolate egg treat we gave him

We only waited a few minutes before the orders arrived. While waiting, they gave us a basket of flat bread with a cream basil dip.

bread

4 cheese pizza. Two thumbs up from Thirdy.

The pizza is nice. It's thin and the edges of the pizza is crisp. The middle part is a bit chewy. There are spots on top cooked brown but it's mostly cheese. There's a lot of oil but it doesn't overwhelm the salty flavor of the cheese. Thirdy really liked the pizza and was able to finish an entire slice by himself. He's not a heavy eater.

Salty but delicious.

The squid ink pasta is amazing but it's a little salty for some, so it would be best if you eat with a lot of bread. Unfortunately, you only get a small slice of garlic bread which is a bit tough. The black ink is thick which really allows it to stick to the noodles, so the squid flavor is really there. Of course there are squid parts mixed in. Easily the the best of our orders.

Too creamy for my taste

The carbonara on the other hand is swimming in cream, so the sauce forms at the bottom of the plate. It's also a bit salty.

Tastes like corned beef. Lol.

The tenderloin breakfast is ok. The meat is cut into small bits. There's a few bits of garlic in there that it kinda starts to taste like corned beef. The egg has two yolks in it and the garlic rice is just what you'd expect.

Signages of the building.

We ended up paying 917 pesos for the 4 orders, with a senior citizen discount of about 90 pesos. The staff was pretty nice and attentive. We haven't tried the tartines, so there's a chance we might drop by again sometime.

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