Much has been said about the StrEat Maginhawa Food Park in Quezon City. The general impression is that it is a haven for good and affordable food. Well, I love to eat so naturally curiosity got the better of me. So a few days ago, me and my wife trekked for a food adventure at this much talked about food hub.
Maginhawa Street is a long stretch of road littered with a whole lot of food stops but for this blog I'm just concentrating with what's at #91 Maginhawa Street otherwise known as the StrEat Maginhawa Food Park.
I was really looking forward to a real gastronomical treat with really high expectations in terms of taste and value for money. Unfortunately, that was not the case on actual experience.
Me and my wife got to try four food establishments. It was a pre-planned route based on my research and food preference. But before I tell you about our dining experience, let me tell you about the food park in general.
The place is a converted parking area with seven permanent food stalls made out of container vans while the rest were for food trucks. It has a permanent dining area made of concrete in the middle with the rest were plastic or wooden mobile furniture scattered in the front of the various food stalls. I reckon the eating capacity at 80 to 100 give or take.
We visited on a Friday and being pay day at the same time the place was packed with customers. All the favorable write up about this place have stirred a hornet's nest of curious gastronomists that the juncture of Mahusay Street and Maginhawa was a virtual gridlock. Good thing that a table was vacated not long after and averted having to eat standing up.
1. Schmidt's Gourmet Hotdogs. Among the list of food stalls in the food park Schmidt's Gourmet Hotdogs is the first that really caught my attention. I'm really a burger guy so most of my reviews involved patty sandwiches. But if I'm to rate my sandwich preference, hotdog comes in at a close second.
Actually, Schimdt's hotdog is not really a hotdog but a Polish sausage similar to that is sold in SM groceries. That was actually a good surprise for me since I like Polish sausage.
We got different orders so we can have a taste of two variants, Coney Island Chili Dog (Php 195) and Seattle Dog (Php 180). Not sure why I ordered for the chili dog given that I'm not a chili guy. I guess it was "Coney Island" got me going. Needless to say I took off the jalapeno since they look menacingly hot.
Both were generally topped with their own dressing and really complemented the taste of the sausage very similar to a Jackson Pollack painting with all it's color unified to make for a work of art.
The size is a decent six inches which would satisfy a person with normal appetite but if you're big like me I think you need at least two or three to really make you full.
We also ordered for Nachos topped with cheese, onions, sour cream and jalapenos at Php 125 and a liter of Iced Tea at Php 90. Based on Schimdt's online menu you can add Php 30 and Php 60 to any sandwich or pasta order to get a 16oz and 1 liter Iced Tea but when I asked for it the lady who took my order said that there was no such thing. Well, that's minus pogi points for Schimdt's.
My verdict: The dogs are novel enough to try but not made a part of your usual diet since the price is too stiff (even for a Polish sausage) to burn a big hole in your pocket. Not much value for money to try a second time (unless you're not really after value for money).
2. G.R.Eat Burger Truck. I'll always be a burger guy so here's what I have to say about this burger truck: too much hoopla so little "UHMP!" For something that took more than 15 minutes to make it was but natural to expect a special treat. However, when my name was called and the product presented to me, the experience was like expecting a Super Lolo BOOM and got a kwitis pop!
I ordered for the Bacon Burger (Php 160) thinking something big since it allegedly have a 1/3 lbs patty. However, it came out looking like a regular size burger. Taste wasn't that good either. The patty didn't have much flavor and whatever dressing it had didn't amount to much. The Flavored Fries (Php 90) tasted like your regular sour cream flavored variant but had nothing special going on there either to justify the price.
My Verdict: At the price range of Php 160, I could have bought myself a Champ Burger Value Meal with fries and drinks which is bigger and by far tastes better. Nuff said!
I ordered for the Bacon Burger (Php 160) thinking something big since it allegedly have a 1/3 lbs patty. However, it came out looking like a regular size burger. Taste wasn't that good either. The patty didn't have much flavor and whatever dressing it had didn't amount to much. The Flavored Fries (Php 90) tasted like your regular sour cream flavored variant but had nothing special going on there either to justify the price.
My Verdict: At the price range of Php 160, I could have bought myself a Champ Burger Value Meal with fries and drinks which is bigger and by far tastes better. Nuff said!
3. Bricks & Copper. This was not part of my original plan but seeing that they have shawarma I had to try it out for size. Unlike the usual pita wrap theirs was a stuffed pita bread. I ordered ala carte (Php 99) since we already had drinks and it took around 10 minutes to do (which I found incredulously long knowing that making shawarma is basically assemble to order with the ingredients already pre-preped). Anyway, the order came ahead of the burger so we actually tried it first.
The pita was thick and soft the way I liked it but the meat and sauce combination lacked that typical explosion of flavor that normally accompany my past shawarma experiences. To further compound this matter is the lack of readily available garlic sauce to more or less mask the tasteless experience.
My Verdict: Since I only tried the shawarma this review does not say the same for the rest of Brick & Copper's cuisine. What I'm saying is---TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
4. Magpie Cafe. My idea was that this would be the coup de grace of our food adventure. I was thinking coffee and pastry to crown what I expected to be a great food trip experience.
After staying under the humid al fresco dining area going into an airconditioned room was a welcome change. Magpie Cafe is one of the food stalls with their own in-door dining. It approximately seats ten customers at any given time. Good for up close and personal meet ups. Nice interior decors and friendly service crew.
After going through a cholesterol rich binge I thought of ordering something hot. My lady is a cold drinks girl so she ordered for a coffee-based Hazelnut Frosty Php 130) and I suddenly had a craving for a Hot Lemon (Php 90) (thinking that it was of the same taste as the Hot Dalandan Juice served at Kuya J's). I had my eye on a delicious looking cake (I think if was White Chocolate Mousse) and ordered for a slice (Php 120) to share.
Press release says that Magpie's coffee beans are from the Cordillera which is a plus points for me; however, regardless of where the ingredients are from, it still boils down to taste.
Their frosty was typical of any coffee-based cold drink except that theirs was not sweet. Health-wise this is good but if you're looking for something sweet, this isn't the drink for you. The Hot Lemon was a let down in terms of size, price, and taste. Maybe they used imported ingredients to justify thee price of such a small cup but the taste was...I don't want to be demeaning but let's just say it did not taste like lemon at all. The cake gives credence to the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." It really looked great but it tasted nothing special. The dough tasted like it came from a run off the mill bakeshop.
Another product got my attention. Chilling inside their refrigerated display case was a bottle which at first I thought was beer but upon close inspection was actually coffee. Grumpy No More looked interesting to try but after my lemon and cake experience I had my doubts especially with its Php 160 price tag.
My Verdict: The place is good to chill in with its aircon. Since I only got to have a taste of a couple of their products, it might not be indicative of the rest. So, TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
After staying under the humid al fresco dining area going into an airconditioned room was a welcome change. Magpie Cafe is one of the food stalls with their own in-door dining. It approximately seats ten customers at any given time. Good for up close and personal meet ups. Nice interior decors and friendly service crew.
After going through a cholesterol rich binge I thought of ordering something hot. My lady is a cold drinks girl so she ordered for a coffee-based Hazelnut Frosty Php 130) and I suddenly had a craving for a Hot Lemon (Php 90) (thinking that it was of the same taste as the Hot Dalandan Juice served at Kuya J's). I had my eye on a delicious looking cake (I think if was White Chocolate Mousse) and ordered for a slice (Php 120) to share.
Press release says that Magpie's coffee beans are from the Cordillera which is a plus points for me; however, regardless of where the ingredients are from, it still boils down to taste.
Their frosty was typical of any coffee-based cold drink except that theirs was not sweet. Health-wise this is good but if you're looking for something sweet, this isn't the drink for you. The Hot Lemon was a let down in terms of size, price, and taste. Maybe they used imported ingredients to justify thee price of such a small cup but the taste was...I don't want to be demeaning but let's just say it did not taste like lemon at all. The cake gives credence to the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." It really looked great but it tasted nothing special. The dough tasted like it came from a run off the mill bakeshop.
Another product got my attention. Chilling inside their refrigerated display case was a bottle which at first I thought was beer but upon close inspection was actually coffee. Grumpy No More looked interesting to try but after my lemon and cake experience I had my doubts especially with its Php 160 price tag.
My Verdict: The place is good to chill in with its aircon. Since I only got to have a taste of a couple of their products, it might not be indicative of the rest. So, TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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Tornado Peri-Peri
This establishment is not part of the food park but is located along the stretch of Maginhawa Street. If you're coming from Philcoa it's at the mid-point of Magiting and Masinsinan Street.
My wife and I were already full but I was looking for a way to salvage the gastronomically disastrous night we had at the food park with one desperate hail mary of landing at a joint where the food was actually great; or, at least have a glimpse of Arianne Bautista (one of my favorite car show models) who partly owns Tornado Peri-Peri and who was said to frequent the place. We actually passed it on our way to the food park but skipped it since I already had an itinerary planned out for the night.
Unfortunately, Arianne was not there so the remaining hope is that they have really good menu to offer.
We ordered for the 1/4 Chicken with a side and rice with the original sauce @ Php 125. I have tasted peri-peri chicken before but this one is different---tangy in a good way. I believe it was in their sauce. And it went real well with their aromatic rice which had the consistency of a sticky rice. It would had been a perfect except that their Corncob with Butter was forget-ably small.
For a store so small, it's a surprise that they have a dining area to speak of. A six seater inside and eight outside. If you're big like me I suggest you sit outside. Would you believe they also have waiter service? Yes they do. Very friendly and accommodating staff (at least the one who served us).
My Verdict: I'm coming back with my tummy ready to taste some more Tornado Peri-Peri menu!
We ordered for the 1/4 Chicken with a side and rice with the original sauce @ Php 125. I have tasted peri-peri chicken before but this one is different---tangy in a good way. I believe it was in their sauce. And it went real well with their aromatic rice which had the consistency of a sticky rice. It would had been a perfect except that their Corncob with Butter was forget-ably small.
For a store so small, it's a surprise that they have a dining area to speak of. A six seater inside and eight outside. If you're big like me I suggest you sit outside. Would you believe they also have waiter service? Yes they do. Very friendly and accommodating staff (at least the one who served us).
My Verdict: I'm coming back with my tummy ready to taste some more Tornado Peri-Peri menu!
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