Alba

Westgate Center, Commerce Ave., Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

771.2178 to 79

http://alba.com.ph/

Thanks to dealgrocer.com, if not for them I wouldn't know that there is this great restaurant located in Westgate Alabang.

Alba is a Spanish fine dining restaurant. If you choose not to avail the buffet, they also serve set meals, wine and other liquors.

The place is small but the interior design made it appear spacious. Furniture and fixtures doesn't look old. ambiance is cozy, high-end, luxurious and real Spanish. Table setting is commendable, waiters did it perfectly.

The food is great. There are few dishes compared to Yakimix, Buffet 101, and Vikings but each dish is made of quality. A different approach and a different taste. Its really delicious.

Clear Chicken Soup

Enselada dela Casa (A variety of crisp lettuce and fresh vegetables)

Lengua Sevillana (Stewed ox-tongue with mushroom & olives in rich sherry brown sauce) 

Grilled Pork

Berenjenas al Horno (Baked eggplant with anchovies and three kinds of cheese)

Paella Valenciana (Valencian rice with chicken, pork, seafood and vegetable)

Grilled chicken topped with mango. This is superb, they grilled it perfectly and it blends perfectly with the mango.

Grilled Pork. A different approach in marinating.

Espaguetis dela Casa (Spaghetti with homemade fresh tomato sauce topped with chopped friend chorizo de Bilbao and cheese)

Spanish cold cuts (Chorizo, Embotidos, Sausage, etc)

Pizza?

Baked Potato. Im suprised with this one because at first I thought its just potato but inside there are bits of chorizos. delicious.

Spanish Sardines! My favorite. Spicy and fresh.

Maja Blanca

Brownies

This is the best dish they offer. Conchinillo Asado (Tender oven-roasted suckling pig)

This is the first time I tasted something like this. I am a big fan of pork but this one, this is Superb! This caramelize inside your mouth. Amazing and done perfectly. I will definitely go back to Alba because of this. This is a must try.

Braso de Mercedes

Mixed Fresh Fruits

Leche Flan.

If you'll notice the serving is different. Here's the story. Its almost closing time and I'm about to try the desserts. No more Leche Flan, so I asked the waiter if they are still going to refill. By the way his name is Kevin. He replied that they wont refill anymore but he proactively offered that he can get one for me. And here it is Beautifully served in a separate plate. I'm happy because he did an extra mile.

Also, this is the best Leche Flan I ever tasted. I bet once you tasted this you'll forget your name.

Customer Service is something that they don't forget. We entered and we we're accommodated right away. Since we did not made a reservation, we were seated on the second floor because the ground floor is occupied. So I suggest if you have plans of dining here you should make a reservation. Another thing that made me happy here is that the waiter offered that he will be serving us the soup since we were on the second floor so it wont be difficult for me. Everytime im finish with my plate a waiter will come and get my empty plate, I dont need to call them anymore. Iced tea was refilled right away. They are focused on their customers. Waiters are attentive, neat and cheerful. I will definitely dine here again.

Spanish Lunch Buffet

P650+ per head

Kids 4 feet and below: P325+

3 years old and below: free

Schedule:

11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Available Monday to Sunday in all outlets

Spanish Dinner Buffet

P695+ per head

Kids 4 feet and below: P348+

3 years old and below: free

Schedule:

6:00 to 10:30 pm

Available Monday to Sunday in Tomas Morato, QC branch

Saturdays and Sundays in Westgate, Alabang branch

Sundays in Polaris, Bel Air Makati Branch

Here's my rating

1 - Lowest // 10 - Highest

Food: 10/10

Drinks: 9/10

Customer Service: 10/10

Ambiance: 10/10

Value for Money: 9/10

Seafood Island

2nd Floor Unit 207, The District Cavite
Corner Daang Hari and Aguinaldo Highway
+639276355342

Seafood Island is known for boodle. What is a boodle fight? Boodle fight is a military style of eating where long tables are prepared and food are on top of the banana leaves. Viands and rice ready to eat using your bare hands.

We are so unlucky in the search for Chef Boy Logro's restaurant in Imus so we just decided to visit the new Ayala Mall in Cavite called 'The District'. Most of the shops and restaurants are not yet open. Even the Seafood Island is still on a dry run they don't have creditcard swipers yet (I don't what it's called) good thing we had available cash and there are plenty of ATMs around.

We were accommodated right away. just looking on the menu outside, the manager and a crew approached and helped us to decide what to eat.

Interior design of the restaurant is cool.  It looks like more of a bar, walls and floor is clean. Table is big. Ambiance is comfortable and appetizing.

The uniform of the crews took my attention, it looks like they are in a beach. Its not the typical restaurant uniform. I'm impressed. Creative uniform, cheerful and attentive crew equals good customer dining experience.

So we ordered Dagupan's Pride and 1 kilo Crab in the Bucket.

Here comes the Dagupan's Pride. Two Crews need to serve the boodle because it is big. I'm surprised because it says in the menu that this is only good for 3-4 persons. But it seems like it is for 4-5. For 785 pesos the serving is a lot.

Dagupan's Pride is made up of Deep fried boneless bangus, pork BBQ, steamed white shrimps, grilled tahong, grilled talong, okra, talbos ng kamote, green mango, crispy liempo and bagoong rice. Its really plenty and I rest assure that you'll be full after eating this. The impression that I had before about boodle fight is gone when I saw how beautifully they present Dagupan's Pride.

Im impressed with the taste of food. The bagoong rice is not salty, it is deliciously made perfect if you'll eat with the green mangoes. Crispy liempo has flavors in it, delicious when you bite. The boneless bangus, it lacks marinade but you can just use the condiments. The pork barbecue is marinated well. To neutralize the taste there is grilled okra and grilled eggplant. There is also a salad made up of  talbos ng kamote. the Tahong and grilled shrimps are good.

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We ordered Crab by the bucket. We asked the crew if that is their best seller way of cooking the crabs. The crew replied 'Crab Maritess'. So we'll go for it. It is said to be made of up of olive oil, lots of garlic, chilies, and white wine.

The crabs used are of quality. Fat and meaty crabs. I enjoyed it. Its delicious and they rocked crab marites. it definitely worth going back for, they made justice to its 995 peso price.

They offer unlimited red iced tea. I say that the iced tea is bland or maybe there is a reason. Because if the iced tea were sweet, people will get full easily and they wont enjoy the flavors, quality and amount of food served.

I pity those people who has allergies on seafood, they missed how delicious sea creatures are. Seafood Island is a must try if you're a seafood lover. Price is acceptable. Dining experience is great. I enjoyed boodle fight. Customer service is awesome  Food quality is great. Restaurant ambiance is cool.

Here's my rating
1 - Lowest // 10 - Highest
Food: 9.5/10
Drinks: 9/10
Customer Service: 9/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Value for Money: 9/10

Wensha Timog

1st and 2nd Level Pasda Mansion Bldg., #4 Timog Ave. Cor. Panay Ave, Quezon City

+632 3751399

This is my second time in Wensha and my first in this branch. My first visit was in Wensha Pasay, I didn't take photos there so on my next visit i'll make a different blog about it. I only have my camera phone here. so please excuse me for having bad quality pictures.

  

Wensha Timog is famous and not difficult to find. They offer Spa services like massage, foot scrub, body scrub, manicure, pedicure and other more. The package includes the use of wet area (shower room, hot and cold Jacuzzi  steam room and sauna). Just be prepared to be naked since you are not allowed to wear anything on the wet area. Since this is Japanese inspired and Japanese people are known to give no malice on public baths just be modest enough and give respect other people.

This is the only spa in the Philippines which offers buffet. So for 780 pesos you'll get a massage, use of wet area (shower, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam bath), and a buffet.

The lobby and front desk area is elegant. its cozy, comfortable and colorful. Once you get into the front desk the receptionist will ask for the service you want to avail. you'll be given an electronic key for your locker and they will take your shoes and change it with a sleepers. 

You need a locker because you need to change into your robe. For you to feel more the Japanese spa ambiance. It is also advisable that you'll take a shower before going to the buffet area so you'll feel refreshed.

The receptionist will also ask you if it is your first time. If yes, they will explain to you how it goes in the spa and where are the locations like where is the male shower room, where is the lounge where is the buffet area. You are allowed to stay for 7 hours and beyond that you'll pay additional 100 pesos for an hour exceeded  They will know because of the electronic key.

To set expectations, the package is only 780 for the buffet, massage and wet area. So lets not expect for extravagant buffet.

But they made justice. They have fish, chicken, pork and shabu-shabu. for the dessert there are fries and gelatin. Fruits are also present. For the drinks, they have red tea, orange juice and water.

They continuously replenishes the buffet table and also change the cuisine served. Example the beef caldereta was changed to a beef stake later on. The fish fillet was changed to another fish dish.

And what I didn't expect is the taste of the food. Its delicious. I'm expecting that since we paid for this at a low price I will be getting the same quality of what I've paid for. But its not, Its delicious.

Good thing they have delicious food because the service in the buffet area is really bad. We came in and its too crowded, a seat is vacant but its not clean. I asked several time before the waiter responded to clean it. I'll just give a benefit of the doubt, there's only two of them and the buffet area is full.

I even noticed that some garbage and used towels, bed sheets and robes are transported through the buffet area (I wonder, there should be a different facility for them to transport those things, not in the area where people eat).

So we prepared for the one we're going to use for the shabu-shabu. Here in this branch you need to ask for the soup unlike in the Pasay branch, you will get your own soup. So okay we will wait for another 5 minutes or so to have it.

A manager went to us and offered if we want a beef bacon. Ofcourse we want it! :)  atlast, I felt a customer service.

Corn, Soy Sauce, Garlic, Chili, Tofu, Chicken Balls

Lettuce, Petchay, Noodles, Carrots, Corn

Soup for Shabu-shabu

Shabu-shabu

Another thing that I don't like is the small table, seriously the plates doesn't fit in. Its uncomfortable to eat. You will know that the seats are old. They just cover it with a towel but underneath are old upholstery which they should be changing. The place looks dirty. I forgot to mention, the wet area and water in the pool is dirty.

There is a window in the male cubicle. seriously? why is there a window? This is something private you are now in the buffet are not in the wet area anymore. what if the is someone who needs to poop and everyone can see him. This is unacceptable.

After eating we had our massage. Massage is awesome. masseurs are well trained and they know where are the right spots, they know the right strokes and even the pressure is correct. So i suggest if you want to relax you would want to try wensha's massage and food. the massage area is clean and quiet. Two beds in one room and there is a glass door. So far i know nothing extraordiary happens there (if you know what I mean).

So overall if you want to relax. A massage and good food is what you're looking for? You may go to wensha. But if you're looking for a clean japanase bath I will recomend you somewhere else.

Note: This review is only for Timog Branch. I'll have a separate review for Pasay and Antipolo branch

Here's my rating

1 - Lowest // 10 - Highest

Food: 8.5/10

Drinks: 8.5/10

Customer Service: 5/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Value for Money: 9/10