Filipino BBQ House — Restaurant in Melbourne

I am not one to write reviews but my experience tonight caused me to come here to write one.

I came with my son at 7:45pm (Restaurant closes at 8:30pm) and was told very hesitantly that we could dine in but would have to eat fast as they were closing at 8pm even though they were advertised online and in their front door that they closed at 8:30pm. - Mind you there were other diners in there taking their time and seemed like in no rush to leave… So we felt really out of place as we felt like because we weren’t “Filipinos” we got a different treatment.

We had travelled all the way from Cranbourne just to come eat here as we came awhile back and really enjoyed the food. I was very disappointed this time around.

Chicken Bbq was dry and inedible. Touch and could barely bite into it. Pancit was ok. Adobo was good - not much meat, more bones. And the food wasn’t hot, it was a bit cooler than room temperature. I wanted to get a drink but felt rushed and so therefore felt too shy to go buy one.

Even the service in the Philippines is better than the service I received tonight - and I’m half Filipino and travel yearly back home to the Philippines and always eat out at places like this. Lady that served us was rude and rushed me to order so I didn’t get what I really wanted. It was like she had something better to do then to serve me, my son didn’t even get to pick his dinner and what he wanted to eat.

I felt like I was being rushed and like they wanted us out of there as soon as possible which made the atmosphere uncomfortable and unenjoyable. We were super excited to come here for our dinner but sat down disappointed and sad. My son and I normally talk while eating, but tonight we sat in silence as we tried to eat as fast as we could as we had 10 minutes - We didn’t want to get takeaway and drive another 40 minutes home when we came here specially.

I’m very disappointed and don’t think I can look forwards to coming...

You know your in for a traditional feast when Phillipino chatter fills the restaurant as you walk in

All the food was pre-prepared and was sitting in 2 large countertop hot food displays. It was quite steamy in the displays so it was a little hard to see the dishes. In the first hot food display were larger items and dishes ordered individually, like half chickens, larger pieces of pork belly, pork knuckles etc. The second hot food display had variety of curries and other dishes. From the second hot food display you could order either 1 dish with rice or 2 dishes with rice.

The curries were lovely. The lamb particularly was so tender and nice. The curries were on the creamier side but I was not complaining. The rice was slight mushy but that could be traditional way it is meant to be cooked.

The slice pork belly looked alot better than it tasted. My pieces was mostly fat unfortunately was actually abit tough. Possibly a bad piece.

For dessert there was halo halo. My favourite dish of all the dishes. Reminds me of an upgraded 3 coloured Vietnamese dessert dish. Essentially this was texture heaven. Not too sweat and a must try!

Will be back to try some...

I visited this on the Sunday and I could see reasonable number of diners, mostly Filipinos. The place was big; I love the patio as it gives diners an option to enjoy the good weather outside. The staff were very accommodating and friendly. However the place did not really give me a restaurant vibe. The food were already cooked and displayed. They looked enticing though. It reminds me of middle-class dining called carenderia which is common in Philippines. Yet, this is a true Filipino dining experience. I ordered the combo meal. Yes, it was reasonable price considering the dishes were huge. The taste was mediocre though. The Halo-halo, served in plastic cup and spoon, was not rich in flavour; I was looking for a sweet semi-creamy punchy flavour. However, this is good in the summer when you crave for something to cool you down. But hey, the chicken bbq was very good! This is...