Sílantro Fil-Mex Cantina — Restaurant in Dagupan

Update:

I had seafood paella and San Miguel Super Dry for lunch.

All of the lemon slices in the service water and paella were fresh.

The paella serving was generous. I finished everything alone although it's really meant for two. The prawns were succulent fresh. The clam shells were generous although the clam meat weren't on a one-is-to-one ratio with the shells.

Those are just the seafood ingredients; no squid, no mussels, and no gindara or tuna belly. It has non-seafood ingredients though like sliced hard-boiled eggs and grilled chicken slices.

Overall, the paella was delicious!

I came in at past 5:00 p.m. on a Friday for an early dinner. The resto was already 60% to 70% full with diners. Airconditioning wasn't working well. Empty tables were not yet cleaned. Place was busy.

The crew gave me a menu that had seen better days. Beef nachos were not available. Fritas were not available. Any kind of soda were not available.

I settled for a beef quesadilla appetizer and beef burrito main dish thinking that the serving sizes were average and a house blend iced tea.

After a few minutes, the crew served me a dip without the quesadillas. Duh???

A few more minutes, then my iced tea was served. It was mediocre since the lemon slices were overripe and the taste wasn't very pleasant.

A couple more minutes, then my quesadillas were set on the table. For an appetizer, the two quesadillas were huge. The flour tortillas weren't toasted. In short, Silantro offered soft taco shells that didn't require much cooking; makes operational sense since the Silantro on-location kitchen was very small. I presume Silantro has an off-location kitchen because I saw one of the kitchen crews scoop food from a huge stainless pot at the floor. Yep, at the floor; not at the table! The beef morsels on the quesadillas were obviously pressure cooked. Beef seemed tender at first sampling then it got chewy tough all the way. Most of the beef on the quesadillas were inedible, so I collected those and packed it later for my dog.

The quesadillas' flavor reeked of those packed fajita seasoning that came in balikbayan boxes from relatives in the US.

Next came my beef burrito. It was huge; bigger than my favorite Mexicali Restaurant burritos. The flour tortilla was up to standard specifications, not toasted, but soft and good. The tomatoes were exceptionally of high quality. The flavor, overall, was exceptional. The bummer though was that the beef morsels of the burrito were the same tough and chewy beef in the quesadillas.

In summary, Silantro is a good place for two or more as the servings are generously huge. The kitchen's sanitation though is suspect. Except for the burrito which had excellent flavor, the quesadillas were run-of-the-mill.

Stay away from...

I'm a regular of Silantro Alabang Town Center and dropped by their first branch in Dagupan since I was in the area.

Waiter attended to us immediately. Ordered 4 tacos for merienda. Waited 15 minutes before the waiter took notice and followed up in the kitchen. Few more minutes and 2 tacos finally arrived. After we finished eating, I asked if the other 2 tacos were on the way, he was dumbfounded. So I asked if it's gonna take another 15 minutes, he said 3 minutes, so I checked my watch, he then changed his answer to 3 to 5 minutes.

I'm guessing the waiter forgot to relay our order to the kitchen, or the kitchen forgot to make our order, if it's only supposed to take 5 minutes to prepare tacos.

Serving size is also surprisingly smaller than the one in ATC. Disappointing since the place wasn't full and we arrived after lunch time. Maybe just an isolated incident. Will still eat at their ATC branch since they always...

My husband been insisting for years that silantro is the best however, i took it for granted. Now, i am regretting that i missed this one for years. First of all, the place is accessible since it's located in the heart of the city and I appreciate that parking spaces are available in front. Secondly, the place is very homey and woody. It looks like an old classic house converted into dining place. Lastly, the food is superb! Everything on the menu is inviting but we cannot order everything. 😂 We tried their famous nachos and it was heaven! I never tried something like this. Their chicken wings is a must try! The taste even seeps until its bone. 🤤 Also, I never imagjned that a cheap price of lamb chops will taste great! Lastly, their four cheese pizza is very mexican. Overall, the amount of serving is commendable. Try it! I assure you, You'll receive your...