Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill PH — Restaurant in Pasay

What a disappointment. From all the hype this place was coming to Manila in the Philippines both my wife and I expected better.

So here’s what was brought out and ordered:

Bread – This was the only thing that was good. The bread was fluffy. Butter was butter.

Espresso Martini – This one was good. No complaints on this one. Worth it? Yes with the gold piece of non edible paper on top.

It started off well, but when they started serving the appetizers and main course, that’s when everything crashed and burned.

Pan-Roasted King Scallops, Caviar Sauce – Extremely overcooked. The outside was hard, and the inside was dry. Worth it? The caviar didnt do anything to the taste. No.

Aged Steak Tartare – It was like eating raw, slimy corned beef. I wasn’t too sure how this was really supposed to taste, but it was okay. Worth it? Not really. It was not food that made me feel, Wow, you have to try this!

Gordon’s Signature Beef Wellington – For a ‘signature’ dish, it was extremely bland. It was like eating beef with no seasoning and thick breading. So if you want to know what this tastes like, take a piece of meat, cook it in the oven with no spices, then wrap it with many slices of sandwich bread and eat it. That’s what it tasted like. The sauce they added with the beef had no impact—watered-down wine gravy, which I feel made it taste even worse. My wife had trouble trying to finish it. I don’t think she did. Worth it? No.

Australian Grain-fed Black Opal Wagyu Beef Fillet – They served it to me seared. It was raw on the inside when I explicitly said medium rare. I ended up eating it because I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of them taking it back, which I later regretted after they kept avoiding us. The sauces they brought out were alright. From what I could remember, I believe I had a peppercorn-type sauce. The sauce didn’t bring out the taste of the meat or accentuate it in any way. Overall, it was pretty bland, but not as bland as the Wellington. Worth it? Ehh, maybe if they cooked it correctly and added a little more spice to it because the meat they used was good. Not sure why they served a whole half slice of onion with it—maybe to even out the presentation artistically, but it served no purpose when it came to taste. It’s like, "Here… Here’s half of a cooked onion."

I think the fact that we were not asked or checked up on while the other tables were made it even more disappointing. The service started out good but then went downhill after they started serving the drinks. We believe later they started to see how disappointed we were and avoided us from then on. They checked on the other tables around us asking how the food was; however, when it came to us, they didn’t bother —even at the end when they handed us our bill. The general manager was walking around but had no interaction with us, even though he passed by the table many times. We were in a common path straight to the kitchen, right by the kitchen. It was near impossible for them not to acknowledge us. I really wanted to comment what was wrong with the food so they could go back and correct it. Or just even learn from the situation so it doesn't happen again. But since that didnt happen, all that was going through my mind was imagining getting McDonald’s on the other side of the mall, coming back to the restaurant, and eating the burger in front of the staff. That is how disappointed I was with this restaurant and actually Mcdonalds would have tasted better then the beef we ate.

All this place was was hype and presentation. Definitely not happy with the amount of money I spent on this. I spent $227.00 USD on this. The only thing we didn’t get a picture of was the wine my wife ordered.

I would not come back. I have already started telling other friends not to try this place to waste their money. I’ll try to hit up Ramsay's other restaurants here in Las Vegas and compare. I want to believe this is only Manila. Until Manila gets their act and culinary skills together, you're going to be wasting your money trying...

Dined here out of mere curiosity and I honestly didn’t have any expectations. However, the food (especially the mains) was a bit disappointing for my taste.

Service: Service-wise, it was a great experience. I made a reservation for 7:30 PM but arrived earlier at around 7 PM. I tried my luck and asked if we can be accommodated despite being early for the reservation. Luckily, we were immediately seated. We also asked if we can be transferred from our initial assigned table at the entrance. Again, we were accommodated. We were seated at a table with the kitchen in full view and it was magnificent.

Our assigned server was also very attentive and service throughout the night was top-notch.

Food: For our appetizer, we ordered Caesar Salad. It was hearty and flavorful and the anchovies nicely complemented the greens.

We were mostly dissatisfied with the mains (Beef Wellington and the Australian Grass-fed Ribeye Steak). It might just be personal preference but the Wellington didn’t suit my palate especially the mushroom duxelle. It was too salty for my taste and the whole combination of it with the beef, pastry and sauce just didn’t make the cut for me.

After the Beef Wellington, we were looking forward to be wowed by the Ribeye but again, it was a disappointment. I wasn’t a fan of the complex tastes and I don’t like some sweetness in my meat - but again this is personal preference and may not be the same for every palate.

What I will take against the restaurant though is the “chewiness” of the meat. We didn’t finish the whole serving as the meat is too tough for our liking, especially when we ordered ours medium rare.

The saving grace was dessert where we ordered the apple tart tatin. We just wanted to have the night over and done with after the mains but realized that we ordered dessert. We had some appetite for a bite of the tart tatin and it was delicious. Definitely took away a bit of our disappointment.

We also ordered sides like truffle parmesan fries and spice-roasted pumpkin. The fries was like any other truffle fries, nothing special. The pumpkin has potential but we were too full with the mains (we tried to finish them just to get our money’s worth at the least) so we just took a bite of the pumpkin and took both sides to go.

Taste-wise, we liked the caesar salad, pumpkin and the tart tatin. The fries was nothing out of the ordinary. The mains were disappointing and not to my liking. Overall, I wouldn’t say that the price point justifies the taste. The “okay” foods can be bought for more or less the same taste but for a significantly less expensive price elsewhere.

Additional comments: As we were celebrating our anniversary, we were given complimentary glasses of wine and received a card with handwritten notes of good-wishes. This is well-appreciated.

One small thing I’d like to note is the water charge. I thought we were getting service water but apparently we were being charged by the bottle. Had I known, I would’ve asked for the bottle to be placed on our table instead of having to ask the server for water from time to time. 😅 I am not even sure if the charges truly correspond to the amount of water we consumed but maybe it did so it isn’t much of a big deal - just something to take note of when...

Made reservations for us at the Gordon Ramsey Bar & Grill Philippines 2 months ago and finally, eto na! We got to have our anniversary dinner at the place!

Upon arrival, you were warmly welcomed and seated in the lounge while our table was being prepared. At our table, they offered still or sparkling water. Now not to distract so much from this review, but while going over the menu, we spotted a fly in the restaurant. Totally unexpected kasi we were inside the Hilton Hotel. 😬

Anyway, over than a typical bar and grill, the vibe here was more semi-fine dining. The ambiance—perfect ang lighting, lively yet private ang atmosphere, and with well-dressed, and very courteous waitstaff Now the Drinks & Starters: • First we had the Double espresso – Walang picture kasi ininom agad ni sir. LOL. But it was strong so it lasted throughout dinner. • Then they served us dinner rolls and butter – It was very nice! The bread was soft and it was served with well-salted, easily spreadable butter. • We had the Pea & Asparagus Soup – It was creamy yet light, and warm and comforting paired with the dinner rolls. • Syempre we can't have a nice dinner without cocktails – Sir had the Pisco Sour and I had the Raspberry Mojito and they were well-made - very potent yet pleasant drinks! • Eto na… on to the very famous Crab Cake – I think the yolk could have been runnier when I cut through the egg, but the cake was Crispy outside, moist inside, and paired with caviar and egg - it was a a good start. • Then there's the Scallops – This dish we could have a few more servings of! The scallops were cooked perfectly cooked and the sauces they were served with enhanced the flavor of the scallops. Very glad si order this dish.

Now onto the Mains • Fish & Chips – It was a fillet meant for sharing! The fish had a light yet crispy batter, and was very inside. But you will need hat lemon to get through the big fillet! • and of course, dinner at Gordon Ramsay's wouldn't be complete without the ever famous Beef Wellington – This was star of the night. At ₱3,800+, it was absolutely worth it! The mash was nicely seasoned and smooth. The Duxelle was just enough to add flavor the dish, and the tenderloin was perfect! This dish made our night!

We shared all the dishes and were very satisfied after dinner… but syempre you always leave a bit of room for dessert! So wee played “bato-bato-pik” to decide between the Sticky Toffee Pudding and the Knickerbocker Glory. So we had the compote. Not a bad choice, I think. It was creamy and fruity but not too sweet. But di namin naubos, We were just too full!

Oh and these can't be left unsaid… • We appreciate e the complimentary champagne at the start of dinner to celebrate our anniversary. • and the Greeting card from the waitstaff at the end—an unexpected but sweet gesture.

So, my final thoughts here…

It was a fantastic dining experience—great food, ambiance, and service. It was well worth 12k. Ha! We're glad Gordon Ramsay opened a place in the Philippines, giving Filipinos the opportunity to experience his signature dining. Kudos to Gordon Ramsay, the restaurant staff, and the kitchen team!

Oh, by the way when you make a reservation, they'll ask you to send a deposit of 1k per person. Hope you get to try...