Gloria Maris Eastwood Mall — Restaurant in Quezon City

Had a family lunch here to avail the RCBC 50% promo. We normally do not go to Gloria Maris because of its reputation for being expensive and normally do not go to Eastwood City Mall because it's one of the most poorly designed malls in the country, but to paraphrase comedian Jimmy O. Yang's mother, a good deal's a good deal. Or is it?

First impression of the restaurant is that it's an older branch that would benefit from some renovation. It may look fine in my pictures but the place feels marching towards being run down and not rustic.

Oyster Cake (Medium, P670.00) This was my favorite from what we ordered although this sentiment was not shared by the rest of the family. While it is my favorite, I've certainly had better oyster cake from other places and at a cheaper price. I would not order it again unless I can't find anything else to try from the menu.

Hot Prawn Salad (Medium, P1,400.00) Similar to the oyster cake, this was fine but nothing special. Prawns felt fresh, batter was alright, but taste was very middle of the road. No special aspect to recommend.

Shrimp Sze Chuan Style (Medium, P1,300.00) This was the first dish to come out. Good level of spice but nothing crazy even if you bite on the chili pieces. I felt that the prawn in the salad was better quality than the shrimp here.

Spinach with 2 Kinds of Egg (Medium, P720.00) The taste of this dish is what you would expect but the excessive soup/broth doesn't really add much since there only a very mild taste to it. Luk Foo makes a "Two Kinds of Egg with Polonchay" that I enjoy much more than this.

Seafood Tofu (Medium, P780.00) Again, nothing great to say here. Everything was tender, but the taste was much too similar in profile to everything else we ordered (maybe we are the culprits here) and it doesn't have anything over the equivalent dishes in other restaurants.

Gloria Maris Fried Rice (Medium, P775.00) I've never tried an equivalent fried rice, and it was hard to pick since the menu had more than 10 fried rice options, but this seems like a very seafood heavy fried rice and probably using just egg whites. If you will go for a seafood heavy order (like we did), I would suggest going for the Yang Chow or other options which should be more eggy and umami. You can pair this with a pork/beef heavy order.

Ripe Mango Shake (P200.00) About as good as a random mango shake from FoodPanda.

Chili Sauce House chili sauce was good. Spicy but won't make you break out in a sweat. Paired well wit the oyster cake.

Overall, the food was OK in taste, but the cost (a little high) and serving size (average) means that I can't recommend it over other restaurants. With the 50% off promo it kind of makes sense, but only if you're hankering for a "good deal". I would pay more for more interesting food.

Food came out pretty fast, but service in terms of getting the attention of waiters could be improved.

No house tea was served despite request.

Prices do not include 10%...

I must say that my guests and I were very pleased with our lunch. We started off with Birthday noodles and 2 types of soups ( crabmeat and corn soup, and hot and sour soup.) The server was very helpful and informed us that sharing would be the most economical way instead of each of us ordering off the menu since there were 10 of us. The Birthday noodles dish was one of the best I’ve tasted. While I thought the hot and sour soup taste needed more balance, the crabmeat and corn soup was very put together and tasty. Our main meal consisted of- steamed lapu-lapu with a light dark sauce that did not overwhelm the perfectly steamed fish. And a server deboned it for us. We also ordered the filling and tasty yangchow fried rice,beef and broccoli,salt and pepper spicy fried squid. We also tried some dimsum items- hakaw, sharksfin siomai, and chicken feet. Everything was tasty and delicious. The head server that took care of our group was very attentive and I left it up to him to decide how big a portion we needed for sharing for each dish. And he was spot on. The desserts we ordered were- lychee gelatin, mango sago and butchi. All the dishes and the dessert very satisfying , delicious and the whole meal was a very pleasant and delightful experience. I would highly recommend...

Back in gloria maris after three months.its one of the frequent places I visit in eastwood. Today we had visitors and went in for lunch. We had seafood spinach soup, hakaw, xioaolongbao, broccoli and scallops, squid salt and pepper, sweet and sour pork, yangchow fried rice and steamed lapu lapu in soy sauce. We were seated immediately as lunchtime crowd was done. Service is always quick here. Although taste was amazing, for all dish especially the squid, pork, scallops and steamed lapu lapu, Few concerns , the hakaw and xioaolongbao were over steamed and soggy, the lapu lapu was small compared to what we used to get before. I know I am paying for the weight but could have kept bigger fish. Also the fish after de boning look petrified 😁, it used to be presented nicely. The air conditioning is still a concern especially when you are having hot food. Bill out was quick, portion size are big hence got to carry out the leftovers. Service charge is included in the bill and tipping is optional. I'll still go back...