Boracay Garden & Grill — Restaurant in South San Francisco

It's one of my favorite Filipino restaurants. The food here never disappoints.

My family and I haven't been here in a long while since the pandemic. We went here last night for a birthday party.

When we came here, it was like nothing changed. Inside, it still looks very inviting and warm. One thing that has changed just like every other Filipino restaurant nearby is they close after lunchtime and open for dinner. Low key annoying, but what can you do?

We ordered a lot, so this will be a pretty long review.

Sampler platter - definitely a good choice when you don't know what to get. I feel like it's a little pricey but then again cheaper than buying each item individually. Portion is good for about 3-4 people at most. If you're starving, maybe 2-3 people. I like the different sauces they provide, especially the calamares sauce. It's very addictive with the tangy and tart taste. Perfect badlands balance.

Bulalo- Perfect soup on a nice cold and windy day. A little disappointed server didn't automatically provide patis with it. By the time we asked for it and received it, half the soup was already gone.

Pansit bihon- Out of all the noodles, they have this one I like the most. This one has a lot of noodles and not too many vegetables, where some places are all vegetables.

Pansit canton - This one has thicker noodles like chow mein and like a gravy sauce. Looks good, and my family likes it, just not for me. Think I'm used to chow mein or dryer noodles that it's not appealing to me.

Inihaw na liempo- This is one of my favorites. If you like bbq sticks, this is a must. Tastes similar but without the burned pieces. It's basically marinated pork belly, but you can't eat just one piece. The sauce that goes with it too compliments it well, giving it the perfect balance.

6 Adobong pusit - cooked perfectly, not overcooked and chewy. The only complaint on this is that the sauce was watery. It would've been even better if it was thicker.

Sitaw at calabasa - This was my first time trying this, I love green beans and lechon kawali, so it was a 50/50 chance I'd like it. I'm not a fan of dishes with coconut milk, but this was surprisingly tasty, not overly coconutty, but nice and creamy. Green beans were crunchy, just like the lechon kawalu. You get a perfect balance of salty (from the lechon kawali), sweet (from crispy green beans), and creaminess from the coconut milk.

Drunken prawns and scallops - This sounded good, but I'm not going to lie. I was kind of skeptical. Once I tried it, I was surprised. The shrimp and scallop were so tender and not rubbery. It wasn't bad, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it.

Kare-kare- If you love kare-kare, this is one that you have to try.

Crispy pata - To me, this was alright. Skin wasn't super crunchy, and I feel like the order we received was smaller than usual.

Garlic fried rice - surprisingly good. The amount of garlic with the rice was perfect and went with everything

Fresh mango green shake - I highly recommend this if you love mangoes. This is something I always order when I go here. It's not super sweet, and you get the tart that makes you pucker your lips

Bibingkintan- Sweet and tasty, definitely something you can easily share with the rest of your party.

Turon a la mode - If you think you're so full and can't eat no more. Trust me, you will make space for this. Deep fried banana lumpia with jackfruit and ube inside with caramel drizzled on top is heaven and not overly sweet. Only disappointment was the ice cream is so small.

The service was alright, I feel we were only able to get their attention so fast because we were sitting right next to their station. The owner was there as usual, but not very welcoming. I feel like he just talked to one table, and that was it.

By the time we were almost done, it did get crowded, and a lot of people were...

Terrible customer service. When we first got there, they have no one to greet us or let us know that you have to write our name on a list to be seated. After writing our name down a lady came in 15 to 20 minutes later and wrote her name down. I did not like the fact that the guy in charge sat the lady before us since they knew each other. WHY BOTHER WITH THE LIST IF THEY'RE NOT GOING TO FOLLOW IT?!

In terms of their food, it was pricey and the servings were little. In comparison with other Filipino restaurants like Gerry's Grill and Isla, the food serving is doubled with the same price you pay for.

Also, note that the parking space is very limited. Overall will I go back here to eat again? Most likely not. The food was good but there are plenty of other Filipino restaurants that are better than this place.

Not worth the wait and the distance we had to drive...

Been going here since 2009 at least and the food is consistently the Best Filipino food in the bay area. This is were you take a person out to eat if you need to make sure they will be happy with no complaints.

The ingredients are fresh, the variety of dishes is excellent. The pork is perfectly done, crispy, tender, fatty and accents their dishes perfectly or you can just get a Crispy Pata, a whole deep fried pork leg. The food is mostly made from fresh vegetables and not greasy at all. They do Philipino Cuisine proper here.

Our favorite dishes are the Pinakbet, Hawaiian Oxtail soup, all their fried rices. There are so many perfectly done plates you can find something you will like.

For me this is a no brainer. I know everyone will eat and...