Watering Hole

Something to fill you stomach in the morning!

Travelled quite far to have dinner and desserts tonight. I came from my home base, Ortigas. My friend wanted pasta and I had a mini tour of Burgos Circle before finally deciding here.

Watering Hole had a seemingly over fusion of Filipino. They have Italian, American and classic Filipino.

The Macaroni with Longanissa was just okay. It was typical macaroni and cheese. They just topped it Vigan Longanissa. They could have infused it better.

The Sizzling Squid even at small portion was most impressive. The meat was cooked perfectly and simple seasoning like vinegar and soy sauce worked well.

Mixed Vegetables looked unappetizing but surprisingly good with its touch of sweet flavor. The vegetable mixture was also well balanced.

Had lunch with my office buddies. Ordered their Spaghetti with Spicy Tuyo. I was a bit disappointing. Noodles was a bit soggy. Too oily and can't taste the saltiness of the tuyo. But what is interesting and my office buddy liked is her Baked Cheesy Macaroni with crunchy Vigan longganisa. That's something that I would like to try. Was not able to take a pic of their Buttermilk Chicken with Mashed Potato and my other office buddy said it was ok. Would still go back to try their other food.

PLACE:

It was uhmmm okay?

FOOD:

Wasn't able to take picture of all the food that we ate. I also forgot what viands did we ordered. The food isn't appetizing at all. Taste is quite bland.

Chocolate Lava Cake - Cake was too mamon-ish. Lava is too sweet and runny.

SERVICE:

Friendly and accommodating staff

PRICE:

Overpriced

VERDICT:

Did I enjoy it? - No
Will I recommend it? - No
Will I come back? - No

I was walking along Burgos Circle after coming from another café when I saw how beautifully the afternoon sunlight reflected off of the windows of the Watering Hole and also on the tables situated up front. Long story short, I went in because another coffee wouldn't hurt, right? ️

Upon entering, I instantly took a liking to their monochromatic setting. To top it all off, the crew were quite friendly and I liked the taste of their house blend brewed coffee.

I thought it was OK.

Dinuguan, pork sisig, bagnet!! Argh!!! Forget about your diet!!

Beef Stroganoff

Waygu beef strips, sautéed onions & mushroom with sour cream-tomato sauce, served with Caesar salad and steamed rice

This is a super delicious beef stroganoff! The sauce is creamy and rich in flavor. The beef is tender and not hard to chew. Perfection in the making!

A must try!

Bagnet and Mango Shake

My first time here!

I ordered their set meal, bagnet. Crispy pork belly served with garlic rice, ensaladang talong, and shrimp paste. It was served beautifully and looks very appetizing. Indeed, it's yummy! You can never go wrong with Filipino food.

I had a feeling that the mango shake would be a little sour. And it was! Hahaha... Sayang! Maganda pa naman yung itsura. Ibig sabihin hindi lahat ng maganda sa mata masarap. Kelangan din naten pakinggan yung nararamdaman naten.

Their food presentation is awesome. Super like!

Their customer service is awesome. Super like!

Yung mango shake lang talaga may kasalanan!

I will be back! 🏻

Ordering Lumberjack Breakfast to start a day from here,

🔸 you could choose, poached egg or scramble or sunny side up
🔸 hearty and warmth breakfast
🔸any breakfast comes with FREE a pot of green tea or coffee or mango juice

It's nice place to have a breakfast & fill your empty stomach

I thought it was OK.

A big big thankyou to the staff for keeping my credit card safe for 3 days, since i didnt know i left it!

This was a surprise. Just came back from an ilocos trip to which I sinfully indulged in crispy bagnets and vigan longanisas like no tomorrow. I was still in ilocos mode. Walked by this resto and to my surprise its actually ilocano inspired. You will see an array of ilocano dishes being served with a culinary twist. The mac and cheese with crispy vigan longanisa caught my eye. It was very satisfying! Gooey cheese and a generous portion of mac and ground longanisa. Decently priced too! Mr. Miyagi approves!

This is interesting. Even the name is out of the box. I came for coffee honestly and decaff was the option for that night. Again, i asked the server if they could give me a latte art.. She laughed and told me “si sir nalang ho”... So i laughed too and said ok.

With that i had banana walnut muffin. The muffin was not dense. So it was fluffy and the walnuts has outdone the bananas. The banana was more like a scent.

“sir, decaf”
Boom!
LOL
Hmm.. A 3D latte art? I'm guessing a forming mountain.
The taste was nonetheless ok.

I liked the ambiance really. So shady and cool inside. Most people opted to stay outside though. Inside good for dates. Dates na may balak in the end.

I couldn't recall which dish I ate for mirienda but I remember being happy with the coffee. It's a good experience overall- I think. I'll need to revisit soon.

The place is nice but it's quite small. We had buttermilk chicken and beef tapa. Buttermilk chicken is really good, crispy outside and so juicy inside, served it with mashed potato. Another favorite is the beef tapa, though it's a bit pricey but it's really yummy so I guess worth it. I like their iced tea. We wanted to try their other menu like oysters, gambas and sisig but it's not available. Hopefully next time all of those are ready to serve.

Had dinner here last sunday and SERVICE WAS BAD. Really!! Servers all were not helpful. Service was slow and was super weird.

Good thing, our orders were mostly yummy! We ordered the following:

GAMBAS AL AJILLO (395)
Prawns sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and chili flakes. You can ask them not to make it spicy (or to make it spicier). For almost 400 pesos, one may think it's pricey but serving size was good for sharing. You get 6 huge juicy prawn. This was good!! 🏼

BAKED OYSTERS (395)
8 pcs of local oysters baked with parmesan cream sauce. Didn't tried this one since I don't eat oysters but they liked this. It was fresh and not malansa daw.

SISIG (225)
The descriptions says: Crispy Pork Belly but the sisig wasn't crispy, AT ALL. Didn't tried this one, as well. Out of all the dishes we tried, this was their least favorite.

BEEF SALPICAO (435)
Beef tenderloin with garlic and olive oil. This was served with garlic rice and roasted veggies on the side (onions, beans, mushroom, and bell peppers). The beef was uber tender and tasty but not the usual salpicao taste I was expecting. It was like a "special" kind if tapa. But it was good!

We were supposed to try the buttermilk chicken as well but since our server was too slow, someone else was able to order the last piece first. Hayyyy. Everything was good and yummy but sometimes, bad service can ruin your entire dining experience. Oh well.

I'm still deciding if I'll come back again because their all day breakfast is so tempting!!!!

I loved it.

Had these for merienda the other day and it was both delicious!!! The tokwa & baboy tasted fresh a wasn't greasy. The sauce wax mixed well and I loved the fresh chili they used. The chicken croquettes was creamy and was golden! A real hit for cheese lovers though note that it didn't overpowered the chicken flavor so each bite gives a balance taste of the croquette. Looking fwd to try more of their dishes!