Director Erik Matti’s F*#%^! Word restaurant is the latest hang-out place along C. Palanca which replaced Sake Club. Spanx, Ivan H and I decided to do our pre-production meeting here for the Ultimate Pampanga Tour this coming Saturday. We had fun figuring out what the F*#%^! Word stands for. The most likely meaning, if I would guess, is Filipino Fusion Food.
The open well-lighted restaurant entices you to go in and just chill out. Most people just drink and we found out the reason why after our dinner.
You cannot see the F Word logo from the outside but you can see all the cartoon paintings on the wall. The paintings are not for sale.
When I invited Spanx and Ivan to F*#%^! Word, my hook was the peanut butter soup. We were surprised when we learned that it was replaced already by the pakbet soup. We were tempted to say the “What the F*#%^!” Word, but I’m glad that the waiter succumbed to our request and insistence to order the peanut butter soup.
As it turns out, the peanut butter soup is the highlight of our meal for the night. It tasted like curry with a peanut butter twist. It is interesting enough for me to rave about F*#%^!. I guess they want to keep the peanut soup as an off menu secret item 🙂
F*#%^! Word Menu
Appetizers | Soup and Salad | Pasta | Meats and Fish | Off the Grill and Dessert | Merienda and Sandwiches | Drinks
The menu has humor and it would have been funny if they were able to deliver with good food. The restaurant is promising but something has to be done with the people running the kitchen.
Spaghetti de Bilbao (P290). Guiltless all meat pasta for the ones who live to eat.
Ivan ordered this spaghetti and requested to remove all the cheese. This tasted more like tomato than meat. I don’t know if it was intentional for the meat to have subdued taste.
Ventre Croustillant de Porc Avec le Demi-glace de Pomme a.k.a. Lechon Kawali (P280). Crispy pork belly a la lechon kawali with apple demi-glace and pan fried apple-banana sidings.
With all the funny french translation, this lechon kawali tasted ordinary according to Spanx. It is just like the ones you can cook at home.
Sole Fillet with Seafood Paella Risotto (P380). Pan fried sole fillet with taba ng talangka-caper sauce on Paella flavored risotto.
My waiter recommended this Sole Fillet as the best food in the house. I fell for the upsell again and I tasted more salt in this dish than what I expected. The risotto was harder than expected. The dish concept is very good and I fell for it. But the experience of eating it makes you regret ordering it. I should have ordered the sweet adobo, Pork Onnie.
“Uber Healthy” Sisig Wrap (P230). Grilled Pork cheek, Pork ear, Pork snout, Pork sweetbreads, Chicken Liver and Butter wrapped in really, really fresh, healthy and green lettuce.
The waiter told us that there will be 12 pieces of lettuce which turns out to be only 3. You have to pay P40 for extra pieces of lettuce. There is nothing unique about wrapping sisig in lettuce. But this is a good appetizer to kick off the drinking session.
Ivan Henares and Spanx Hizon will be our tour guide for tomorrow’s Ultimate Pampanga Tour.
Durian Cheese Cake (P210). The taste of durian without the stench masked behind a creamy, tasty cheese cake.
We all agreed that this would have been a great dessert if it was not frozen. I guess it needs to be “Frozen” to conform with the theme of the resto.
I love the ambiance specifically the open ceiling with flat cylinder lights, cartoon painting effects on the wall, and the F emblem. I do hope Erik Matti improves the food.
F*#%^! Word
C. Palanca St., Makati City
(Besides Gweillos)
Live an Awesome Life,
Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. Copyright 2008.
Email: anton@diaz.ph
Blog: www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Hmm, interesting review and your dish choices. The food appears to be a hodgepodge of various inspirations — not really here or there. Personally, I prefer food with a bit more focus.
I know sweetbreads are calves’ thymus glands. First time I heard of pork sweetbreads though. What are they?
Oh ok, apparently pigs have thymus glands as well…
I was excited to see this post, because I’d been wondering when you would discover F Word. It’s been a popular hang-out for advertising folk for the past several months — not just for the drinks (it’s not a bar), but for the food. In fact, Socky’s written about this place in Adobo, the industry magazine, and in her blog, too. Your review’s another example of how very subjective taste is. I’ve eaten at F Word several times, with different people, and most of them have enjoyed the creative dishes. Funnily enough, I know a couple of the people in your pictures, and one of them goes to F Word very often! 🙂
Expectations play a big role, too. I wouldn’t go to F Word expecting gourmet food; maybe more of familiar food with a little twist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not contradicting your opinion. If you found the sole and risotto too salty, that’s valid; personally, I liked it. Just as the majority of F Word’s customers love and order the Pork Onnie again and again and again, while I found it good, but far from special. I’m glad we agree on the Peanut Butter Soup, though! Socky, Mila, Joey and I all enjoyed it very much, and were disappointed that it had been taken off the menu. It seems there are too few of us adventurous enough to order it. Maybe if we protest enough, they’ll bring it back! 😉
F*#%^! Word
very much reminded of the old PENGUIN
in malate…
same artistic vibe,
the really cool paintings on the wall,
even the same people!
unfortunately,
last thursday night, it had the same problem
and the same attraction of the Penguin
back in the day:
mediocre food, but great ambience.
more care should be given to the food quality;
the rice served with my liempo was way too dry,
the lettuce was limp and spotted with brown,
the taste of the cheesecake was wonderful,
but it was hard as a brick:
the pieces flew all over the table like kamikaze
planes when we used our forks to get bites.
i’m still recommending the restaurant though;
the Peanut Butter Soup is to die for,
as Joe Black would have said “,)
i always order the Squash Carbonara! yumyumyum
oh and the sangria too 🙂
some dishes that my friends also recommend are the salmon udon, and the inasal and shawarma burgers.
oh and the F soup (soup#5) is really yummy! its only available 11pm onwards, i think
We went there for lunch maybe a month ago. The ambiance from the outside was really nice that’s why we decided to try it. Apparently there is something wrong on how they operate. We were given a menu, but after each order we were told “not available”. So we then asked what then is available?! They said they only serve pasta. Then whats the purpose of letting us choose from the menu?!, and opening that lunch if they have very limited menu. What the F*#^! We ended leaving the place…
Hmmm…will be trying this place tomorrow. Let’s see… =)
just last night, my two indian friends and another friend of mine went to this F*#%^! Word
to eat dinner and have 2 bottles of beer before going home. since one of them is a vegetarian, we requested to have our food customized. i asked to remove the dried pusit on the spicy veggie salad and the other indian asked for a tuna sandwich. the tuna sandwich came out with just the patty so we were quite confused why. my friend called the waiter and asked were the bun is. i think the two had a misunderstanding with regards to the ordering. the servers are not quite good in conversing in english. i still have to translate what they have said in tagalog.
the next thing that happen really got into my nerves. one of the kitchen crew went to our table and complain (in a very loud voice and with gestures na sobrang angas) that he did what we have ordered. so i told him, it’s not really a big deal and maybe they just had a misunderstanding and to just give him the bun. and then the waiter told me that they already gave us the special favor of customizing my salad (so that my friend could also have some of it). i was really pissed off because i asked them if it’s okay not to include the dried pusit in my salad and they said yes. and what the heck, it is really alright to request to have your food customized. other restos are alright with it because it is a kind of respect to your customers.
in the end they gave my friend the bun… but they let him wait for almost 30 minutes… my indian friends were both patient, while me and my other friend was not. i mean, put yourself in my shoes… it’s just a bun. something they don’t need to cook. all they have to do is just to place it in a plate and bring it in our table. my friend is not even asking to have it redone. he’s just asking for the bun. but the kitchen crew is making a big deal about it, like i want chicken in a beef casserole.
what else? they’ve got wooden tables with bed mites (surot) in it. i have to put tissue on the edge of the table because i can’t help resting my arms on the edge… i’ve got several bites on my arms…
“The servers are not quite good in conversing in english” is a tad bit elitist, don’t you think? Also, I’ve hung out at F*#%^! word several times, sat at different tables and not even a mosquito bite. Maybe you were just unlucky.
Anyway, I love how the place and the crowd is so laid-back, the perfect hang out after a days work. I highly recommend the samosas, sizzling bulalo and any of the desserts.
SAna sinabi mo, what the F*#%^!
“The servers are not quite good in conversing in english” <<< i'm not really expecting anyone from there to speak english fluently but what i mean is at least one should know how to understand and speak basic english if you are working in the food industry. hindi yung "ma'm ano po sabi?" i think it's one of the requirements…
good for you. and yeah, maybe i'm just too unlucky to get bitten by bedmites. medyo maselan ako sa ganyan eh. and maybe my friend is unlucky too… 🙂
i don't have any problem with the place or the crowd hanging in there. the place is cool actually. i'm not even complaining about the food. masarap sya eh. but what i'm complaining, if i'm not mistaken, is the bad attitude of the chef in that place.
a chef has no business rushing to the customer's table asking "ano problema nyo? ginawa na lahat ng gusto nyo tapos dami pa din reklamo…" (and that comes with an angas gesture and facial expressions… kaya nga ako pissed off eh) unless we are complaining about the food… but we were just asking for the burger bun. which, they gave us for almost 30 minutes? sino ba naman di mababadtrip nun? eh sa ugali ng chef na yun he's most likely na babuyin pagkain ng customer kapag naiinis sya…
kasi kung ayaw naman nung cinucustomized yung food, then at least he should tell us, pwede naman transfer to another place. but they said okay eh…
di ko alam ano problema ng chef na yun… malamang di napautang ng bumbay…
hahaha… actually…
funny i hang out there all the time too and i dont get bitten as well and to think i hang out there wearing shorts and skirts how lucky!! plus i superrr love the food;) tuna tartare, bulalo and the black calamares!!! oo and the green mango pepper shake and mango pinapple ginger shake!! yumm very refreshing
although with the angas cook i think even if they just stand inside the kitchen they look like bouncers already… goons even… and is it just me or they all look like siblings same built and all… 😉 but ya maybe that guy has a problem (menopause maybe?!) ohwells that must be one bad day for him… oh and the waiters they really are very friendly and attentive, theres two waiters i like there Nath and jojo they never let my water glass go empty. hehe