[Eastwood Mall Foodie Series]
I’m not really a fan of any Raymund Magdaluyo restaurant (of Red Crab fame) but I admire his creativity in conceptualizing restaurants. The latest ones are these tandem establishments specializing in seafood (BluFish) and meat (The Flying Pig).
His successful restos are targeted towards the 17-25 y.o. demographic and are usually for family and group gatherings. The concept is quite focused on a niche market like seafood, all-meat, American or breakfast. The menu and ambiance are nicely integrated with the concept. What I don’t like about the restaurants are the impersonal service and sub-par quality of the food.
BluFish and The Flying Pig are the latest additions to Raymund Magdaluyo’s long list of successful concept restos, which include: Red Crab and Seafood Club, Crustasia, Paloma, Heaven n’ Eggs, Cocorama, Clawdaddy Crabhouse and American Grill, Hula Hula Seafood and Barbecue House, Blackbeard’s Seafood Island, The Red Crab, Sumo-Sam and Texas Smoke ‘Em. (That was long, did I miss anything?)
The BluFish ambiance is a bit timid, with serving pans as the main highlight of the interiors.
BluFish Menu:
Soup and Salads, Oysters and Ceviche, Starters, Dessert
Whole Fish, Fish in Pot, Fish Specials, Fish in Pasta and Risotto, No Fish
I like The Flying Pig better with its paintings of flying oinkers that would entertain you while you wait for your food. I prefer sitting here — one can still order from the BluFish menu anyway.
Flying Pig Menu:
Soup and Salads, Oysters and Ceviche, Starters, Dessert
The Barbecue House, Swine Dining, Pork in Pot, Wiches on Wings, Bistro Special
I’ve been wondering about the codes used in the restaurant, like 86 Item. When we asked, they explained that ’86’ meant out of stock. (So why is it called 86?)
Shrimp and Lobster Bisque (P225 +10%SC)
We like this soup. It’s full of flavor without the malansa taste. My wife often orders this, and she was satisfied with it.
Grilled Tuna with Mediterranean Rice Salad (P395 +10%SC) Grilled Tuna, Rice in Thyme and Dijon Vinaigrette.
The grilled tuna from BluFish was surprisingly yummy. Raymund Magdaluyo’s restos are really famous for the quality of their seafood. The tuna was juicy, with the right amount of saltiness, and grilled almost perfectly well. The rice and salad combination complemented the tuna nicely.
Sally Smoked the Chicken – Half Chicken (P325 +10%SC) with Creole Penne Ratatouille and Cajun Pomme Fries.
The quarter chicken is served with one side dish, while the half chicken is served with two. We liked the penne pasta initially but after a while it tasted too sweet. The chicken itself is smoked with the following basting options: creole blackened, honey pomegranate or French Espresso rub.
It was OK and the serving size is good to share with a family.
Baby Back Ribs Full (P625 +10%SC) with Honey Pomegranate basting and two side dishes: Spinach Whipped Potatoes and Salted Bacon Basmati Rice.
This dish is served with 11 ribs. We were disappointed because the ribs were dry, the meat was thin and the sauce was only skin-deep — similar to our
Texas Smoke ‘Em experience.
All Meat Paella (P395 +10%SC). Pork belly, Angus beef, Chicken, Chorizo, Pork Loin on Saffron Rice.
The paella is a meal in itself and you can share it with 3-4 people already. I’m happy every time I eat the Black Angus Beef. The rice used is a bit thinner, overcooked and with less tutong (which, in my opinion, makes the paella yummy).
The Verdict
I was hooked by the French-American Carnivores marketing tagline of The Flying Pig. Actually, it is more of a Pinoy meat haven. Overall, this tandem restaurant concept is quite interesting. You’ve got to try it when you are in Eastwood Mall. Let me know what you think.
BluFish
Creative Coastal Cooking by Red Crab
Baked whole fish selections, classic bouillabaisse, New England crab and lobster boil, freshest oysters, baked oysters, crab dishes, steamers, and much more…
Ground Floor, Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City
Telephone Number: +632 900-0886
Barbecue House & French-American Carnivores’ Haven…
The Place where pigs can fly and diners pig-out!
Ground Floor, Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City
Telephone Number: +632 900-0886
Live an Awesome Life,
Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. Copyright 2009.
email: anton@diaz.ph
P.S. In case you’re not familiar with Eastwood Mall…
Eastwood Mall is the latest area in Libis determined to capture the foodie and family market outside of the Eastwood Community. It is designed like the Greenbelt mall, with an interior that reminds one of the Podium, and it is situated like Serendra (with a backdrop of the commercial buildings in the Fort). It is located in the center island in Eastwood.
hey anton! i didnt see you there! haha im that hungry! and im in ur pic oh! brown polo shirt with stripes! haha oh well, lets hang soon! and i agree with everything u said with the food and all! take care always! 🙂
whoa! you let your son hold a knife?
From the picture alone, I know it’s not even worth trying the meat. Sunog na sya o! >.<
Nice review Anton! I just recently viewed your profile and wow, I was fascinated with your name “maven”. I hope I can also achieve that success within my niche. Kudos to you. 🙂
Nahawakan niya lang when I was taking a photo. We took it away after
wards…
Thanks for the comment! Anyone can be a Maven and you can be one too
Since you mentioned Clawdaddy..
I kinda liked New Orleans, I had dinner there with 7 longtime friends. It was just fun being with my friends I actually forgot what the experience was with the food and the service.
So now I tell you about Clawdaddy. Two Fridays ago, I was with a friend and we sat at one of the outside tables. The waiter assigned to us was never the one who brought us our orders – means it always took a follow up before our orders came. Our beer was a fourth full when the ice arrived. The tabasco sauce never came. And we had to be careful with the ribs because the napkins never came.
When it was time for the bill, there was an item which wasn’t ours. Instead of him correcting, he gave us the cash equivalent of the order. I wanted to ask him for the 10 percent service charge for that spaghetti, but didn’t bother because it would take him another 20 minutes.
Php 1,700 worth of food and drinks for two people, and we got that kind of service? I’ll take my place somewhere else.
fish out of water and john and yoko are his too, right?
According to Wikipedia, the term “86” in a bar, nightclub, gentleman’s club etc. refers to the status of a person who is no longer welcome at or legally able to enter the establishment. A person who has been “eighty-six’d” has been kicked out of the establishment, usually permanently.
Also in restaurant/bar terminology “86” is a phrase that is used internally between employees to communicate to each other that a specific food or beverage item is sold out or out of stock. I.e. “we are ‘eighty-six’ crab cakes” means that the establishment is sold out of crab cakes. The term is widely used in many restaurants. It originates from the Italian Mafia when someone was “offed” or killed they were 86, as in eight feet under and six feet long.
Origin – During prohibition, there was a bar named “Chumley’s” located at 86 Bedford Street in New York City. The bar owner had a tipster in the NYC police department who would call Mr. Chumley in advance of a raid so that he could dispose of the illegal liquor and get his regular clientele into hiding. Mr. Chumley would tell the regular customers to “86 it”. The regular patrons would 86-it and get out, leaving a few out of towners to be arrested when the raid came.
the ribs looks bad.. good thing i never had this kind of experience when i dine in new orleans which is also part of their restaurant chain
wow! thanx for the extensive explanation
marciano’s in greenbelt 3 is also part of the Raymond’s resto chain… sa dami, you’re really bound to miss a couple..
Hi there!
I’ve been quietly blurking (blog-lurking) for a few months now and I have to say, KUDOS. You’re one of my faveorite FAVORITE pinoy bloggers who really showcase the joy of food in the country. Having only been here for a few years, I usually go by your recommendations and have not yet been disappointed.
I live right across the street from these two restaurants and I’ve never been so appalled in all my life. I thought it was just these two that were just ridiculous, but to find that it’s an entire chain? Well suffice it to say, I’m not going to be eating at CrawDaddy’s anytime soon, no matter how much I love Creole cuisine.
Food quality is just abysmal. At the flying pig, they served my ratatouille (who does it in Penne, I’d like to know but *meh it was on the menu) cold, my ribs dry, my potatoes starchy, my drink lukewarm, and the wait staff seemed bothered by my presence.
At BluFish, the drink was also lukewarm, ice took forever, the salmon lasagna was inedible swill, the prawn lobster risotto could’ve been regurgitated by a fish out of water, and they never seemed to have any of my dessert orders. Their one saving grace was the fried oyster rockefeller but I mean seriously, you can’t go wrong with anything deep fried and smothered in cheese.
It’s quite sad, and mildly irritating considering I could’ve had a more delicious meal at Rufo’s for a fraction of the cost.
Anyhoo. More power to you and your blog! I’ll go back to blurking now. 😛
PS: Just re-read the comment and boy did my grammar, syntax, and spelling fly out the window. LOL
Among his restos, I like Fish Out of Water and Red Crab Clark. : )
Among all of Raymond’s restos, I like Crustasia the best.
Crustasia for me too.
Already tried flying pig. You are right, the ribs are dry and THIN. Parang wala kami nakain. Service was good naman, although the glass (of water) they served me has a mark of lipstick on it — and i don’t even wear one. 🙁
thanks for this post. it’s very informative.
im now skeptical on bringing my family to these resto-chain; (we had tried red crab before, is it sister company of crustasia too? our bill was more than PhP6K for four diners) pricey but not-so-impressive and not-value-for-money. i’m bias with open-kitchen dining in hotels whenever our domestic budget allows it.
Had the grilled pig’s cheeks with tri-pork risotto. It was bang for the buck. Generous serving. Very tasty. Had the ceviche trio. One was very good, the other two were alright. My hubby had the pulled pork sandwich. I don’t think he was very pleased with it. At the very least, he said that they should have warmed the bread before serving it. However, it’s better than Charlie’s pulled pork which tastes like it was seasoned with a lot of liquid smoke (and therefore didn’t taste authentic).
i’ve been to blu fish / flying pig and didn’t have any problems with their service. we had the ribs as well and it was very good!
Hi Anton,
Thanks for sharing your review. I can see that they’ve probably improved since my visit on their first week of opening.
BluFish
The Flying Pig
Next time you’re in Eastwood, try the other new restos at the Eastwood Mall Veranda: Florabel’s modern Filipino cuisine at Crisostomo and Marvin Agustin’s Euro-Japanese fusion resto Mr. Kurosawa — I wanna read your reviews of them. 🙂
Allan Ko
http://www.allanko.com
Whoa, interesting info here @jeng! THanks for sharing!
Ah… life in the Philippines is so laid back… I miss exploring new restaurants and spending time with friends and family.
Everything looks scrumptious when you photograph them.
P.S. Thanks for posting pictures of the Eastwood Mall too. Hindi ko na yan naabutan so it was really nice to see how Eastwood now looks like.
I think the term 86 came from a chinese restaurant coz most chinese restaurant has a number code in it, and some1 told me there’s this 1 item that is always out of stock which is the number 86. so whenever they have an out stock they always say 86. hehe, but im not sure if its true
Hi Di! Just let me know when you are coming back to Manila, let’s travel
around like the good old days …
i read about blu fish/flying pig at another website so i checked it out with my friends. the food was great, we particularly loved the spritzers. we didn’t have any problems with their service.
i love flying pig! i went there with my family and i had the back ribs dreams — it was very good and worth every penny. i think their ribs are cheaper compared to other restaurants. we had the all meat paella and it was delicious! for dessert, i had pineapple tres leches. delicious! i’m definitely going back here.
i’m a culinary student here in angeles city and i really find your blog very helpful to me. i enjoy all of your reviews about the different restos that you’ve dined in, especially the photos because i get to see how the different chefs plate their dishes! 🙂
our class be having our simulation( finals- group skills) this coming may and our theme is Filipino cuisine. can you please help us by suggesting any fine dining restaurants in metro manila that offers filipino cuisine?
next week, my classmates & i are going to bistro filipino by chef laudico to sample his dishes as well as to get some ideas on how to plate our dishes.
by the way, the term 86 is commonly used in restaurants or in culinary world which means “out of stock” (just like what jeng written above). they coined it “86” because there are only 85 herbs. so whenever somebody will say “86”, that means “out of stock” or no more because there is no 86th herb. (this was explained to us by our chef instructors)
Ah Thanks Zhel for the explanation!
Looks like the service has improved at Blufish then based on the comments here. We visited this resto on a Sunday for lunch, I think that was in February. I regret having to sit near the window where the wait staff would get the food before they serve them. The girl who was in charge of directing the traffic where the food should go was clearly underqualified. We could see food just sitting there for 5 minutes since she couldn’t figure out from the bunch of papers she was holding where the food should go. Worse, it was obvious they can’t distinguish how the food should look: “Teka, ito ba yun?” and they didn’t make any effort to hide their confusion.
While we were ordering also, I asked one of the waiters about an item on their menu, and it was obvious that he was inventing what he was saying. I certainly hope this is no longer happening.
HI anton, just sharing my experience with Flying Pig…
I didnt like the food and service. They should be more customer oriented. I ordered fish ad chips. The fish was soggy, when I called the waiter to complain, he answered “Mam ganyan po talaga yan e”…. Grrrr….. I dare not push my complain for fear that if they take my food and change it, they might ‘do something bad’ to it. lol.
We went there yesterday and guess what “The Flying Pig” DOES NOT serve their signature dish – “The Flying Pig”. WTF, I guess it really flew away this time.
if this restaurant is anything like RM’s other restos (Red Crab, Crustacea, Clawdaddy, or Texas Smoke ’em).. i’m not even going to bother. thanks for the heads up.
For some reason I’ve had an inordinate amount of this sub par (yes, you put it perfectly) food franchise for my bad experience and I’m to blame if i go again. Its strange how it gets great reviews in the newspapers though.
So I wont try flying pig (though I’d been wanting to). THanks for the heads up.
Incidentally, I was disappointed with the menu choices. when I hear flying pig, I think bacon. and pork, lots of pork, cooked to perfection. sigh. great restaurant name though.