I've always loved Barrio Fiesta because they were able to capture the essence of Filipino cooking in their dishes. This used to be my go-to place to take Balikbayan friends and family, but I haven't been to any of their branches in a long time given the increasing number of innovative Filipino restaurants in the metro.
Sometimes, it's a great idea to go back to the traditional. So today, I tried it again after almost a decade. I'm glad to say that the food is still very good, they've kept the same quality all these years. However, the prices have gone up substantially. It will be difficult to compete with others in the market given they charge almost P400 for a small sizzling plate of sisig and P299 for a tiny serving of Beef Kaldereta with 3 chunks of meat and 2 pieces of potato (so it's like P100 per piece of meat). But let me tell you just how good that Kaldereta was. It was so good, I didn't even have a chance to snap a photo before it was all gone. The beef was so tender and was exploding with so much flavor -- it was bit spicy, a bit sweet, a bit savory. The sauce was so lovely I had to mop it up with my rice so not even a drop was left. Yes, it is expensive but it is so worth it. Just make sure you're not that hungry when you go there because the serving size will leave you wanting more.
The sisig, while also served in a small portion, is I think just the right size. It has a lot of very chunky pieces of pork -- and it's not the usual cartilage-ridden pieces, but more the soft, lechon-like cuts and they even have some crispy pork skin in there. It's delicious, but I'd skip this one just because it's a bit too expensive for such a small platter.
Overall, the experience of eating here again brought back good memories of good food, just choose your orders carefully and stick to classics that you'll enjoy even with smaller portions. Here, quality matters over quantity. read more