Poco Deli : Once More With Feelings

Since my first experience with Poco Deli was such a good one, I decided to go back and try more of their food. 

almost empty restaurant which quickly fills up by 6pm

Since the following day was a holiday, we decided to indulge in a little wine. Our waiter, RJ, was very helpful and gave us some good recommendations.

we didn't order this but the name was funny

white wine P1075 for the whole bottle

I never really liked red wine. So even though we knew we were ordering meat, my friends and I decided to order white wine instead. I appreciated the fact that it was served to us quickly and already chilled (instead of waiting for it to be chilled in a bucket of ice water). Sweet, cold and quickly gave us a buzz = happy!

German Sausage and Cheese Platter with saurkraut,
olives and bagel chips (Double - P540)

looks good

We decided to have the German Sausages and Cheese Platter which consist of 3 kinds of sausages and 3 kinds of cheeses which you can choose from the menu. Since I don't know jack about sausages, we decided to trust our waiter and let him choose for us. We were served Hungarian, Kielbasa and Bockwurst sausages with Goat, Ethemel and another cheese (I forgot).

Among all the three sausages, the Hungarian was the clear winner. Big, very juicy, right amount of fat and surprisingly spicy. An item I will definitely put my gold stamp of approval. The other sausages were also good but I would be happy to just eat the Hungarian sausage. The cheeses, I did not like so much just because I prefer the more softer and creamier cheese - not the hard ones that was served. 

slow cooked beef, Irish style, with dark beer and bacon rice P350

The Irish Beef Stew is one of the comfort food items in the menu. The serving was not measly; it can be good for 2 people and the rice is more than the usual small cup. The texture of the meat feels like it was definitely cooked for a couple of hours and there was a hint of bitterness that can be attributed to the dark beer. Overall, it was not bad. But for some reason, I felt it was missing something ....  like tomato sauce. I guess, I was comparing it to our Beef Caldereta since it looks so much alike. 

Bacon Rice

I was excited about the bacon rice, which I thought was such a great idea, but it really did not deliver. For some reason the bacon bits did not enhance the rice as much as I'd thought. Give me good ol' garlic rice any day. 

Should have taken the waiter's advise and gone for the Bacon Steak meal (Italian bacon slabs with egg and bacon rice). The group next to our tables ordered 3 and the smell was soooo good. I quickly made a promise to myself that I will order that next time ;p 

As always, dessert  - White Mountain Cake P150
(not as good as the Blackout Chocolate Cake) 

The Verdict?

A big hit (Hungarian Sausage) and a miss (Irish Beef Stew). The prices were a bit expensive but servings were good for 2. The waitstaff were very attentive, the place not too crowded but the chairs were a bit uncomfortable. Definitely will be back to try other items in the menu.  

The No. 1 Cake in the Philippines

Honestly, it maybe the best sales pitch ever.

We just finished dinner at Ayala Triangle and was looking for a good dessert place. After checking out Banapple (packed full of people, as usual) and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (people, 1 cup of coffee does not entitle you to occupy 2 tables), we were ready to call it a night.

On our way to the parking lot, we passed by Poco Deli and casually glanced inside. I didn't think much of it but then one of their signs caught my eye "..... serving sausages and cakes too!" The alert staff at the entrance noticed my interest and told us all their cakes are homemade. Believe me, that's all we needed to hear and quickly went inside. 

cakes were displayed beside sausages and cheeses

They only had about 4-5 cakes displayed. I asked the waiter what their best seller was and he recommended the Blackout Chocolate Cake. It didn't really looked impressive but then the waiter, RJ, said with utmost conviction, "M'am, it's the no. 1 cake in the Philippines right now." 

Of course there's absolutely no doubt, we had to order it. 

Blackout Chocolate Cake P155 and Red Velvet Cake P150

The cake itself was very very moist and chocolaty. The icing was very thick, almost fudge-like but it wasn't too sweet. The top was covered completely by miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips. At first, the taste wasn't that spectacular since I was expecting this rush of chocolate goodness. But as we continued eating it, we grew to like it more and more. It had the perfect blend of chocolaty/fudge taste without being too cloyingly sweet. There are other cakes that were better (like the ones in Starbucks) but the Blackout Chocolate Cake didn't leave you feeling a bit queasy after eating it. I could easily have gone back for one more slice. 

The Red Velvet Cake was also very good. It was moist (I hate dry cakes), flavorful and the cream topping was perfect. We almost had to fight off my friend, who wasn't that into dessert in the first place, for the last few bites.

So, is the Blackout Chocolate Cake the best in the Philippines? I don't think so but it was still very good and worth going back again.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie P45 -  too dry for me

Side Note: We already had dinner when we went to Poco Deli but their comfort food selection such as German Homemade Meatloaf and Mom's Pot Roast looks very promising. Definitely will try it one of these days.