It's More Fun to Eat With Friends in Zarzuela!

Other than its chic family-friendly ambiance, Zarzuela on the 6th Level, East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza in EDSA could also be a great venue for friends gathering that are sure to bring more color and life to this casual dining place. And a few days ago, together with some good friends from the blogging community, I indulged again into their amazing Filipino food that gave a delightful and fulfilling meaning to the word "play"

Carrying the title "Play on Filipino Flavors," Zarzuela gave a whole new meaning to the word that locals and tourists can definitely enjoy. From the rice dish, down to the chicken, pork, beef and seafood dishes that signify how abundant our country is, Zarzuela is definitely a must-visit place ready to share a modern twist to our all-time favorite meals.

Since some of us have been here before, including me, I opted to try something more to find out how good their dishes go. And so for our gathering, while some of us opted to have the plain white rice, there are some who tried their Chorizo Rice.

Chorizo Rice - Php179.00

Yellow colored rice mixed with slices of tomatoes, onion spring and chorizo bits, this one was kinda too much specially when you have the following dishes to go with. Though, it wasn't that bad, the taste was just kinda off with the other viands that we had that day.

The appetizers that we had consisted of their Krispy Sisig, a dry version of sisig that can beat head to head with other famous sisigs in town, and the gang's favorite, The Fountain of Youth, which is crispy strips of pork belly that comes with green mango, bagoong dip and tomato vinaigrette. This one can also be enjoyed by kids since the flavor is really good and not oily.

Krispy Sisig - Php199.00

Fountain of Youth - Php199.00

For our main dishes, we tried each one from every type to make sure that we wont miss any goodness from this place. So, from their vegetable set, beef set, seafood set, pork set and chicken set, we basically had one from each - well, except for the pork set, since we cannot resist the temptation of the names Pork Binagoongan and Adobo, which in this case comes in red and white, we had both pork dishes. Hehe.

Pinangat - Php229.00

Beef Caldereta - Php539.00

I'm not really a fan of Pinangat, but I appreciate that Zarzuela offers this because I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of people out there miss this dish. As for the Beef Caldereta, it is simply one of the bests that I had. The thick sauce that is so flavorful and the well-cooked beef renders a really enjoyable and homey feel that is just perfect for a great gathering like this.

Crab and Shrimp Relleno - Php499.00

Krispy Binagoongan - Php359.00

The Crab and Shrimp Relleno, which is my first favorite when I first tried this place has now a partner as I enjoyed this plate of really, really good and crispy Binagoongan. Unlike the other Binagoongan dishes that I tried, this one is a little dry but every bite is enjoyable due to the crunch that it gives.

Sa Pula, Sa Puti is Zarzuela's play on the ever famous Adobo. With two variations of Adobo in one plate, Sa Pula is flaked meat cooked in the traditional Adobo style, while Sa Puti is meat chunks cooked in Adobo Style but without the soy sauce, are really good and give this really different enjoyable flavor that are truly Pinoy. I'm considering this as a must-try here in Zarzuela.

Sa Pula, Sa Puti - Php429.00

And the last main dish that we tried was this one that kinda tickled our mind as to how it really tastes. I know a lot of us love to eat Quail Eggs, specially if its in kwek-kwek form, but what if you instead of the eggs, you are having the real bird as your dish?

Krispy Pitaw - Php419.00

An Ilonggo delicacy, according to the staff of Zarzuela, Pitaw or Quail is considered one of the old dishes from Iloilo and Bacolod provinces that shares this adobo-like flavor. If you are up for some sort of exotic dish, though this is really not an exotic dish, I suggest that you try this. It gives this chicken flavor with crunch in every bite.

Savor Maruya - Php129.00

Savor Iced Tea Shake - Php99.00

Our fun dining here in Zarzuela was, of course, ended in a sweet way. And with Savor Maruya for our dessert and Savor Iced Tea Shake as my drink, which actually consisted of delicious iced tea with mango bits, all of us had  great bonding time, sharing blogging tips and gossips at the same time. What a really fun and filling day!

So, if you are looking for a nice place to reunite with your love ones, or just simply looking for a perfect venue to celebrate good friendship, I highly suggest Zarzuela. Though I know that the prices are quite expensive, but I guess with an ambiance as good as in this one, staff that are truly efficient, and nice and flavors that are so Pinoy and so homey, I wouldn't mind spending at all.

Thank you, friends, and thank you, Zarzuela for this amazing time!
Happy eating, everyone!