Krazy Garlik @ Greenbelt 5 {Foodee}

On my first day in Metro Manila, I met up with my college friends Flisha {Random Detox} and Jefrey. We were supposed to have dinner in Kanin Club at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City but the queue was so long (“Still? It’s been two years!”) that we decided to look for another place in Greenbelt 5 instead. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In my previous trips, I always made it a point to eat at the favorite restaurants that I missed while living abroad, but this time around I wanted to try all new different restaurants. So when Flisha pointed out Krazy Garlik, which she said was good, I was excited to give it a try.

Now Flisha and I are both garlic aficionados. I remember how she used to buy bottles of crispy fried garlic and snack on them, unless I’m thinking of somebody else, but I think it was her. Am I right, Fli? Meanwhile I prefer the thinly minced kind, the likes of which are used in my favorite pasta dish, spaghetti aglio olio. So this was the place for us. If you hate garlic or you’re a vampire (not the sparkly Twilight kind), then this place is not for you. But if you’re like me and Flisha, come! Come!

Flisha had been here before, so she knew what to order. The service was fast and efficient and I still couldn’t get over how warm and friendly the waitresses in the Philippines are compared to the ones in Singapore. Like when Flisha’s bottomless iced tea was served, she told me it was delicious and asked me to try. I did and I really liked it and suddenly wanted to change my bottomless lemonade to that instead. When the waitress arrived with my glass, I asked if it was still possible to change my order. In Singapore I would have been chewed off for such a request, but my waitress just smiled and said, “Sure!” and promptly left and came back with my iced tea. Singapore is better than the Philippines at a lot of things, but customer service ain’t one of them. 😉

Super yummy bottomless iced tea

Before Jefrey arrived, they had started to serve our orders. Flisha reminded me to take photos of the menu “for the blog.” It’s refreshing to be with a fellow blogger who understands, you know? She even scolded Jefrey for me later when he had an additional order and didn’t know what its exact name was. “How can she blog that if you don’t know the exact name?” she demanded. Jefrey quickly called the waitress to ask for the menu again. LOL. So anyway, here’s what we had for dinner:

Garlik and Anchovy Affection (P195) A flavorful combination of garlic cloves, peppers and anchovies on crostini bread

Zuppa Frutti di Mari (P220) Mussels, shrimps, clams and fish fillet in a rich tomato seafood broth

Garlic Rice Does garlic rice ever need a description? If so, then umm… boiled white rice mixed with garlic. Heh.

Tuna Belly (P425) Fresh hot-off-the-grill prime tuna belly topped  with sauteed green chillies and garlic. Served with our special soy-vinegar sauce.

Krazy Garlik Lettuce Wrap (P395) Wrap up! Stir-fried minced chicken and turnips, topped with diced ripe mango, garlic chips, and coconut flakes. Served with garlic ranch dressing, hoisin, and chili sauce.

I loved everything we ordered but my absolute favorite was the tuna belly. SOOOO YUMMY!

Then Jefrey ordered a bobba drink and told us to try it, saying that the pearls look like ordinary pearls (sago) but they’re different. So I did and to my surprise, the pearls popped in my mouth! What an unusual but pleasing sensation. I also loved the taste of the drink itself and when Jefrey told us to help ourselves to his drink, I said, don’t mind if I do, thank you very much! 😀

Honey dew bobba drink (P175)

So it was a very happy first dinner in Manila indeed, not only because of the delicious dishes but the funny conversations, which somehow led to “Angels who cannot fly” which I will probably blog about later. The last time we had been together was during Christmas time 2011 in our hometown when we had stayed overnight in a hotel with Chu. They had attended Chu’s birthday party a few days after that and had never met again since, even though they both live and work in Makati. So this was also a reunion for them as much as me.

Love the cute garlic mascot on the wall!

Jefrey had a discount card so we got 20% off the bill and one of the dishes for free. How cool is that? 

After dinner, we walked to Flisha’s condo to meet her new pet poodle Snowy, who is an extremely hyper puppy. He jumped all over the place and wouldn’t keep still until Flisha gave him his favorite treat. Flisha blogs about Snowy here.

I was really happy to have met with Jefrey and Flisha. Thanks so much for making time for me, “angels!” Until we meet again next year, eh? Remember our bet! 😀