Not So Good Peri Peri Charcoal Grill Experience

Peri Peri Charcoal Chicken

Peri Peri Charcoal Chicken is a fast casual style restaurant that specializes in the world famous Peri Peri Chicken. It is uniquely delicious as we use a closely-guarded old Portuguese recipe , famous for its Peri Peri flavour.

Peri Peri is the name given to the “African bird's eye chili” which was discovered by Portuguese explorers in Africa. It is this fiery little spice which gives flavour and fire to our chicken that makes it so peri-licious.

Our chicken is cooked over charcoal wood burning grill and is trimmed of excess fat before basting in our peri marinades , so it is healthy too. You have option to heighten hotness and flavour – choose from lemon & garlic, mild, hot bastings.

Source

When J and I had our first Peri Peri, we instantly get hooked on it and wanted our family to savour the experience too. So on my pre-birthday celebration last month we go out with J's brother, A, and with no hesitations entered their SM North Edsa Annex branch. Their 49ers Promo also attracted us where you'll get to have unlimited soup and drinks for every chicken meal order. That's dirt cheap. You are free to choose at the counter and serve yourself. There's a wide variety of drink options like soda, red and lemon iced tea and coffee. But of course when it is that cheap there is a drawback. Your only choice for soup is their watery Mushroom soup and not any of their specialty.


On our table...

Everyday Platter C PhP 195
1/4 Lemon & Garlic chicken, 2 pcs. Wild Wings, Corn & Carrots, Steamed rice and Gravy

For the two boys

Everyday Platter D PhP 195
1/4 Lemon & Garlic chicken, 2 pcs. Croquettes, Corn & Carrots, Steamed rice and Gravy

My order. Their Sour & Cream dip is good! 

Mushroom soup Part of PhP 49 promo

I get all the mushroom on their pot. Hihi. This is just Knorr mushroom soup diluted in lots of water!

Drinks Part of PhP 49 promo

Their red iced tea (no picture, sorry) is a winner for the two but I find it too sweet so I ended with Sprite.

Condiments provided for every table

As you can tell their price is very affordable at least 200 per head. Ambience is good too with all the wood and Portuguese-inspired walls. There's also a flat-screen TV where Shrek and Transformers 2 were constantly played with no audio.

And here comes the bad side of what I thought to be a wonderful experience...

I love spicy dishes so it's a no-brainer for me to choose what basting I want for my chicken. I asked the server for Hot and he told me that they run out of it. Unfortunately, we can only have Lemon & Garlic. I settled for it and just asked the server if they can add anything to make it a little bit spicier. He surprised me and my companions as he answered back "Eh, wala nga po di'ba" ("We don't have it, right?"). I wanted to shout back to him right then but I don't want to break our mood that time so I just smirked at what he did. Boo ^_-

After less than five minutes, our orders came. We were happy that our food were served really fast but in the back of our minds we're thinking, are these done right? Our suspections came true when the chickens were half-cooked! I immediately returned it to their manager and they politely asked to replace our meal. Then as you could guess, they cooked it again to the point of a burnt chicken.

From that day, we swear to never go back there again!!!


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Peri Peri Grill House

Ground Floor, Annex Building
SM City North EDSA, EDSA

FOOD: President's Tea House

Do you love Chinese food? Well, the BF does! So once in a while we try to dine on different Chinese restaus to savor and discover which ones serves the authentic taste! This time, it's President's Tea House located at SM North Edsa Annex which originally started in Binondo. We wanted to try it for a long time now until yesterday the BF's really craving for Sweet and Sour Pork. 

On the table

• Complimentary Tea

Forgot to ask what kind of tea.

• Bottomless Iced Tea PhP 75

Just the normal Lipton iced tea. Bleeeh!

• Four Season Shake PhP 95

I can only taste 2 fruits in here -- pineapple and watermelon! But I like it, refreshing and perfect for summer.

• Sweet and Sour Pork PhP 250

Just the regular serving which they say is good for 2-3 persons. But for us it's not enough haha. The BF was really satisfied with it though.

• Yang Chow Fried Rice PhP 220

What's a Chinese food trip without this? :) Again, this is the regular serving. You can never go wrong, very good by itself. Has a lot of shrimps in it.

The staff are superb, very attentive to our needs and serves fast actually. No need to ask them for a refill of our iced tea. Ambiance is good too! But I tell you, their background music is so funny! Chinese songs to the max! Haha, of course you won't understand it unless you can speak their language. Service charge not yet included so you need to reserve for some tip. This is not an issue actually if you got good service, ayt?

Next time, we'll try more of their dishes like the lettuce wraps and roast duck. Nevertheless, we did satisfy our cravings! Instant date too. :)

*Taken by HTC HD Mini so please excuse the not-so-clear photos.

PRESIDENT'S TEA HOUSE

2/F SM City North Edsa Annex

Quezon City

FOOD: Mooon Cafe

We are at Cyberzone, SM North Edsa Annex again last Sunday still looking for the perfect laptop that will suit our needs and budget. We wanted a laptop that can pass the requirements of the software we're using but at the same time budget-friendly. Acer would be a good choice for us. Mac will forever be the top choice but that is something overboard right now...maybe someday. *wishes*

After scouring two floors of tech gadgets stores, we're itching to have our dinner and rest our tired feet. Do you also get annoyed with how SM Annex escalators were placed? I mean you have to turn around again just to get to the next one. Aaaargh! Good thing there are now many good food choices there. We're torn between President's Tea House and Mooon Cafe. I know the former is better but we are not feeling Chinese that time. And the latter has a very inviting ambience.

Description from their Facebook Fan Page

"Mooon Cafe is a mexican inspired eating place. The menu is typically international cuisine but with more focus on Mexican fare and the interior is reminiscent of Mexican cantina. Mooon Cafe has certainly earned a reputation for serving great food."

I got curious with big paper fans hanging on their ceiling and their mini-waterfalls too. It really has that Mexican vibe inside.

Take a peek at their kitchen..if you could!

And their cute salt and pepper.

We just want to have our dinner done so we head directly to their main entrees.

Pork Belly PhP 149

Grilled marinated Pork belly with buttered vegetables and rice. Served with native sauce.

A close-up look

Nothing extraordinary. That's it. Just grilled pork belly. Vegetables obviously are the frozen ones. Their rice isn't good. I mean our rice is way, way better than this! And may I ask if this is their native sauce, soy sauce???

Fish Mozarella Melt PhP 189

Deep fried fish fillet topped with melted mozzarella cheese, sauteed chopped tomatoes and served with garlic rice.

This is my order and the waitress said it would took 20 minutes to cook and I agreed but it took 30 minutes or more and Hubby is half-way his meal. I'm disappointed so it better be good! But again another so-so. Fish is bland for me and there's more batter than the fish itself. I hate when restaurants do that so as to make the dish look bigger! Tomatoes aren't sauteed as opposed to their description.

Watermelon Shake PhP 59

There's more ice and sugar rather than the fruit juice. Nonetheless, it's refreshing.

Coke Zero in Can PhP 35

Extra Garlic Rice PhP 25

OVERALL

Taste	☺☺
Price	☺☺☺
Interior	☺☺☺☺
Service	☺☺

As you can see, we were disappointed on how our orders taste. Not sure if we didn't order the right stuff or maybe it is just the branch in particular. Their staffs aren't attentive too knowing that the restau isn't full that time. Wanna know why? Because they're having their dinner too together with the customers and they're so noisy chitchatting with each other. Oh my! This is opposed to good raves they're getting in their Cebu branches. Maybe we should explore other items in their menu next time. If we'll decide to try it out again.. :( Anyhoo, do you have suggestions?

MOOON CAFE

2/F SM Annex, SM City North EDSA

North Ave. cor. EDSA

Quezon City, Metro Manila

(02) 332-5171

Food : Afternoon Date at Pizza Hut

We meet again with my friend/high-school classmate, Peter, who is about to set on seas this April. He's a young seamen, just a fresh grad from a reputable school, MAAP. He will be out of our country anytime soon and we're spending these good-ol'-friends-get-together more.

Our meeting place -- SM North Edsa Annex, as always. Of course the two boys hurriedly went to the 4th Floor where Cyberzone is located. While me..well, I'm already thinking where to eat. Hihi. That's what's good when you're having a date with your two closest guys, you'll get to choose where to eat. :) Given the limited food choices, I can't really decide. We tried Krispy Kreme since we're just catching some snacks but when we got inside the store, it's too hot. Though, the whole building is cold. Weird. After a little more steps, what we plan to eat in an unusual place turned out to be... Pizza Hut. Poof! :) We're hoping it's Bistro but it is not. Bistro menu prices are a bit higher that their ordinary Pizza Hut store but it definitely tastes better.

It's my task to decide what food to order that day so...here it is!

CAESAR SALAD  PhP 79

Crisp romaine lettuce, bacon crumble, parmesan cheese, and herbed croutons tossed in our caesar dressing. - Obviously, the greens came from their ref...err maybe the plate they used too. It's also cold. Haha.

 

PESTO CHICKEN PENNE PhP 149

Penne pasta with basil pesto cream sauteed with tender chicken strips. - Olive Oil + Basil = Pesto, my fave pasta sauce! This pasta belongs to Pizza Hut Pasta Perfetto line. I love how creamy and subtle the pesto flavor was. Plus, they don't scrimp on those flavorful chicken strips.

PASTA PUTTANESCA PhP 125

A classic combination of rich tomato herb sauce, black olives, capers and anchovies. - Also from their Pasta Perfetto line. This wasn't a hit with the boys because of the olives and capers. So it's all for me :) They kept on asking what's that salty taste. Haha, must be the anchovies or those immature buds.. Hmmm, I love capers.

VIVA ROMA PhP 319

When you want it all Pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, bacon, mushroom, green bell peppers, onions, black olives, fresh garlic topped with mozarella and parmesan, drizzled with olive oil. - Last dish served but first dish to be gone! Just all-in-there good pizza. I may consider this as one of their best pizza. Though it's suppose to be an Italian pizza, it lacks that sour taste. It has that sweet Filipino pizza taste, only better.

For our drinks, we just have sodas. There were only two tables they're serving that time that's why their crew were very attentive to our needs. Every dish served was followed with a fresh crack of black pepper. We're so full that we even have some for take-out. I'll miss these dates for sure.

PIZZA HUT

Ground Floor, Annex Building,

SM City North EDSA, North Avenue corner EDSA

Delivery - 911-1111