It was my first time to attend a quiz night last Wednesday at Pino Bar & Restaurant. It was also my first time at this famous Pinoy Fusion place in Jupiter St., Makati which had a vegan concept called Pipino.
As such, I was excited to try their food and to participate in their 4th Quiz Night.
The place was well lighted, had high ceilings and comfortable seating. It reminded me of resto bars I see in American movies set in New York. Most of the patrons were also corporate Makati and so it has a vibe of a professional, upscale resto bar.
The menu is extensive! There’s just so many items listed that it’s hard to choose. Pipino’s menu is already incorporated to Pino’s. They just give a distinction that the dish is Pipino’s. Pipino is the vegan counterpart of Pino. If Pino serves a Pinoy Fusion food such as Chicken Inasal Caesar Salad, Longganisa Topped Nachos, and Red Wine Adobong Tadyang; Pipino serves fusion vegan dishes such as Watermelon Steak, Tofu Lemongrass Skewers and Wicked Walnut.
Both concept share one resto space but between them – their dishes are just too numerous to be able to choose which is the perfect one suited for my taste. And since the prices are not that cheap, I opted to do my due diligence and check out what other foodies are saying about their menu.
Yet, I ordered and sampled items far from what they all reviewed. And here’s my verdict:
The Mini Sisig Tacos was weird for me. Normally, you expect to taste beef with tacos so tasting pork – with distinctively pork taste – with your taco shells was not something my palate liked. I am not a big fan of pork but there are times when pork would taste good. This time, sadly, the pork tasted off. To me, it was a miss.
My order – the Tuna Shiitake Pasta (P215) was a hit! The pasta was al dente and the combination of the ingredients created a sumptuous dish. The blend of tuna flakes, shiitake mushrooms, and tomatoes was perfect! Sadly, the serving portions was too little. It’s good for just 1 person on a diet. Seriously! It’s half the serving of most pasta places who also serve great pasta. For the great taste of this food, I could have easily consumed two servings! Don’t expect much of the garlic bread side though.
The Tofu Lemongrass Skewer was one of the more popular item in the Pipino menu. However, to me the taste wasn’t right. It was too bland and stuffy and I can’t quite figure out what it should taste really. It was a miss for me. I’ve been trying vegan food and I have yet to find a vegan joint who’ll serve a vegan dish I’d like.
For dessert we tried the Tablea Cheesecake. It was salty and sour as can be expected from a cheesecake. I didn’t really like it. Another miss.
I didn’t get to taste the Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast which my companions ordered. So I can’t give a verdict for it.
Good thing the Quiz Night was entertaining enough. I had a good time learning about random facts such as Nicki Minaj’s first name being Onika. Most of the questions were really random stuff i.e. What is the first property in Monopoly? and though I got most of the items which I do know, I’m afraid I missed out on a lot. Good thing my team mates were veterans in this kind of thing. What the Quiz Night taught me is – you can never be too smart on your own.
Pino vowed to make the Quiz Night a monthly thing so next month there’s another one to look forward to.
For more details on Pino’s Quiz Night and other events, you can visit their Facebook Page.
