It's been a while since I've blogged about my fave foods, but ever since we've tried this new restaurant near our place, I thought why not just post this right there? So here we have 1919 Grand Cafe:
Situated on what used to be the dilapidated El Hogar, it now stands like a glowing beacon amidst a dark street.
Once inside though, don't expect your regular Chinese restaurant filled with round tables, nope it's not called Grand for no reason. (Other than it's pricey meals, but we'll get to that later...)
Walk-ins are welcome, but it's still probably best to make a reservation, especially if you want the best view of the place.
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| 2nd floors are the best! |
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| The place is mostly filled with pictures of old manila |
Interiors aside, I'm sure you just got this far just to know if the "fancy is worth the shmancy" (like, is the food even great???) Well to start with the drinks, there's not much in terms of choices, so we started with the good 'ole kalamansi juice. Then it's time for the soup ('cuz it feels criminal not to try some soup in a place like this), where we ordered Vegetable Pumpkin Soup.
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| Don't mind the floaty tendrils there... |
Maybe I expected something "homey" like the one in Mary Grace, but there really is no such thing as homey in a place so fancy. In a word, the soup was "watery". Bland. Blah. Good thing there's such a thing as appetizers, 'cuz that's the only thing that tickled my appetite for the duration of the evening.
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| Delisioso! |
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| You know how they call these dimsums...? |
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| Probably just call them dim-yums! |
No words for these delicious delights, though I wish I just ordered a cup (and a half?) of rice and saved myself from the trouble of the main dish.
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| Baked Beef Caldereta |
Like I said, I should have just gorged myself on the appetizers since this main dish didn't deserve the limelight, or maybe I'm just not a fan of caldereta in every sense of the dish. Though I still needed some carbs so I opted to order some fries. Yep a side of fries in an otherwise "shmancy" set-up; could use a bit of work for the ranch dip, but the fries in itself taste great!
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| My kind of ranch dip? Try Cafe Aquatica's Potato Chips here in Binondo... |
You know how the saying goes to "always leave room for dessert"? At this point, I was passed the point of caring.
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| Counterclockwise: Oreo cheescake, Blueberry cheescake, Red velvet |
It's sad how the "desserts" left me feeling "stressed"; the blueberry was the tolerable of the 3, but its graham base tasted a little "burnt". Don't get me started on the other two 'cuz they weren't even remotely sweet, and in my opinion, desserts should be brimming with sugar!
Overall, my experience at the Grand Cafe was chill. Just chill 'cuz the ambiance of the place is really great (love the background music), provides you a sense of privacy (especially if you choose the 2nd floor tables), and it's also great for groups (if you're into conference meetings and stuff, they have rooms for that). Just be ready to spend a couple of grand for your meals, but don't expect the food to be grand.
