Borro Manila – Having a kid doesn’t stop us from going on dates, especially during Valentine’s Day. However, to avoid the crowds, we decided to celebrate a day earlier. And Borro Manila surely didn’t disappoint with its large servings of comforting food and a nice ambiance.
We decided at the last minute so we never got the chance to reserve seats. Thankfully, we were third in line when we reached Borro Manila last night. As we waited for our turn, we sat on their waiting chairs and saw lots of families coming out of their indoor seatings.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, the server called us in and sat us at a table near the entrance. Borro Manila had pleasing aesthetics and a not-too-crowded space inside so you can stay quite a distance from the rest of the customers (or at least at our table).
People were celebrating their birthdays (we heard people singing happy birthday song) and a bridal shower (a table had a rated X cake). It seems that people go there not only to celebrate the heart’s day last night.
Borro Manila menu
You can choose from among the many different types of meat on the Borro Manila menu. It serves chicken, pork, beef, and seafood so anyone can enjoy dining their favorites. Borro Manila also serves appetizers, salads, and pasta.
Of course, a meal wouldn’t be complete without beverages (alcoholic and not) and desserts. I found they have a wide selection of wines and beers so Borro Manila can be a place for youngsters on Friday or Saturday nights after work.
Bread and butter
After we placed our orders, a server immediately put a basket of toasted bread on our table. Warm cute tiny pandesals and butter were served for free to all the customers while waiting for the food to arrive.
My toddler instantly sat on his chair when he heard there was bread. Saying he was hungry while rubbing his tummy, he waited as I cut the bread open and spread the softened butter for him.
When we finished the bowl, we asked for another, and the server said we can have another, but she did not return. Thankfully, our orders arrived one by one making our toddler forget about the pandesal and butter.
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Strawberry Arugula
We started our dinner with a salad we do not see often in other restaurants for a change. We tried Strawberry Arugula as we both love strawberries and arugula, and wanted to see if they taste great when mixed in a salad.
When it arrived, we didn’t mix the balsamic vinegar dressing as we wanted to share some strawberries with our toddler. However, it seemed he still remembered the sour King Berry we bought from Baguio, he was still in trauma and ignored his favorite fruit.
He returned the ones I put on his plate to my plate, telling me to eat them. I scooped a few spoonfuls of the salad and topped them with the dressing. The Strawberry Arugula salad is composed of lettuce, arugula, strawberries, candied walnuts and almonds, and Feta cheese.
The crunchy nuts level up boring salads making them more appetizing. The sweet and sour taste is blending well making me scoop more greens into my plate. While we were munching on the salad, the Boneless Fried Chicken arrived.
Boneless Fried Chicken
Four pieces of large Boneless Fried Chicken sit along two dinner rolls and salad on a big round plate. A bowl of gravy was placed in the center to compliment the crunchy chicken fillets. I gave my toddler a big piece of the chicken instantly as he was already starving.
And this time, I blew the heat away as I cut the chicken into smaller pieces. By the time I was done cutting, the chicken was not too hot and could be eaten by my toddler. And so we tried the Boneless Fried Chicken while it was still piping hot.
Klook.comHubby took a bite first and immediately fell in love. Dunno if we were just hungry, but we found the fried chicken to be good. The chef knew how to season and fry the chicken to perfection. The white meat wasn’t dry so our son ate them with gusto.
I dipped the dinner roll into the gravy which reminded me of the used-to-be menu of a famous fast food restaurant. The salad was also great at cleansing the palate for when you have eaten a lot of the savory Boneless Fried Chicken.
We were amazed by the large serving of Boneless Fried Chicken. We knew four pieces of chicken were included in the order but weren’t aware of how big each piece was. It certainly is a bang for the buck.
Stuffed Porkchops
Have you ever heard of Stuffed Porkchops? It was our first time hearing about it too, so we gave it a try since it was one of the bestsellers too. However, it took quite a while to arrive, and hubby was almost full during that time.
A good amount of herbed rice came with the Stuffed Porkchops. It looked burnt on the outside, but upon slicing on a piece, the meat inside was cooked well with the cream cheese oozing out on the plate.
Small slices of caramelized apple added more flavor to the cream cheese sauce giving a creamy porkchop. You can also add gravy and buttered milk to your porkchop if the stuffing is not enough.
Or you can add the sauce to your herbed rice for a creamier experience. The Stuffed Porkchops were great and even though hubby was full, he helped me eat the second piece. We were afraid that the porkchop meat might become tough if we take it home to reheat it the next day.
Iced Dark Mocha
Before I finished my food, I suddenly craved an iced or hot coffee. And upon checking the Borro Manila menu, I saw it serves coffee as well. I chose Dark Mocha as it is closest to the beverage we often enjoy.
We almost changed our order to the brown black coffee we saw a server carrying to another customer. When a server passed by our table, we asked him about it and were told that it was Charcoal Latte, which is a bit sweeter than the Cafe Latte.
We made the right decision to order Iced Dark Mocha. It was all good because of its heavy coffee flavor and not being too sweet despite there being a lot of mocha flavor. We highly recommend it to anyone who loves cafe mocha.
Carrot cake
Before our dark mocha arrived, a server gave us a complimentary Carrot Cake and said it was on the house. We weren’t sure if it was given because Borro Manila was still in its soft opening or to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
And when our toddler saw the cake, he immediately said he was hungry and wanted to try the free cake. The carrot cake was soft and moist and wasn’t too sweet. My son loved the butter icing (he also does with other cakes) and ate more than half of the cake.
The takeaway
We know for sure that Borro Manila will become more popular as more people get to know more about it. Now that it has been running for two months, people are coming to try it out because people are naturally food lovers.
What’s your favorite dish in Borro Manila? I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!
