How I spent ₱350 at Maginhawa Street?

Oh dear, I savored the long weekend last week through a pleasurable food adventure. I and my best friend went to Maginhawa Street in Quezon City where restaurants are rumored to offer some exquisite and astonishing dishes. With only a budget of ₱350 each, we had a chock-full of gastronomic experience.

Maginhawa Street is located in UP Village, Quezon City. It was made to be a residential community but eventually became known as a food haven when a wide array of mini-restaurants emerged around the place. Foodies from different corners of Manila go there just to try and taste unique and delectable choices of comfort food. Of course, I for one would like to indulge in that kind of experience too. :-)

Going to Maginhawa Street from Pasay City:

First, ride through the LRT line 1 from stations: Gil Puyat to Doroteo Jose. From there, transfer to LRT line 2 and take a trip from stations: Recto to Anonas. The exit must lead you to St. Joseph Church where you can see jeepneys going to V. Luna Extension. Hop on to one of it and ask the driver to drop you at SM Savemore Market. From there, ride on a motorcycle cab for a fee of ₱20 per head to guide you to Maginhawa Street. And that's it! Total average travel time is 50 minutes.
  

That is me and my best friend, Rhea.
So let's start the food trip, shall we? :-)

First stop, The Grill Queen!

Geeez, we were already craving for some deliciously marinated and barbecued meat even before we arrived. Thankfully, the first restaurant we saw was the Grill Queen with the slogan “The best B-B-Q in town!” Waaah it sounded so lick'n good! I and my best friend were really dead hungry that time so we immediately dive in to their food like hungry wolves. Grrrrr! :-)

The Grill Queen Restaurant offers a variety of delectable grilled barbecue dishes from meat to seafood in a very affordable price. We ordered their combo meal 2 for ₱88 that comes with 1 hefty Chicken BBQ, 1 cup or rice and atchara. Plus, we made a separate order of pork BBQ for ₱17 and isaw for ₱12. All of our orders were well-cooked and deliciously flavored. It's hot, sweet and tasteful!

Yohoo! We got satisfied and happy to fulfill our babecue fancy. Now, where to go next? Uhm how about some sweets, ready?

Ready to be frozen at the iScreamist

After the BBQ trip, we opted to look for a perfect dessert to pacify our taste buds. As we walked along the street, we saw a small ice cream cafe with a long queue of teenagers patiently waiting outside. We got intrigued and decided to join the trend. I have to say it was the longest waiting line for food I have ever been. We were there for 2.5 hours along with the youngsters and hipsters. For what? Ice cream. :-p

What is so special about the iScreamist? Well, their distinctively flavored ice creams are served with an ice fog effect. They used liquid nitrogen to create a smog and use it to strengthen the coolness of the ice cream. Think about integrating a science experiment to a food, you'll get an extraordinary molecular gastronomic experience like no other. Wow! :-o

Their menu is limited only to ice creams but they have lots of flavor to choose from. We ordered the Nutella Ice Cream for ₱163 and Dragon’s Breath Schmores for ₱69. I must say the experience was a foodgasm in a whole new level! It is a must-try. C

Anyway, I’ll share more of my iScreamist experience soon on the next blog post. So let's move now to our last food stop.


Finally, the Tornado Peri-Peri Chicken!

After the sweets, I bet it was time for some spicy and sourly dinner to end the night. So we continued walking along the street and we bumped into this orangey bright restaurant - the Tornado Peri-Peri Chicken. Then I suddenly asked, what is Peri-Peri?

They say Peri-Peri refers to an African bird's eye chilis which are used as a customized sauce. Oooh okay, this must be something spicy and curried kind of sauce. Anyway, we just ordered their quarter-sized Peri-Peri Chicken that comes with one cup of rice and a side dish of our choice. The price is only ₱125 and I loved their roasted chicken because it's juicy and well-heated. Plus, the Peri-Peri sauce really gave a different taste to enjoy. Yummy. [Burp] :-p
 

***

That was it! We really had more than just enough for that day. Even though my mind still wanted to explore the other restaurants, my tummy was  already complaining due to overload. But it was absolutely a food experience I had never indulged in before. Thank you Maginhawa Street. :-)

So, the total expense for that day is ₱ 358.
Grill Queen = ₱ 117
iScreamist (sharing for 2) ₱ 232 ÷ 2 = ₱ 116

Tornado Peri-Peri Chicken ₱ 125

Until then Maginhawa Street! See you again on our next food trip. :-)