Disappointing Night at Gloria Maris, CCP Complex

A Chinese Celebration for a Chinese Birthday. Where else do you hold such a party? For traditional Chinese, the answer is Gloria Maris, CCP Complex.

Gloria Maris Entrance

The red carpet stairs and walled aquariums leads you to a spacious area which can house approximately 200+ guests. Whew! No wonder this restaurant is known for hosting wedding receptions and big birthday parties. 

The usual dim yellow lights are littered across the ceiling. The tables are covered with pink & red tablecloths. Napkins shaped like bishop hats adorn the tables.  For intimate functions, you can have them set up screen separators for more privacy. Major gripe? Our table napkins and tablecloths have holes! Tsk tsk. For a classy and big restaurant such as this, that is a big no-no. Should've known that this was a sign of bad things to come. Sigh.

Steamed Suahe

For the first course, we had the Steamed Suahe. The bright orange color of the shrimps was appetizing. They were fresh and cooked just right, as evidenced by how easily the skin slides from the meat. This is actually a simple dish to make and yet people always like to order it. I can't begin to understand why...

Suckling Pig

The skin was crispy and crunchy while the meat was tender and moist. As for the taste, it was just okay...quite ordinary actually. 

Sliced Abalone with Mayo

Even though we brought our own abalone, this dish cost a whooping 700 pesos. That was the price for having our abalone sliced thinly and served on a pretty platter with dollops of mayonnaise on the side. Talk about a steep service charge. 

Fried Seafood Roll

The chopped shrimps were too few, there was actually more mangoes than shrimps. This was actually one of my favorites but it seems that Gloria Maris' food quality is steadily going on a downward slope. Disappointing. Only good thing was that it was only one per person. I honestly could not eat another roll.

Fried Pigeon 

I'm a sucker for Fried Pigeons, ask anyone. With baited breath, I was anticipating biting into the tasty and moist pigeon but sadly, Gloria Maris has lost it's food magic. The dish no longer had the wow factor, it was just another mediocre dish. Sigh. 

Steamed Lapu Lapu in Soy Sauce

The waiter was a bit unskilled in deboning, there were lots of fish meat sticking in the bones. Also, he made quite a mess of the dish. Whereas in other Chinese restaurants the waiter spoons in the soy sauce after deboning, here that did not happen. Not sure if it's just not in their protocol or plain laziness on the waiter's part. Verdict? It tastes exactly as it's written, Steamed Lapu Lapu in Soy Sauce, no more no less. 

Fried Crabs with Salt & Pepper

At last, a dish that I enjoyed a lot. The sight of this dish made my stomach grumble. This dish had the flavorful kick I was looking for. The crab meat tasted heavenly, it absorbed the perfect amount of salt and pepper. A definite thumbs up for this one. 

Misua

Any birthday celebration is not complete without noodles, the symbol for long life. I personally did not taste this dish, the noodles looked a bit dry and soggy. That was enough to make me pass on this one. Other people on the table were experimenting with it, one adding calamansi while another added XO sauce into it. I'm thinking, it was that bland that they had to mix in other stuff just so it could taste better.

Masachi

A different take than the usual buchi dessert. For me, they looked like sticky balls covered with peanuts. Fun right? It's an acquired taste though and I can't quite begin to explain it, just that it's chewy. You just have to try it out for yourself. :) 

Ube Gelatin

Coffee Gelatin

Just by the picture alone, the Coffee Gelatin looks better than the Ube one. And you're right! The alternate layer of yellow and brown really makes it a fun dessert. The best part? You can actually taste the coffee and cream in every bite. Would've loved this even more if the manager did not take that long to decide if we can change half of the ube into coffee ones. Tsk tsk. 

We're not asking for free desserts, we paid for it. Is it really that big of a deal when in reality, you allow this kind of option?

We also had the Taho. It was nothing special. Add the fact that the waiter could not even portion the taho correctly, his slices were completely uneven and thick. Totally inexcusable.

 Overall, a disappointing food adventure. We've been eating here for almost 20 years already and it's disheartening to see their decline both in food and service. Annoyingly, while in the middle of the conversation, arms will come flying in on either your right or left side. It seems etiquette and the word "excuse me" is not taught to their staff. Not surprising since the managers have the same attitude as well.  

Attention Gloria Maris CCP, you are in dire need of  kitchen, staff and management overhaul.

For our next Chinese food fix, we're crossing over to Gloria Maris Greenhills instead. 

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'Til our next Good Eat!

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