#FoodStarsAtUptownMall: Cowboy Grub at Texas Roadhouse, Uptown Mall, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines

My feed has been filling up with alerts from the newly opened Texas Roadhouse in Uptown Mall. As luck would have it, we were invited to a birthday celebration on the week of its opening.

Due to its soft opening, phone lines were either down or no one was answering hence we were forced to go without a reservation.  Wisely used the time taking pictures while we waited to be seated.

To keep us from losing our cool ('coz they were really making us wait a long time), they began serving their complementary wares.

.... and I must say, they should've served this earlier. These freshly baked bread rolls with cinnamon butter is enough to cool off any hot heads in sight. I couldn't stop raving about this and our dinner was yet to start.  Food-Stars Tip: Ask for a butter knife for spreading the butter since they don't serve it with one. Here's a little incident that happened to us. One of the managers who apparently didn't want to go back to the kitchen & get one told us to use the ones on the table instead. When we unwrapped the napkins, the knife he was talking about was bigger than the rolls 'coz it was a steak knife. I would've understood if that was the same case for everyone but our other table got a butter knife. Tsk tsk. Tamad 101. I just asked for one from a server instead. 

Steak Double Date at Cowrie Grill by Manila Hotel, Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines

Our trips to Greenhills are mainly composed of eating Chinese cuisine or the eat-all-you-can Teppanyaki. Imagine our delight when we spotted this steak haven just at the other side of the building.

  

We've already eaten at Manila Hotel but this is my first time to try Cowrie Grill. Hubby's been raving about this place so for tonight, we were having a date night; a double date to be exact.

Was lucky enough to have the restaurant to ourselves while waiting so I was able to take a lot of pictures. Loved the opulence of the place; the interiors manages to transport you inside a luxurious hotel restaurant, making you forget that you're actually in Greenhills. 

This is my favorite spot. 

This lovely alcove with booth looked really romantic. The curtains are drawn so I can get a better picture but you can always have them closed for privacy. 

 

 They offer you a guide for your preferred degree of steak doneness. Nice to see that they take their meats seriously.

While waiting, they serve a basket of dinner rolls with dollops of swirly butter. The ones that arrived on our table were a bit cold but they'll gladly heat up the rolls for you.

Rainy Day Ribs at Rue Bourbon, Salcedo Makati City

This was a night of ribs & beer. 

Rue Bourbon, Salcedo Village Makati

Hiding inside the streets of Makati was this quaint bar restaurant. Smaller than expected, the ground floor was a bit cramped for my liking. The evening crowd was of people who just got off from work & just wanted to relax, unwind before going home.

Bar area

Arrived at around 8pm and people were starting to trickle in. Soon enough, the place was packed to the rafters. With the music playing in the background & chatter from the other tables, we were ready to order.

Bubblies!

Drink for the night was beer. Hubby couldn't choose & requested samplers of each. The left one was apple, which left a bad taste in his mouth. Same goes with the Caramel. Both drink did smell as advertised but didn't have any flavor whatsoever. The winner of the night was cucumber.  Yes, they serve Cucumber Beer here and it got a thumbs up from him. ;P

YUCKY Night at Racks, The Fort Strip Makati

This is one of the reasons why I regret giving restaurants second chances. It's like hitting yourself on a head with a brick. And in the end, you have no one to blame but yourself. Sigh.

We were having cravings for ribs. Rub was too far a drive so we thought of the next best thing, Racks. We decided to go to a different branch to avoid the yucky cockroach-in-our-iced-tea-pitcher incident at your Magallanes branch. Hubby called ahead inquiring about their store hours. The girl said that they were opened 'til 12mn. Seeing that it was only 10pm, we had time to spare.

Racks, The Fort Strip

We arrived at 10:30pm and were welcomed with this sight. Hmm... No one was eating. We sat down & placed our order. A few minutes later, the waiter comes back and says that half of their side dishes were not available & that the chicken is not available because they already closed the kitchen. This sounded funny; it was only 10:45pm. This was when he informed us that their closing was 11pm. This was the strike one of the night. Misinformation. Okay so we didn't want to order the chicken anymore but after gesturing with the other people in the kitchen, the waiter then said it was available but it would take 15mins. Okay, no problem. 

A few minutes later the waiter proceeds to mop the floor with bleach. You can just imagine the stench filling our nostrils. Excuse me, there are still customers inside. It's not our fault that your cashier gave us the wrong store hours. You should at least have the decency to clean up after we go. But we let this one go. We just wanted to sink our teeth into their ribs & go home happy.

Good 'Ol Ribs at Rub, Quezon City

Eating at Racks left a bad taste in our mouths so we were on the look out for a new rib shack place. So one fine Saturday afternoon, FIL suggested we try his go-to ribs place.

RUB, Scout Rallos Quezon City

Was surprised to see that it looked a bit run down and sorely needed a makeover. The al fresco setting was also folded up because funnily, a car was parked in its place instead. But we at FoodStars never back down from an adventure; add the fact that FIL was totally raving about this place.

"It ain't what they call you... It's what you answer to!"

It was a bit small and cramped. We decided to eat on the second floor thinking that it had more room.... it didn't. The tables & chairs were already touching each other. All I can say is it was pretty evident that the owner really wanted to maximize the space... even to the extent of his customer's discomfort. :(

Texas-Style Eating at Racks, Paseo de Magallanes

Was actually trying to blog about another restaurant but this kept nagging me. I couldn't bear to have others experience the kind of service they offered. With an air of dread here is FS' review for Racks Magallanes. 

Racks, Paseo de Magallanes

We always make reservations for the 2nd floor, where it was much roomier and can cater large groups of people. The first thing you notice as you place your order? The waitress is hardly helpful. They just stare at you with dead eyes, no acknowledgment whether they got your order or not. Tsk tsk.