Following the dinner at The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse, the second restaurant we explored in the new East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza was Balboa. For those who are not familiar, Balboa is another baby of Marvin Agustin who also owns Marciano's, Sumo Sam, John and Yoko, Mr. Kurosawa, etc. To tell the truth, we were deciding whether to try Balboa or Corazon across them and the interiors of Balboa won over Corazon's. LOL. There's a certain charm to it and that was already enough to convince us to go for Balboa.
See? It has a certain homey yet sophisticated feel to it. Complete with nice floral chairs and the moose (or deer?) hanging on the wall. Haha!
...and now it's time for the food. Here's what we had:
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| Mushroom Soup |
Didn't appreciate it that much. Balboa's mushroom soup lacks flavor.
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| Squash Soup |
Didn't like this one either. Again, it tasted watered down.
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| Oyster Rockefeller |
Just alright.
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| 4 Cheese Pizza |
This was ok, but not superb. I guess I got spoiled by those extra thin, super crispy pizzas from other restaurants that this one didn't impress me anymore.
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| Truffle Mushroom Linguine |
We sent back the truffle mushroom linguine because we couldn't detect even a hint of truffle even if our noses were mere millimeters away from the pasta. Came back with a nice truffle scent, and yet, it was just... normal.
I guess it's safe to say that we weren't the least bit blown away by Balboa. The interiors are nice, but sadly, that's about it. Hope it's just the opening blues. 2 out of 5 stars.
Balboa is at 4/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd cor. EDSA, Wack Wack, Mandaluyong
Had the WORST dining experience in Balboa last night. Ordered Osso Bucco - staff gave it to the wrong table and didn't even apologize to us after we realized what happened and even after several follow ups! The dish that came out had underseasoned, undercooked tough beef and bland, undercooked rice. Terrible! Dish was practically untouched by our family. We left hungry - and we will never return. Poor service, poor food. Too much ambience without anything to back it up.
ReplyDeleteOh no :( looks like they haven't changed one bit since the last time we tried it. So sad to hear about your experience. On a brighter note, that's one restaurant to cross off your list. Good thing there's a whole lot more other new restaurants in Shangri-La's East Wing to try! Do let me know when you get to try a good one, so far most of them have been underwhelming for me.
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