Spatzle

If you guys remember my previous posts about Shangri-La Plaza's new east wing, I vowed to try out most, if not all, of their new restaurants.  Although slow on fulfilling my promise, I am doing my best in trying out a different restaurant every time I visit the said mall.  One random weeknight, my best friend DQ and I agreed to meet up in Shangri-La Plaza to eat and just basically hang out.  We actually had a hard time figuring out where to eat, since there was so much restaurants to choose from.  But later on, after going around for a bit, we finally chose Spatzle.  

Here's what we had:

New Potato and Mushroom Chowder Soup

Weirdest tasting soup ever.  The texture of the soup reminded me a bit like eating congee.  The whole thing didn't taste like potato OR mushroom either.  

Spatz Poutine Fries

Roesti Haus Burger

Mont Blanc Tarte Flambe

Uhm... truthfully speaking, we were both disappointed.  Everything tasted so... mediocre.  The only thing I liked was the potato chips on top of their tarte flambe, but even that can't save the whole dinner and its blah-ness.  2 out of 5 stars.

Spatzle is at 5/F East Wing, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd. Wack Wack, Mandaluyong

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Maple

For all the breakfast lovers out there, Maple is surely a familiar place.  I've heard a ton about Maple in San Antonio Plaza a while back, and was happy when we chanced upon it while strolling in the new East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza one lazy Sunday afternoon.  Was initially hesitant to suggest this place to the family, since they might not be too keen on the breakfast-as-dinner idea, but surprise, surprise!  They were open to it!

New England Clam Chowder

Stuffed French Toast

Look at the blueberry filling oozing out!

Prime Rib Tapa

The Salmon Catch

Truffle Omelette Souffle

Chicken Wings(maple-glazed)

So how was our Maple experience?  It was... so-so.  A bunch of hits and misses, nothing amazingly good, but nothing horribly bad either.  Sort of reminded me of a home cooked meal.  What I particularly liked was the french toast and the chicken wings.  Others dishes like the prime rib tapa was a bit tough.  The truffle omelette souffle lacked the truffle scent and the salmon was a tad overcooked.  2.5 out of 5 stars.

Maple is at LG/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd cor EDSA Wack Wack, Mandaluyong City

Balboa

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:

Mushroom Soup

Didn't appreciate it that much.  Balboa's mushroom soup lacks flavor.  

Squash Soup

Didn't like this one either.  Again, it tasted watered down.

Oyster Rockefeller

Just alright.

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.

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

Shangri-La Plaza East Wing - Now Open!

Yes, you've read it right.  The Shangri-La Plaza East Wing (new) is now open to serve you er.. us!  If you're like me who frequent Shangri-La Plaza, then you'd have to be totally dense not to notice the ongoing construction across the old mall.  At first thought, I was thinking that the new construction is part of the condominium that's being built.  Being the curious person that I am, I asked the guard a few months ago if it's just a condominium or would there also be a mall?  And indeed, he confirmed that it's a mall/condominium.  Hooray for us shopaholics and foodies!  New mall=new adventures!  

Fast forward last week, our family visited Shangri-La Plaza and I was surprised to see a small signage saying "East Wing Now Open".  I wasn't anticipating that!  All the while I thought that they'd probably open in the middle of the year or much later.  So hurriedly, I dragged Hubby to the East Wing and was mesmerized by what I saw.  I would love to describe it, but as they say a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll let you see for yourself:

Cool huh?  Not much is open right now.  Just a few shops and a few restaurants.  But the great thing I love about the restaurants is that most of them are unknown names, which means, they're new!  And you know what that means right?  FOODTRIP!!!

I have a feeling that I'll be hanging out more often in Shangri-La Plaza in the next few months.  And you already know why :)  See you there!