Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5

Carol’s Texan 5
2F 713 J. Abad Santos St.
Little Baguio, San Juan
(02) 727-3843 / 0922-4850154

If you recall a blog post I had last May, I blogged about a Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5 being organized by Ten Minutes Tops and Club Travel Now. I was one of the lucky bloggers chosen for the said event, and I was really thankful that they allowed bloggers to tag along guests, so long as the guests will have to pay the buffet, because I wanted my sister to be a part of it, too.

The buffet was scheduled yesterday, and despite the rains, my sister and I still braved the storm to attend it. Good thing that she had to do a bank errand, making us leave the house early and arrive at the store earlier than the call time. Well, it was really a good thing that we came early as traffic wasn't building up and the rains weren't really heavy yet... some bloggers expressed how bad the traffic and the rain was when they arrived.

Inside Carol's Texan 5, one would really feel the vibe of USA with its red, blue, and white tables and chairs.


They also had this wall where guests can have their pictures taken, complete with props.

Carol's Texan 5 started in 2008. Being a big fan of American food, Carol Chan started cooking ribs that were total hit with friends. When she opened up the restaurant, she served five main dishes - Ribs, Fish, Buffalo Wings, Roast Beef, and Tomato Basil Pasta.

Aside from serving food at their restaurant, Carol's Texan 5 also delivers in nearby places - San Juan, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, and Pioneer. They also have Event Food Booths should you want to have their foods be served at your event or party. Aside from that, you can also order their foods as a potluck dish, but since the foods will be served in aluminum trays, you can also leave them your platter to make your potluck dish more presentable.

This is the first ever Bloggers Buffet, and they set up a part of the restaurant serving the foods in chafing dish, but they did provide plated foods for pictures. We had:

Tomato Basil Pasta. This reminded me of the movie "No Reservations" (starring Catherine Zeta-Jones). It was a little sour for my taste (I personally don't go for sour pasta), but for a pasta without meat - just tomato sauce and chopped up basil leaves, this one was actually good.

Dynamite Wings. It may be "dynamite," but it wasn't really that spicy... maybe they just mellowed the spiciness of the dish as the others might not like spicy foods. The sauce really complimented the meat, but even without the sauce, the chicken itself was already delicious. I just love it so much, that I really didn't hesitate to get myself some more chicken after I ate the initial pieces I put on my plate.

Ultimate Texan Ribs. Let's start with the rice first. It was the first time I tasted rice that is not garlic nor java flavored. In a way, it tasted a bit like menudo sauce, but I am not sure. Though it was flavored, it went well with the meat. As for the veggies... I really liked that it was really crunchy. As for the ribs, it was seasoned well, very tender and very juicy - very easy to separate the meat from the bones. Though the bones were quite visible, I only ate about two rib segments because each segment already had enough meat to make one feel full. The taste.. well, I could say it tasted similar to the other ribs I have tasted, but I did agree that this was better than the others.

Ice Cream. Carol's Texan 5 now serves ice cream for desserts, and has tied up with Magnolia Ice Cream. Well, I have been a fan of Magnolia Ice Cream since then, so this I already know tasted really good. Initially, I got the glass with strawberry and vanilla ice cream, but since my sister isn't a big fan of chocolate flavored foods (but she does eat a lot of chocolate bars), we just exchanged. Once again, I fell in love with Magnolia strawberry ice cream (the best for me).


Aside from the great foods served to us, there were also trivia games for bloggers, as well as a meet and greet portion. This has been one of the best bloggers' events I have attended because of the great camaraderie between bloggers that extended even after the event - when we all went to take a jeepney then walked until we reached the gas station near the Greenhills Shopping Center. It has been a great time being with bloggers, enjoying great food and great exchange of words.

By the way, one more reason why this was one of the best events I attended: sister and I got to meet Marj, who is actually our second cousin. She got to see my name in Facebook and got interested with my surname, and when she checked my FB page, we had a common friend - who is the cousin of my dad and her mom (mom nga ba, Marj?). This was the first time we met personally, and since we shared the table with them, we were able to trace our connection. Very small world, indeed!

Big thanks, Carol's Texan 5, Ten Minutes Tops, and Club Travel Now for this awesome event. Until the next bloggers' buffet!

*** Jenn ***

Thanks also to San Miguel for giving us bottled Iced Tea and Antonov Apple Vodka (which we weren't able to taste because we couldn't take home the bottles).