A Spanish Dinner

Dulcinea
Lower Ground Floor, Annex 1 - SM City Fairview
Quirino Avenue cor. Regalado Avenue, Quezon City
+63 (02)355-6105
12 October 2010


Walking to Slammer Burgers (food trip shared last Sunday), sister and I passed by Dulcinea and told her I hoped we could eat there, too, because I just loved how cute the place was. Actually, my sister and I already planned of eating early dinner there before going home, but while at Nail-a-holics for sister's pedi day, we thought of sending mom a message if she wanted to meet with us. She responded yes, and asked us to send brother a message so he could meet us, too.

When mom met us, we told her we already made a decision where to eat dinner, so we walked to Dulcinea, a restaurant that serves Spanish foods. As the date stated in their restaurant, this started in 1960s, with their first shop in Ermita (Manila). It was in late 1980s when Dulcinea became popular, and now they have countless branches in different malls here in Metro Manila and in some provinces (I saw one in SM Iloilo - Mandurriao).

By the way, "Dulcinea" means "sweet," and is derived from the word "dulce."


The place was just small, but I loved how homey it was. The paintings on the wall, and the lights that looked a lot like lampshades felt like we were at home. At first, we were seated outside the main perimeter of the restaurant, but when a four-top table became available even before the foods were served, the friendly restaurant manager courteously asked us if we wanted to dine inside so the people will not pass by us as we eat. Of course, we welcomed the suggestion.

My sister and I already told ourselves we would go for their value meals, but once we were there, we (sis and I) had a sudden change of heart. Our meal consisted of:


Espaqueti a Carbonara. They had a pasta value meal at p99, but seeing their main pasta plate was about p160, I decided to just go for the main plate. I honestly didn't know how to photograph it because the pasta was plated so flat that it didn't have the height I needed to compose a good photograph. Anyway, even if the plating wasn't so good, the pasta was really delicious. I loved how creamy it was, and it was a big plus when they used two kinds of bacon (slightly cooked and toasted) that gave the food a good texture.


Churros con Chocolate. Food wise, this was the main reason why I wanted to eat here. This was the first time I ate churros, and I wasn't disappointed. I found this really comforting! The chocolate was so thick and rich - that it can actually pass as a dessert if one wanted to. However, my siblings didn't like it, because they already had a distinct definition for churros - the pastry being sweet. I told them that's the purpose of the chocolate (to make the food sweet), but still, they didn't like it.


Espaqueti a Lasagna. Sister's pasta choice. The combination of red and white sauces was good, but I still liked my carbonara more.


Lengua Estofada Especialidad. I know we told ourselves we would keep this dinner as cheap as we could because we would still eat full desserts at Crepes and Cream, but our stories of brother eating Lengua Estofada at Cafe City 1888, made sister suggest we eat this, too. This dish was good, and I have nothing against lengua, but I wasn't really impressed with it - maybe because I found it way too expensive (this dish cost p370).


Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet. Brother went for their "Favoritos Meal," which was their value meal. I gave it a taste and I liked the blend of flavors.


Stewed Beef Cubes . Another Favoritos meal, which mom went for. The beef cubes were tender, the sauce was great, and the seasoning.. just right.


Cream Puffs. All Favoritos meals included a glass of iced tea and two pieces of Cream Puffs, which was a great dessert, but way too sweet for our liking.

It was a great dinner for the family... even if we were together everyday, we still loved eating out and share stories as if we were catching up on times.

*** Jenn ***