Us Having a Stroke of Luck

Fluke!
A.Venue Mall
Makati Avenue, Makati City
+63 (02)728-0857

Upon arriving in Manila from Iloilo, K and I were greeted by my brother, who voluntarily came to see us so he could get (and take home) the two boxes filled with pasalubong from Iloilo. The boxes weren't that big,  but brother knew I might have a difficult time taking the boxes and my bags home. It was a gesture I appreciated a lot.

Problems with the airport taxi services prompted brother to travel with us to the hotel where K and I were staying, and since it was already time for dinner and K still hasn't eaten his lunch, we invited brother to eat dinner with us.


Right in front of the hotel was A. Venue Mall. There weren't much restaurants, and when we got there, some staffs of different restaurants would try their best to convince people to dine in their restaurant. There were two people from two different restaurants who were trying to convince us, and we didn't want either any one of them to "win," as we didn't want the other one to feel bad, so we decided to turn both of them down and just entered this quiet looking restaurant called "Fluke!" which meant as "a stroke of luck."

Honestly, the name is quite interesting in a slightly negative way. Stroke of luck? As in "tsamba"?



Putting aside my personal questions with the restaurant's name, I did love the interiors. It has a homey feel with lots of lighting! They also have magazines, which I gladly browsed while waiting for food. The wait staff were so nice and accommodating - they answered each of our queries with a happy disposition, something that made us truly feel at home.


Iberian Chicken. Brother chose this as his meal. The menu had pictures of several dishes, and him seeing a picture of this dish quickly made him chose it. For someone who has a very hearty appetite, my brother appreciated the size of the chicken, as well as the amount of the vegetable side dish. The taste, he said, was similar to Adobo, but not really. This has something unique that he couldn't put a finger on.


Chicken Cutlets. Diners had the option to have this served with rice, but K chose to go for mashed potatoes, as he wasn't used to eating rice. Seeing this dish made me realize how much K loved this kind of food - breaded and fried. During this two-week holiday, he has had beef, pork, and now chicken.

Taste wise, it was typical, but good.


Fish and Chips. Me eating pork, chicken and beef during this holiday made me crave for fish. I know this wasn't a healthy way to eat fish (as this was fried), but I never minded it then... I just wanted to eat fish. This one wasn't the best I have eaten, but I did love that the breading was very crunchy and the dipping sauce tasted great.

One minor complaint I had that night - they served K and brother's food, and it took time before they served my food. I was actually making some sarcastic remarks that it didn't look good that the men were already eating while the lady was sitting there wondering when her food will be served. Well, it was just a minor complaint as I didn't mind waiting that much, though I really felt it was awkward that they let the woman wait for food.


Profiteroles. I did order my dessert along with my meal, so this was served at the same time as my meal. It wasn't so sweet, so I liked it.

Me eating my dessert made K and brother hoped to eat desserts, too. As soon as they placed their orders, K joked about how the tables have turned - they were now waiting for desserts while I ate my profiteroles. :)


Pineapple Upside Down Cake. K's dessert. Very simple looking cake, but I did love how it tasted.


Egg Pie. Brother's choice. Another typical tasting pie for me, but I liked that the crust wasn't too hard and the the egg filling had this "melt in the mouth" feel.

Like what I said, I loved how people at the restaurant treated us. We actually ran into the restaurant's cashier the next night and she smiled and said hello to us as if we were friends or something. :) Good food, good service (well, I still considered it good even if I waited for my food)... I guess we hit a Fluke that night.