I was hanging out in the mall, and decided to grab dinner here, because the lines for other places were way too long. Clearly, this was a mistake from the get go, since this was the only restaurant without a wait. It's a strange restaurant. The decor of the restaurant is reminiscent of a backyard, with its wooden furniture and picnic accents. The dim lighting is a strange choice though. The menu is all over the place. There are Italian dishes, Filipino foods, and "American food". Worst of all, the prices are exceptionally high for the quality of food you are getting. I ordered the cheese steak and the mac and cheese nachos to share. The mac and cheese nachos had soggy tortilla chips. The cheese sauce was also lacked any sharpness or tartness. The cheese steak had decent beef in it, but that misses the point of a traditional American cheese steak. The cheese was also relatively bland. The rest of my large group ordered various other items that ranged from ribs to spaghetti. The ribs were slathered in BBQ sauce and did not seem to actually be smoked in the traditional BBQ style. The spaghetti wasn't very good either. Everything else I tasted was also very meh. In the end, this turned out to be one of my most expensive meals in the Philippines, and I left full, but unsatisfied with the quality of the food I received. read more

Backyard Kitchen + Brew - Mac and cheese nachos - Italian Near Me - Quezon City, NCR

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Maybe I was just super hungry from fasting the entire day but everything we ordered was delicious. I think most of my friends are divided on Backyard because it is quite pricey, but I don't think it's that unjustly and unfairly priced. After all, you know what you are getting. Grade A Kitayama Beef in your pares? It's not gonna be cheap, guys. Real maple syrup on your Southern-style Waffle Breaded Fried Chicken? It ain't gonna be some spare change. I enjoyed the chicken so much that I just had to go in there with my bare hands, kebs if I looked like an uneducated troglodyte. They say eating with utensils is like having sex with someone through an interpreter, so I ditched the fork and knife and just dug in. I was still pretty ravenous even after sharing half of my friend's beef pares (which was super tender! Love the sauce and the fried rice) so we both agreed to split a beef salpicao. When I say split, I mean he took the rice and I ate all the chunky and stringy beef cubes. Fair deal, huh? The perks of being my friend. Needless to say, I am coming back for more. Beautiful food, nice interiors, excellent service. read more

Backyard Kitchen + Brew - Kitayama beef pares - Italian Near Me - Quezon City, NCR

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I'm always leery about restaurants that seem to excel in food presentation. More often than not, it's all pomp and no actual substance. Like I always say, a bland chicken is a bland chicken no matter how green the parsley is. Occasionally, I encounter restaurants that do serve food that's as delicious as it looks. I'm afraid to say this isn't one of those times. Backyard has been getting a lot of buzz, especially in university circles (its location in the recently established UP Town Center gets it an instant initial following from Ateneo and UP). We were very hopeful and very hungry when we got there. The prices weren't exactly student-friendly, but we weren't exactly students either, so that wasn't a big issue. We ordered the thrice cooked pork belly, the papaya/coconut soup, and the truffle cheese pizza thing. The pork belly was quite 'makunat' for something that was cooked thrice over. You'd think they would've paid more attention to the one not-so-big slab of meat they put on top of your rice and adorned with leaves, but it was terribly underseasoned and frankly no better than a carinderia lechon kawali garnished with some parsley. The soup was... just weird, and that's saying something because my boyfriend is a lover of all things liquidy, and I'm a pretty well-rounded eater. The upside is that the truffle cheese pizza thing was awesome! I don't usually eat pizza (I know it's strange, but I hate the stuff), but this dish made it easy to pretend that it was just a biscuit topped with great stuff. Beers were also great. While I'm not a fan of butterbeer, my companions seemed to love theirs. I liked the sweetness, too. My cocktail of choice was a pina colada, and I liked that the alcohol didn't overpower the pineapple the way it does when bartenders go overboard. Overall, I'm underwhelmed, but the place is still worth checking out if only for the pulutan-type foods and the alcohol. read more

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Backyard Kitchen + Brew is one of Chef Ed Bugia's newest creations. Knowing that Chef Ed Bugia is the owner of The Burger Project and Pi, Pino, Pipino, I already expected the place to be nothing more than amazing. Backyard Kitchen had a different setting compared to Chef Ed Bugia's other restaurants. Unlike The Burger Project, which was heavily decorated with bright lights and bold colors, this place had a very simplistic design. Chairs and tables were made out of furnished wood and decorations were minimalistic. It was super hipster! During my stay there, I decided to order the Waffle Breaded Fried Chicken that was served with maple butter, sautéed kale, sriracha ketchup, and whipped bone marrow toast. Although, the chicken wasn't as soft and juicy as you'd like them to be, the size definitely makes up for it. The sriracha ketchup was very good. It gave the dish enough spice and tang. For dessert, we got the Kitkat brownies with Mantecado ice cream. It was very chewy and moist and the ice cream perfectly went well with it. read more

Backyard Kitchen + Brew - Italian Near Me - Quezon City, NCR

A few friends and I were looking for a new place to eat the other day in UP Town and we ended up in Backyard Kitchen + Brew. We were starving and it seemed like the best place to pig out and we were right! Their menu was filled with a lot of familiar dishes but with a modern twist, like waffle breaded fried chicken and chicken skin with salted egg (is your mouth watering already??). We all got a little takaw tingin and decided to grab a rice bowl each, 2 pulled pork belly and 2 chicken salpicao. Let me tell you about that chicken salpicao, just wow! It was chicken thigh bits (so all dark meat), cooked liked salpicao with whole garlic chunks and crispy chicken skin on top! The servings were quite big but I was so happy eating this I didn't realize I finished the whole order already! Backyard Kitchen + Brew is a great place for a quick dinner with super yummy food. I'm definitely coming back for more of that chicken salpicao and hopefully I can try more of their other dishes! read more

Backyard Kitchen + Brew - Still dreaming of my chicken salpicao!! - Italian Near Me - Quezon City, NCR

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From their country theme, get ready to put on your cowboy hat and your cowboy boots upon checking this restaurant out! Their furniture is apart from others, being themed with a wooden country feel, blended with that modern rustic touch. Now for the food: GO. ORDER. THEIR. SKILLET. FRIES. It's to die for: with pulled pork, lots of cheese and tomato dressing. You won't go wrong with this one. I also suggest the Carbonara, the Buttered Chicken (their bestseller) and the Pork Belly and give in to a sinful yet heavenly meal. Their serving and presentation are also remarkable, they serve dishes in pans and other cooking plateware. They also serve iced teas in mason jars and give you the bill in a bucket! While waiting, they have flatscreens and you can even ask to change the program being played! read more

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The first thing that attracts you to Backyard is the garden-y/outdoors-y entrance. You immediately get that it's a relaxed, laidback joint fit for groups who just want to hang out! Kudos on the ambience (check out the ceiling)! They have a pretty big bar which I guess is perfect for these weekly events they host like the "Sunday Slowdown" where they have a DJ and guests drop by for some drinks from the bar or to sample the food. Oh, the food. It's primarily American and stylized Filipino but they put their own twist on everything. I went with my family and we had a full table of some of their bestsellers. Had the "Slow Roasted Pork Belly," which at first disappointed with its size but by the end felt just right anyway. I normally cut out the fatty bits in my pork but with this one I just couldn't. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, huhu. Everything looked great - A for presentation - but there were some particularly instagrammable dishes that surprisingly needed more flavor. My brother's "Waffle-Breaded Fried Chicken" was really good though and pretty inventive! They have a knack for creating interesting recipes. Take the time to read the descriptions of each dish on the menu. Did I mention my pork belly had this "rum coke bbq" sauce? It tasted so good I wanna cry. read more

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I'm constantly amazed at the rate at which new places are popping up around Manila, especially in all the new shopping centers. While I am not exactly happy about all the new malls (read: more traffic), I must admit that I AM happy about the new restaurants. I saw Backyard popping up in my IG feed recently, so I decided to make a quick stopover on the way home with my boyfriend. It was that or Gerry's Plus (Gerry's Grill, but version 2.0). I veered towards Backyard. We arrived around 10 pm on a Sunday night. The place wasn't too crowded, and the staff was still very attentive despite the late hour. Our server Dom did not hesitate to seat us promptly, again something I am very particular about, and was quick to help us out with ordering. Given we weren't too hungry, we decided to go for the Papaya Coconut Soup and the Thrice Cooked Crispy Pork Cheek. I am a sucker for soup, and Backyard's papaya coconut soup came as a surprise to the tastebuds. I quite liked the delicate flavor of lemongrass, which countered the creaminess of the soup. Dom (feeling close!) recommended we add some sriracha sauce to give it some kick. Given I love spicy food, this added the right amount of kick as well as acid to a soup that was good but regrettably lacking, even with the crispy chicken skin garnish. The Thrice Cooked Pork Cheek we quite enjoyed. Backyard stews, roasts, then grills their pork cheek and pairs it with an adobo hoisin reduction, "forbidden black rice, sauteed kale, caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes and alfalfa. I liked the flavor and cook on the pork, and thought the doneness was just right. The skin could have been crispier, though. The flavors of hoisin, paired with the ripe citrus-y notes from the cherry tomato were perfect contrasts to the heartiness of the meat. The black rice and sauteed kale made us feel slightly better about indulging in red meat. I could go on. The quirky wood interiors, the license plates-cum-pendant light fixtures above the booths, the IG-worthy numbered tables. I like the direction Backyard is going in. While there are a few rough edges here and there so to speak, I like the innovative thought given to their menu items. Hopefully they keep it up. Other menu items I'd recommend: - Cheese and Truffle Garlic Flatbread : It's basically like a quattro formaggio, but the ooey gooeyness of the cheese will not disappoint. - Waffle Breaded Fried Chicken : It's got the right amount of light, crispiness that isn't made soggy by copious amounts of oil. - Tinapa & Quinoa Salad With Honey Balsamic Reduction - I'm a fiend for quinoa and hearty salads, and thought the serving size on this one was just right. - Slow Roasted Pork Belly : I particularly liked the rhum barbecue coating on this one paired with the red cabbage slaw. You have to have both in your mouth to fully appreciate either :) read more

On holidays, my mom and my titas have made a habit of taking my grandparents out for lunch. Last Araw ng Kagitingan, I found myself tagging along and our venue of choice was UP Town Center seeing as most of my relatives are from the north. Mom assigned me to conduct an online search for a good restaurant in the area, and Backyard Kitchen + Crew consistently came up, so there we headed. There's a lot to choose from the menu, but I decided to go with the chicken salpicao as I'm trying to eat less beef and pork and substitute chicken and fish instead. I thought it tasted like adobo. It wasn't bad-tasting or anything, just not what I expected. Backyard has a good ambiance although the service wasn't great given that I had to stand up and locate the waiter myself just to ask for a glass of water. I'll be back though, as I don't think it's wise to judge a restaurant based on one fair meal read more

Planned to have a quick lunch here. Left because I ordered a kiddie burger only to be told by the waiter that the kiddie meals were only for "kids". Didn't argue anymore but told him how stupid such policy is and all the waiter could do was apologize. Do I not have the right to choose what I want to eat on the menu? Do they not want the business of a paying customer? If I had the luxury of time, I would have questioned the waiter as to how they define a "kid" and if they asked for proof of age every time an alleged "kid" would order a kiddie meal. Backyard = Backward read more

Love their food! I was with family when we went here for lunch; I had beef brisket pares and it exceeded my expectations!! We came out stuffed, happy and satisfied will def come back to try out other dishes! read more

Tried them once with friends. Were like a group of 6, with different orders. Their food was a waste of money. Its far from what we expected. The taste of the food is not even close to what its suppose to taste. We barely touched our orders and we told the waiters and manager politely. So they gave us one slice of cake. And still paid our orders. We dint took them home. Really disappointing service and quality. read more

Not bad but not good either, given the price. I had the papaya coconut soup and the adobong duck flakes rice. Presentation is great but I don't think I'll come back for seconds; okay maybe to try out their specials. But given how many options there are in UPTown, I'm not so sure. read more