Full Belly Craft Kitchen is a casual dining restaurant located along the unfamiliar side of Sgt…read more Esguerra Ave, nearing Timog, and away for the busy district of Tomas Morato. It specializes in belly-delicious dishes. This is a hidden gem in Quezon City, and a good place to hang out or celebrate with family because of its quiet and homey ambiance.
While waiting for my friends to arrive, we were served with their home-brewed iced tea. It has a fruity, not-so-sweet taste, and the added slices of fruit in the drink made it to an eye-candy as well. We were also served with the softest pan de sal with butter. The bread is soft and fluffy. I was immediately taken to bread heaven and thinking of the things I can eat with it.
Once we are complete, we started having breakfast (at lunch). Full Belly Craft Kitchen serves all-day breakfast meals, but if you visit them for breakfast (7am-10am), they offer free coffee. What a deal! Our breakfast tasting included:
- Homemade Spanish Sardines (Php240) : Homemade Milkfish or Bangus Belly cooked in olive oil and spices served with atchara, garlic rice and 2 sunny side-up eggs : Something to wake up to every morning, the bangus belly is soft and tender and do not have a fishy smell nor aftertaste. The garlic rice is fluffy and is lightly seasoned. The garlic is not overpowering. A good dish for me, for someone who doesn't love bangus belly.
- Full Belly Tapa (Php245) : Grilled belly of beef served with 2 eggs and garlic rice : according to Sir Robert, they made these tapa themselves, and it shows on the tenderness of the belly and the tender-meatiness of the beef. The soy sauce mixture and garlic rice accompanied the dish well. A truly satisfying and filling dish.
- Bacon Spinach and Cheese Fritata (Php185) : Baked eggs with cheddar, maple bacon, and spinach, served with pan de sal : One of my favorite dishes throughout the day. Cheese, spinach, and egg is already a good combination, but the addition of strips of bacon just dropped the bomb. The dish is light yet flavorful; all the ingredients can be tasted and has a comforting feeling in the mouth.
After breakfast, we had lunch, and started off with an appetizer called Baked Mussels (Php240) : Chilean mussels with mashed potatoes topped with mornay sauce, mozzarella cheese, bacon bits, and truffle oil : My favorite dish! The problem with food tasting is that there are too many dishes to try so most dishes ended up with leftovers, but not this dish. I owned it and don't plan on sharing. Haha! This is a heavy dish because of the mashed potatoes and the cheese, but I was hypnotized by the creaminess of the potatoes, velvety-ness of the cheese, freshness of the mussels, saltiness and chunkiness of the bacon, and the sweet aroma of the truffle oil that I couldn't stop eating. :-)
To wake me up from hypnosis, we had Ensaladang Bagnet (Php210) : Crispy Pork Belly served with Mustard Leaves, Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, Salted Egg, and Balayan Bagoong : a light dish that is full of flavor. The mustard leaves complement and contrast the bagnet; onions and tomatoes balances out the otherwise bagnet's cholesterrific nature; the salted egg is mostly there for color as the taste is light. The saltiness came from the baggong but only comes with a light taste. A wonderful appetizer to start and prepare for the good things to come.
For the main event, we had a good combination of meat and vegetables, as not to satiate us out. You will notice that each dishes is carefully thought of and crafted as the ingredients complemented each other:
- 12-hr Beef Roast (Php650) : Slow-roasted belly of beef cooked au jus, roasted veggies and potato puree : the highlight of the menu; something this good cooked for 12 hours allow the belly to be tender. It is cooked in its own juice so it is flavorful as well.
- Tuna Belly Al Ajillo (Php285) : Grilled tuna belly served with lots of garlic on a sizzling plate : Among all the bellies, I like tuna the most, and this one is spot on! I like the sweet-sour-salty combination of the dish. Though some complained to be salty, I feel the taste is just right, well maybe because I ate it with garlic rice.
- Bagnet ni Kenneth (Php320) and Beef Belly Rice (Php80) : Chef Kenneth is the original creator of their version of this double-fry, crispy pork belly dish, so it was named in his honor. The skin is very crispy even when no longer hot. The meat is so tender that it falls right off. It is served with a tomato and salted egg salsa. The belly rice, however, is just ok for me. It tasted like rice cooked with the beef's juice topped with some beef bits. A little bland.
- Binagoongang Bagnet (Php360) : Crispy bagnet pork belly with grilled eggplant, morning glory (kangkong), cherry tomatoes and bagoong : salty yet flavorful, best paired with rice.
- Wing Beans in Coconut Cream (Php175) : Sigarilyas cooked in coconut cream served with pork chicharon : What complemented the dish together is the bagoong alamang sauce.
