ceasar salad – Jellybeans in the City

Truth be told: Fish & Co. was not among my go-to restaurants. Being a carnivore, I gravitated to restaurants centered on steaks, ribs and meat. And boy, have I been missing out on quite a lot!

This I discovered when my foodie friends and I went on an epic food trip at Trinoma Mall of which Fish & Co. was the second stop.

Fish & Co. is a casual dining restaurant that serve fresh seafood in a pan. Drawing inspiration from the practices of Mediterranean fishermen who cooked their freshly caught seafood on board their boats and ate directly off the pans where they cooked their food to ease their hunger pangs while they’re at sea.

The restaurant prides itself on offering the freshest seafood, prepared with natural and wholesome ingredients and served in generous portions.

Fish & Co. is one of the restaurants managed by The Bistro Group, a collection of international and local hospitality brands.

In response to the need of the times, The Bistro Group has instituted safety protocols for safe dining-in at its restaurants. These include: regular health checks for all its personnel, compliance of all outdoor and indoor seating to physical distancing guidelines, hand sanitizers available at the entrance and on every table, as well as contactless menu ordering and payment.

These protocols require diners to submit to temperature checks, provide contact tracing details and using the hand sanitizers and sanitation mats prior to entering the restaurant premises, as well as wearing their personal protective equipment (PPEs) while inside. Would-be diners who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms or have been exposed to people who do, have underlying health conditions or have concerns about contracting the disease when dining out are advised to stay home and avail of the restaurant’s contactless delivery options.

With safety concerns adequately addressed, diners can fully get down to getting hooked by Fish & Co.’s sumptuous dishes such as:

Ceasar Salad with Ramen Egg (Php295/Php495). Romaine lettuce tossed with croutons and parmesan cheese in house Caesar dressing and topped with marinated egg.

Crispy Fish Skin (Php195). Deep-fried salmon skin served with cocktail vinegar and spicy mango vinaigrette.

Singaporean Fried Chicken (Php795). Deep-fried marinated chicken served with house gravy.

Seafood Spaghetti Marinara (Php355/Php595). Clams, prawn and fish cubes, tossed in our homemade tomato-basil sauce.

The Best Fish in Town (Php395/Php525). A slab of lightly battered fish deep-fried to a beautiful and crispy golden brown and served with tartar sauce.

At Fish & Co., you get a delicious taste of the sea’s bounty and more!

You can also get great savings with the BFF Card, The Bistro Group’s loyalty program that gives members exclusive perks across 15 restaurant brands such as:

30% off on Mondays
20% off on Tueadays
Complimentary coffee or hot tea single-serve with entree purchase
Online seats reservation
Six Php250 e-vouchers with minimum purchase of Php1,000 per voucher

This Fish & Co. branch is located at Fourth Floor, Trinoma Mall, Bagong Pag-Asa, Quezon City, open daily from 11am to 8pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 79162028, +63 2 7916 0105 or +63 977 2414903.

Other branches are located at:

Ground Floor, Venice Grand Canal Mall, Upper Mckinley Road, Taguig City
4th Floor, The Deck, Uptown Place Mall, 36th Street Corner 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
G/F Entertainment Mall, MOA Complex, Pasay City

Fish & Co. delivers via FoodPanda.

Check out my posts about other restos of The Bistro Group:

When you think about food places in the Libis area, chances are this Italian restaurant hidden away from the busier sections of the metro has escaped your notice.

Cucina di Francesco got its name from the name Francesco Forgione, the name that Saint Pio of Petrelcina, more affectionately known to devotees as Padre Pio, was born with.

Incidentally, the restaurant is located in the same compound as St. Pio Chapel, so I would imagine families fresh from Sunday mass coming in for lunch.

In this instance, however, I took my fam here on the way to our weekend staycation.

From outside, the restaurant presents a comfortable, homey and welcoming facade.

Inside, the place is bright and cheery, with large windows letting in lots of natural light and large hand-painted murals giving the premises an eclectic vibe. There are more seats to dine in on the second floor, while the third floor is mainly used for events.

I booked our table the night before via Zomato. We were a few minutes late but I called the resto to apprise them of our arrival time so our table was waiting for us when we arrived.

My daughter #ExhibitA, who’s trying to eat healthy, requested for a salad so we ordered a Ceasar Salad (Php180). The focaccia croutons, fresh microgreens and rough-chopped walnuts delectably add to the taste and texture of this classic dish.

Our little boy #ExhibitB, on the other hand, is a well-known pizza monster. We got him a Tre Formaggi (Php350) whose lethal combination of bleu cheese, emmenthal and mozzarella on top of creamy bechamel got my baby reaching for slice after slice.

Hubby got himself a Pasta Puttanesca (Php195). The sauce made from olives, anchovids and capers in fresh tomato sauce makes this a tasty pasta dish. (Hubby liked it well enough but insists that his mom’s version tastes better.)

We split orders of Lasagna al Forno (Php260), a meaty baked lasagna with bechamel cheese sauce (which I found a bit dry) and Italian Beef Stew (Php485), a dish made of beef chunks, Italian sausage and vegetables braised in tomato wine sauce and served with parsley rice.

All in all, I wouldn’t mind another visit to Cucina di Francisco and checking out more of its Italian viands. The place certainly is charming and even has free WiFi! Plus, the wait staff are also friendly and accommodating.

It’s quite near my home and is easily accessible. Since it is a free-standing resto that shares a sizeable multi-level parking lot with the church, I wouldn’t have to stress myself in looking for a parking space as opposed to the likely scenario if I were to visit a mall-based eatery during mealtimes.

It also employs persons with disability, such as those in the autism spectrum. This is an advocacy near and dear to my heart, being a parent to a child with special needs myself.

For those who are artistically inclined, Cucina di Francesco also serves as a venue for art and crafts workshops on weekends in partnership with Maartsy such as Plush Keychain Making and Acrylic Flower Jewelry Making in January 26 and Mandala Coffee Painting and Doodle Art with Lettering on January 27. For inquiries, call +63 2 9175861785.

Cucina di Francisco is located at RER Compound (St. Pio Chapel), 188 E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Bagumbayan, Libis, Quezon City, open daily Tuesdays to Thursdays from 8am to 8pm and Fridays to Sundays from 8am to 9pm. For reservations, call +63 2 5349935 or book your table via Zomato like I did. 🙂

Here’s some trivia for you: Did you know that puttanesca translates to “in the style of a whore” in Italian? While some food pundits would attribute the name to seedier origins, some food historians date the sauce back to the 1950s when Sandro Penti of Rancio Fellona were requested by hungry late-night patrons to “Facci una puttanata qualisiasi” or “Throw together whatever.” Which was what the good Penti did with what he had at the time: tomatoes, olives and capers. The rest is history. More on that here.

Tag: ceasar salad

#TheBistroGroup Trinoma Food Crawl: Fish & Co.

Hidden gem of Italian Cuisine: Cucina di Francesco, Libis