Finally, our favorite Fat Michael’s, one of the pioneers of the homey and quaint dining experiences in Manila, has decided to branch out in Mandaluyong. Its new venture is called The Frazzled Cook (TFC). The original Fat Michael’s chef, his brother and another partner converted the first floor of the former Legaspi Collection showroom along Luna Mencias St. into a secret dining bistro. From being allegedly “cocky/snobbish” to being a frazzled cook, I prefer the latter. Service at The Frazzled Cook is definitely much better than Fat Michael’s with its friendly and accommodating waiters and owners. However, since it’s located near Cookbook Kitchen (CBK), we all still prefer CBK over TFC.
The ambiance is a bit kitschy Chinese and tries hard to be a mish-mash of the old and the new. The tables, chairs, china, and cutlery are intentionally different and do not reflect any one personality. Being frazzled means “being worn out, or exhausted either physically and/or emotionally”, and its namesake did not bode well for the food. I like the Pinoy pizza and the pancake ala mode, but the rest of the food lacked a distinct taste. We will go back a few months after, when the restaurant operations have stabilized and become less “frazzled”…
Pizza Caprese (P320 +10% sc). Pizza with Tomato and Cheese…
I always like Pinoy style pizza crust – a bit thick and crunchy like 3M’s. Pizzas are good when they are simple with big slices of tomato, grated cheese, and slices of white cheese. I prefer putting garlic chili oil on top of my pizza.
Aidan was able to draw this on the white placemats while waiting for the food. He likes drawing these days and spelling out all our family members’ names. He also loves creating birthday cards for everyone. 🙂
We were seated at the table near the shelf where all these lucky Japanese cats were waving (or saying goodbye?). I must admit, they were cute.
The Hello Kitty spoons were a nice touch and Mrs. Awesome Planet definitely agreed.
Frazzled Cook Menu: starters | pasta, seafood, paella | meat and poultry | sides | drinks/wine
The place reminds me of a stylized Fat Michael’s, complete with the ambiance and furniture like bookshelves, different lamps, and disorganized tables/chairs.
Paella Negra (P625 +10% sc) This can serve 4…
The Paella Negra is a specialty of The Frazzled Cook, but we found it bland in spite of the squid ink. You just end up with blackened teeth and lips, wishing you just ordered the seafood paella.
Grilled Beef Spareribs with Mixed Pasta (P600 +10% sc) This can serve 2…
If you are ordering for a family, it would be good to order big dishes like the Grilled Beef Spareribs. But the same story goes as with the paella, the ribs tasted like it was poorly marinated. They can improve it by letting the meat absorb the sauce over a longer period of time.
Peruvian Hotpot (P400 +10% sc)
The lamb meat was OK… parang adobo but with wine sauce (I think). At P400+, I expected a more yummy and fulfilling taste.
Spicy Shrimp Pasta in Garlic & Oil (P325 +10% sc)
The pasta dish was cooked a bit amateurishly, with burnt toasted bread on the side. The shrimps were fresh and good though.
Grilled Chicken Rosemary (P225 +10% sc)
This is the cheapest item on the menu… I was not able to taste this because it was my cousin’s.
Grilled Tanigue with Herbed Butter (P325 +10% sc)
The fish was fresh but bland without the herbed butter spread over it. Most of the dishes were served with rice with brown sauce…
Homemade Iced Tea (Single) – (P100 +10% sc)
The iced tea is highly recommended. I personally like their unique tea blend with the sweet taste of cranberry… It was a bit expensive though at P100+.
Pancake ala Mode (P160?)
Their Ultimate dessert — crispy pancake with butter inside and topped with vanilla ice cream… Sarap!
Joshua is a Lansones Monster, so we always bring some everywhere we go.
Aidan and Joshua playing around the Legaspi Collection outside TFC…
Overall, The Frazzled Cook is promising because of the warm service and good ambiance. We usually eat in Cookbook Kitchen, but once TFC installs Wi-fi, it could be our next hangout. Although we have to wait and see first because with rent to pay, usually the food quality is compromised. Most of the successful quaint bistro-type restaurants pay minimal rent, and the ambiance reflects the personality of the owner.
Let me know what you think about Frazzled Cook.
The Frazzled Cook
Address: #916 Luna Mencias Street, Barangay Additional Hills, Mandaluyong City
Telephone: +632 782-5980
Facebook Page: The Frazzled Cook
Driving Directions:
If you’re familiar with Shaw Blvd., look for the FLYING V gas station when you enter Shaw from EDSA. The street perpendicular to Flying V is L. Mencias but it’s a one-way street. So enter Hoover street, which is two more streets after L.Mencias. It is right across 9 de Pebrero street (the street you use to go to Makati). Go straight from Hoover and turn right at the second corner, which is Araullo street. From Araullo, go straight until you reach the intersection of L.Mencias and Araullo. From there, turn right. You’ll see a sign on L.Mencias street with an arrow pointing straight that says “EDSA, Shaw”.
Anton Diaz
Founder, OurAwesomePlanet.com
Copyright 2009.
Our Awesome Planet Blog Posts by Anton Diaz is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines License.
Based on a work at www.OurAwesomePlanet.com.
hi anton! was the pizza crunchy? parang it looks kinda hard n dry. Paella Negra is their bestseller?! looks pitiful with katiting na ingredients. did not even use sugpo yata. even the spicy shrimp pasta, for that price you can get a good serving (more sugpo pa) at cyma. everything kinda expensive and doesnt even look appetizing. ill just wait for ur next review before i let go of my pesos. thanks anton for being very honest with this review!
hi anton!
you may wanna try out this new hip resto Celsius Gastrolounge in Scout Rallos cor Tomas Morato (facebook accnt http://bit.ly/4yFvXS) pls give us (followers) your review too. thanks!
fyi: i do not own or personally know the owners/chefs of this resto. just heard it from a friend 😉
I suggest you try it first before you believe anyone’s review. Tastes differ from person to person.
yup youre right there. but sa pics pa lng am not too excited to go there yet 😉
great a new resto in mandaluyong! First CBK, then 1521.
I saw this restaurant a few days ago and I thought to myself, who’d want to eat in a restaurant with a frazzled cook? It doesn’t paint a good picture… Reminds me of that other resto called Fluke. But of course, that was just my initial reaction, not knowing anything else about the restaurant.
The chef should rethink the plating of the food specially the tanigue dish. It does not look appetizing. Also, what’s with the enormous plate and teensy weensy food?
I agree that putting the word “frazzled” in a resto’s name is not really inviting or appetizing. The food, too, does not look like it was done with the usual “TLC” you would expect from these hole-in-the-wall restaurants. In my opinion, these small, out-of-the-way-restos have to exert more offort in preparing above-average food, since they rely strongly on word-of-mouth and they have to create a market for themselves.
I have passed by TFC a few times and was excited to see it since it is in my new neighborhood. I’m hoping that the owner would take Anton’s criticisms and our observations constructively and would make the proper adjustments. Everyone loves a success story, and hopefully, TFC would be one of them.
the food in your pics actually look yummy. it’s the prices i’m not too excited about. i find the dishes to be quite expensive, those are the kinds of prices you’d find in a posh upscale resto in serendra or greenbelt 5. well, ok lang if the food is really worth it, but they look pretty much like what cookbook kitchen is serving and in my own opinion, CBK’s food seems much more worth it. their parmesan crusted dory is below 300 if i’m not mistaken and it is good for 2. their pasta also doesn’t go beyond P300. and iced tea for P100? is that even refillable??
do they accept credit cards? 🙂
Not at the moment…
i actually ate there already and i thought it was pretty good. You’re right about the iced tea..very good homeblend…Try ordering the wagyu salpicao (sooooo tender and tasty) with curry rice…..i really like the way they do the croutons in their salad…and the pancake a la mode and their strawberry shortcake is a winner for me….i agree that the prices are on the high side tho…sana it was a bit cheaper…i’ll go back tho, it seemed cozy enough to stay for longer periods….they said they’re credit card will be up & running by end of the week…thanks for the blog anton!
then dont go.no one’s forcing you
I disagree. So if for example i place a Mcdonald’s in Greenbelt 5 or Serendra, then it’d be okay for them to raise their prices coz it would be “posh”? Yeah i know, it’s okay lang if the food’s worth it.
Also, i got to try the parmesan crusted dory.. it’s like digging for fish under all the cheese. Personally, not a fan. Maybe that’s why it’s so cheap. Hehe. 😉
Lastly, I agree with Nora, I think the iced tea’s pretty good. And they told us they’d be accepting credit cards soon. Will definitely be back by then!
What makes him a food critic?is it the mere fact that he’s tried lots of restaurant? cause if thats the case, then maybe i can also be one. for exmple happy cream puffs over beard papa?hands down beard papa.HCP’s filling tastes like nestle cream nothing special or anything. looks kinda cheap too.
Yeah wagyu salpicao is good! Pancake ala mode is to die for!
who the hell cares about the picture?
Hi Anton! I live in the street right before TFC but I have yet to try it. I just wanted to comment on the directions – I think the road 2 blocks down from Luna Mencias is actually Gomezville. It’s the one that you go into when you cross shaw straight from 9 de Febrero right? Or, I’m not sure if they have since renamed the street.
Hi, I ate at the Frazzled Cook for lunch a few days ago, since friends had been talking about it. I agree with most of Anton’s comments, the food does not have a distinctive taste and is really quite expensive for the quality.
We had the herbed chicken salad which was not bad but not anything to rave about… then followed that up with the sizzling squid appetizer which was oily and a little too salty-sweet for my taste. Also it was quite ordinary, you could order that from any “inuman” place and get the same thing.
Our mains were the wagyu salpicao — tender definitely but not very flavorful. I had the hamachi jaw — again, soft but it lacked seasoning, which was why it came with a teriyaki sauce on the side which tasted suspiciously like the sizzling squid sauce!
The best thing that we both liked was the iced tea — really fruity and refreshing. The strawberry shortcake was a little dry although not very sweet. Looking at the photo of the pancake, perhaps we should have ordered that!
Our bill came to over P3,000 just for those items I mentioned (oops, plus two cups of coffee). So, it was disappointing and expensive and I will think very hard before I decide to eat there again.
By the way, they now accept credit cards!
Thanks for the update on the credit card and the comments! I do hope that they are reading this blog post and adjust their operations…
Anton
Hello!
Please try “Van Gogh is Bipolar” at 154 Maginhawa St. Sikatuna Village
It’s a very small place I helped design.
Do call before you go as the place is quite small and it gets filled up easy.
facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=van+gogh+is+bipolar&init=quick#/pages/van-gogh-is-bipolar/78957949878?ref=search&sid=748755189.4253433749..1
contact numbers:
(02) 394.0188 / 0922.824.3051 / 0922.824.3052
The fact that it’s run by the same people behind the Fat Michael’s already turns me off. The same people who says, “We cook slow, live with it!”. How about your food sucks so die with it! As far as my concerned, there is a reason why restaurants are part of the hospitality business. Does the word, hospitable, mean anything to these pretentious and cocky people? Fat Michael’s food and serving portions are far from impressive. Not too mention the allergic rhinitis I got from those dusty props they have. I’m surprised they actually had the guts to open up a new one and stupidly calling it “Frazzled Cook”. It’s not all about design and concept. Go back to the heart of what a restaurant is all about. Idiots!
We ate at Frazzled Cook last Sunday after mass. It still was not open at 11am so we have to go back by 11:30. The place is a tame version of Cafe Jaunita’s with a hodge podge of chairs and decors. We ordered the seafood paella and was disappointed to find sweet longaniza (sliced thinly) instead of spanish chorizo. It is not wet paella but not also dry, enough to have the rice crust at the bottom which I liked. There were squid rings and shrimps. Taste OK. We also ordered the lengua. Very tender but looks dry so I have to request for extra white sauce which they poured on top. The ice tea is good with the sweet lychee taste.
waitresses were very polite.
Hey Anton, went there last week and I was pretty ok with it. A bit pricey though but sulit for dates! I hope I do justice!
I passed by there last week during lunch and it was closed. Don’t know if closed for good
Hi Anton! Is it okay if I grab the photo of the facade? My fam owns the property, just want to use it for my mom’s furniture shop, thank you.
OK Jo 🙂
just had dinner there last night… disappointing… ordered seafood paella, pork ribs… salmon… lamb… plating needs to be improved… everything looked dry… enjoyed the iced tea & the wagyu though… paid P700+/person… not worth it…
Hi Anton! I have to agree with you their food are almost all BLAND! I mean bland! Hope they improve their dishes.
Good that was not able to read the comments before we went there. Our friends celebrated their bithdays. We were happy with the service and the taste of the food. Though we were not particular with the plating. We like their pizza, pasta scampi, pasta negra, crepe dessert. They served also alamid coffee. Though for the seafood paella taste good as well. Overall, we went out satisfied and happy. For the price, can’t comment as it was a dinner treat:)
hi anton…
just want to know their store hours? thank you..