Pino and the Girl Who Loves to Eat :)

 
One of the notable food bloggers in Manila is Jin Loves to Eat because she loves eating as much as we do and she probably goes to more restaurants too. 🙂 It was a pleasure meeting her on her birthday when our friend Tina invited a few foodies to try out Chef Ed Bugia’s Pino restaurant.

Pino’s new store is located along Malingap St. They used to be on Maginhawa, where Burger Project now stands.  Pino serves Fine Filipino Food — comfort Filipino food done well at a good price.

Pino Menu: Starters | Starters 2 | Pino Favorites | Pino Favorites 2 | Pino Favorites for Sharing and Pasta | Pino Event and other Resto Concepts | Pino Desserts and Pipino Vegan Menu

The resto is spacious and has happily maintained its warm, artsy feel.

Walls are adorned with art for sale. Proceeds go to the Mio Fights Cancer cause.

I love the outdoor garden area. I think it would be a nice hangout at night.

Not in the photo are the stairs that lead up to Pino’s sister restaurant called Pipino and Chef Ed’s Pino Kitchen studio.

Along with my Ultimate Philippines brother, Spanx, and Mercato Centrale Vendor Partner, Tina Vitas of Chile Vitas, I met with Chef Tina Pamintuan and Jin of Jin Loves to Eat.

Crispy Shrimps with Salted Egg (P225). Fresh shrimps fried in a light batter with salted egg and sweet chili vinegar.

I got there super late but still got a chance to try the starters. Majority of the group loved the crispy shrimps. It had just the right saltiness and was still crispy when I arrived.

 
Shrimp and Pork Lemongrass Skewers (P195). Grilled ground pork and shrimp sausages served with sweet chili sauce.

This reminded me of a Vietnamese favorite.  The sauce overpowered the meat, though.

 
Longganisa-Topped Nachos (P195). Corn tortilla chips served with diced longganisa, mango salsa, cheese sauce and aoili.

This was an interesting twist to the usual nachos, using longganisa instead of ground beef. I just think that going with diced Lucban longganisa would have been better because of its salty, herb-y taste.

 
★ Portobello Inasal (P260). Comes with red beet puree, ensaladang talong and brown rice.

We were preparing for a heavy meat-laden lunch so we started off with a Pipino best seller — the Portobello Inasal. I liked how that big mushroom chunk was flavorful all throughout.

★ Binakol (P265). Chicken tinola soup with buko juice and papaya. Good for 2-3 persons.

Our group loved this! It had an interesting, slightly sweet taste (probably coming from the buko juice and bits of papaya). It is better to eat it while hot.

Dining with food bloggers is always fun. They understand the need to take pictures before eating and don’t mind the extra-minute wait. 🙂

Laing-Stuffed Crispy Pata (P495). Deep-fried pork thigh stuffed with gabi leaves in coconut cream, served with gravy and soy sauces. Good for 3-4 persons.

Among all the food we ordered, this is the one I didn’t like that much. The laing was dry and the crispy pata was not cooked as well as the other dishes.

 
It was nice to see Jin Loves to Eat in action and how she truly loves to eat without any pretensions.

★ Kare-Kareng Bagnet (P245). Pino’s House Specialty. Authentic Ilokano crispy pork belly served with annatto-peanut sauce and bagoong rice.

This deconstructed Kare-Kare was a hit at our table. The bagnet was super crunchy; its fat and skin tasted like chicharon. Plus, the kare-kare sauce had the right peanut-y taste and consistency.

(Note: Pino has always been well-known for its Kare-Kareng Bagnet — even when it was still located in Maginhawa.)

★ Red Wine Adobong Tadyang (P215). Adobo-style short ribs slow-cooked in red wine, served with steamed rice and mango salsa.

This dish is as yummy as it looks. It tasted like Korean Beef stew but cooked adobo-style. Each and every rib was wonderfully saturated with the sauce.

Of course, a birthday meal has to be capped with a cool birthday cake. 🙂

I love this ★ Pili Pie from Tourne, which is Jin’s favorite as well. 🙂

Happy Birthday, Jin! Thanks for spending your birthday lunch with us. 🙂

Check out Jin’s blog post: Pino and A Bit of Pipino ♥ ♥

Overall, we recommend Pino Resto Bar. It certainly is one of the best modern Filipino restos in Manila. 🙂 It reminds me of Kanin Club (except that it transforms into a bar at night). Budget P500 per head.

I’m excited to go back to try the Pipino vegetarian restaurant with my family next time. 🙂

Pino Resto Bar
Malingap St., Teachers Village, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Telephone: +632 441-1773 
Email: pinorestobar@yahoo.com
Website: http://pinorestobar.com
Facebook: Pino Resto Bar
Open DAILY
Monday – Friday 11am – 2pm and 5pm-1am
Saturday – Sunday 11am – 2am

Live an Awesome Life,

 
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Call or Text Me: +63917 5683-627 (LOVE-OAP)
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Full Disclosure: We paid for our meals and we are not connected in any way with the owners of this establishment. I did meet Chef Ed Bugia before during my P&G days and in Mercato Centrale.

★ Happily recommended 🙂

P.S. Pino has already moved to Malingap St.. If you are coming from Maginhawa, the landmark of the corner of Malingap and Maginhawa St. is the big Bayan Corporate Center.