“Paris and Rome may be famous for romance, but it’s Filipinos who get the most love” on Valentine’s Day, according to a recent survey by Bloomberg View.
Filipinos takes Valentine’s Day very seriously. Some go for the tried-and-tested restaurants because they want the dinner to be special, without any hitches. But others, like us, want to try the latest restaurants in town.
We were looking around on Valentine’s and chanced upon the recently opened NACI Comfort Food in BGC…
Naci Comfort Food rebranded and relocated from its original spot in Connecticut St. in Greenhills. It’s a comfort food restaurant that showcases a menu designed by Chef Ed Quimson.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Nadine Nocom and Natasha Jade Villaroman, who decided to elevate the vibe of the resto, which is designed to satisfy any craving.
The new Naci has a luxurious high ceiling, comfortable seats…
…and a medley of overhanging lamps as the centerpiece.
MENU: Breakfast Express, Appetizers, NACI Specialties, Soup, Salad, Entrees, Lites, Pasta | Desserts | Non Alcoholic Drinks | Alcoholic Drinks | Cohen-Friendly Menu
I appreciate the effort to level up the restaurant experience by offering Cohen-friendly food and having touch-screen menus to view the pictures of the dishes.
(Suggestion: I do hope they create a full-blown resto ordering app where diners can decide what they want to order, and it will give a billing preview to determine if it is within budget or not.)
★ Nat’s Appetizer Sampler (P520 +10% service charge). Choice of Four of Naci’s Best-selling Appetizers.
Go for the Appetizer Sampler, where you can choose four items from the appetizer menu, which will turn out cheaper than if you ordered them individually. Our picks:
- Classic Salpicao (P380). Sauteed Beef Tenderloin in Olive oil with Chilli Fingers and Garlic.
- Glazed Chicken Wings (P350). Crispy Fried Chicken Wings with Naci’s Secret Glaze served with Lemon Cream Dip and Crispy Fries.
- Classic Gambas (P360). Classic Sauteed Fresh Water Shrimps with Garlic, Chillies and Roasted Pimiento.
- Cajun Mozzarella Balls (P260). Crispy Fried Mozzarella Croquettes served with Pimiento Salsa and Crispy Fries.
We liked the taste of the Salpicao and the sweet Chicken Wings. The Gambas were a bit disappointing because the sauce did not penetrate the shrimp meat.
★ Peruvian Chicken Rice (P420 +10% service charge). Slow-cooked Baked Rice with chunks of Chicken, sauteed Capsicums, topped with Aioli.
If you are looking for something unique, check out this Peruvian Chicken Rice. It’s baked and served like Paella, with generous pieces of chicken and drizzled with sweet Aioli sauce. You have to wait for a while, so order this in advance.
★ Grilled Mahi Mahi (P380 +10% service charge). Grilled Mahi Mahi Fillet topped with Dill Cream and Cherry Tomatoes, served with Parsley Rice.
We usually order something healthy every meal, and we were very satisfied with the juicy Grilled Mahi Mahi with the creamy sauce.
(BTW, most of the items in the menu are served with rice. I hope they offer the no-rice option for their dishes, especially if you plan to order the Peruvian Chicken Rice.)
Arugula and Shiitake Primavera (P380 +10% service charge). Spaghetti tossed in Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, Asparagus and Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, served with Focaccia Bread.
The only disappointment for the night was the vegetarian pasta. I guess we were expecting the taste of the arugula to shine; unfortunately, it disappeared when cooked together with the other vegetables.
We will try the Longganisa and Green Grapes Pasta next time.
They bake their own cakes under the brand name N&N Gourmet Breads and Pastries.
★ Caramel Cream (P75 +10% service charge). Light Chiffon Cupcake with a surprise Caramel filling, topped with Vanilla cream and Caramel fudge.
The Caramel Cream cupcake with its yema-like filling was delicious.
We appreciate good restos like this that have good, sweet endings. 🙂
Overall, we like Naci’s feel-good vibe and its comfort food fusion menu. Go for the Appetizer Sampler, Peruvian Chicken Rice, and the desserts.
I wish they could create more signature dishes and signature cakes that you can find only in Naci.
Congratulations to Nadine and Natasha for successfully rebranding Naci in BGC!
NACI Comfort Food
Unit 3 Two Parkade 7th Avenue, 1634 Fort Bonifacio
Telephone: +632 847-NACI (6224)
Mobile:+63 917 523-4315
Email: nacicomfortfood@gmail.com
Website: http://nacicomfortfood.com
Facebook: NACI Comfort Food
Twitter: @nacicomfortfood
Operating Hours:
Sunday – Thursday: 7:00 am – 11:00 pm
Friday and Saturday: 7:00 am – 2:00 am
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Full Disclosure: We paid for our meals. I wrote this blog post myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I have no business relationship with any company mentioned in this post or any organization promoting it. As a policy, I don’t receive compensation from food and travel places we feature in the blog.
P.S. We were able to try the old Naci in Greenhills, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover the overall improvement in the design, ambiance and vibe of the new BGC resto. Try it out and let me know if there are certain dishes we should try next time in Naci.
I have dined several times at their former branch in Greenhills and was already impressed by their flavorful food even then. I have also tried their Fort resto and once again, it did not disappoint plus the French inspired high ceiling interiors totally blew me away- it is gorgeous! I especially love chef ed’s pork shank, the oven baked chicken, the kaldereta beef lasagna, the longganiza and green grapes pasta and I can just go on and on. Their tita em’s chowder is awesome as well. For desserts, their cheesecakes and pistacchio sansrival are winners. I can say it really is comfort food at its best. Im a fan.
I dine here twice already. First time I order Peking Chicken pizza and it was good but the onion soup and salad although yummy but small in serving. The fresh grape shake is delicious. Then the second time was only yesterday because my friend who is doing the cohen diet heard that naci serves cohen food so we went. I was happy that my order of soup and salad (another kind) was bigger now. I ask the waitress why and they say they adjust the size to satisfy customers. So I hope its like this now everytime. My friend who order from the cohen menu was very happy that her food taste good. All in all, we like this resto and they have like an ipad to see the food. nice. (I wrote my comment awhile ago but i think it got erased so I write again sorry if it duplicates).
Been curious about this resto bar since it opened before in Greenhills but never got to go cause traffic in that street in Greenhills is so bad so when I found about Fort I checked it out. The resto has a wow factor because of their cool interiors. Our group ordered Peruvian Chix rice, Kani salad, rosemary chix and cuchifrito. I can say most of the dishes are above average in taste and really nice presentation. The Peruvian took longer but we were informed that its made from scratch. The grape shake is really good and the tamarind ice tea is okay but I would have wanted a more tamarind taste to it. The red velvet is good and my favorite is their fudge brownie which i took home. Yummy. I also like that they have a feminine wash in their female cr. I thought it was considerate but please put a bidet. We promise to go back to sample the beef kaldereta lasagna next time.
Just a small question – how do you define healthy eating? It seems to me that whenever you order fish, it’s healthy. I have to disagree. The fish dish you ordered is bathed in cream and cream is fatty. I have the same observation in your other posts.
I am not trying to be negative, but I just think you should think hard before labelling something as healthy.
I ate at Naci Fort a day before they temporarily closed for their exhaust repair and grand opening preparation and I was delighted with the attentiveness of the staff eagerly explaining the coming temporary closure due to repair. I mentioned this because after hearing so many good things about this resto, I was very eager to go and when I stepped in the resto, it somehow smelled a little of food fumes and as if reading my mind the server greeted me and acknowledged and apologize for it and went to tell me about the planned repair and gave me a choice if I still want to try the resto even with the little food fume smell which honestly was not really that bothersome. I just like restos who are honest and upfront with their guests so kudos for that. As for the food, now I know why people are starting to talk about this resto. Food is good. The cheesecake is one of the best I’ve tried. I will come back when it opens.
Ate at Naci the other day and had a nice dining experience. The resto looked really nice and most of the food are delicious. Some Food were meant for sharing so if you think about it, its very reasonable really. The pistacchio sansrival is very good. The Peruvian chicken rice is delicious though you have to wait a while for this. They also have an extensive bat list so uou can drink alcohol too. I also like the choice of music. In the frames it says that Chef Ed Quimson (rip) was their consultant which explains the good food. I like this place.
WENT HERE AND MY ORDER WAS THE JAPANESE RICE BOWL (DONT REMEMBER IF ITS YAKINIKU OR KAMAMESHI OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT) AND IT WAS VERY GOOD. ITS ALSO BIG WITH PLENTY RICE SO ITS GOOD TO SHARE. I HAD THE MANGO YOGURT YAKULT SMOOTHIE AND ITS YUMMY. THEN I SHARED TOMATO SOUP AND SALMON PIZZA WITH MY FRIENDS AND I CANT COMPLAIN. MY FRIEND ALSO ORDERED HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE AND AGAIN, ITS PLENTY AND GOOD. THEN WE HAD SANSRIVAL AND MANGO JUBILEE AND ITS ALSO GOOD. I TOOK HOME DATES AND WALNUT BAR AND IM STILL EATING IT. I ALSO LIKE THE FRESH LOOKING INTERIOR. THE PLACED LOOK SO CLEAN AND NICE.