Cerchio Grill & Lounge

I was with 2 of my high school friends last saturday.  After singing our heart out in the afternoon, we decided to continue our bonding through dinner.  My friend suggested Cerchio Grill & Lounge and she was sure I’d love it.  I haven’t heard of Cerchio Grill but I believe in my friend’s taste so we went straight to the restaurant which is just near the Karaoke place we went to.

My friend was all praises about Cerchio Grill.  When she mentioned that the restaurant was also put up by the same owners of Romulo Cafe, I knew then that she was right.  I had such a good experience in Romulo Cafe and was so impressed with their food and ambiance.

I can say the same with Cerchio Grill & Lounge.  I was so pleasantly surprised with how beautifully designed the place is.  You can see tons of circles all over the place.  I realized then that Cerchio means circle in Italian and that probably was the reason why they designed the restaurant in that shape.

Cerchio Grill & Lounge is classy and it doesn’t just stop with its beautiful interior design.  Cerchio Grill & Lounge’s service was awesome too!  You can definitely feel that their servers were trained really well.

Here is the list of food items we ordered:

• Cool as a Cucumber (Php 95)

I remember this drink from Romulo Cafe.  I must say after having this the 2nd time around, that I’m officially addicted to this.  My old wish still stands, I hope Cerchio Grill & Romulo Cafe can serve this a bottomless drink.

• Ripe  Mango Shake (Php 85)

Fruit shakes will never be absent in any restaurant’s menu.  Cerchio Grill & Lounge also has green mango, pineapple, banana and buko shakes (all at the same price).

• Mojito (Php 115)

Even if Cerchio Grill & Lounge is a restaurant, it seems like you can hang out there and have cocktails and alcohol.  My friend ordered this mojito.  I wanted to taste it as I know I needed to write about it here in HeaRty’s Haven.  I swear the alcohol was just too strong.  My friend was actually red-faced throughout our dinner due to this drink hahaha!

• Singaporean Crispy Squid Heads (Php 180)

A definite winner in Cerchio Grill & Lounge’s menu!  Perfect appetizer for any meal indeed.  This sweet but very spicy dish had all the flavors over the squid heads.  We couldn’t get enough of this even the dish was served to us when we were almost finished with our main dishes.  We don’t wanna cancel our crispy squid heads order as we knew that the wait was worth it.  Sooooooo yummy!

• Filipino Onion Soup w/ Bulalo Bits & Queso Puti Croutons (Php 150)

I couldn’t imagine how we can make the famous French Onion Soup into Filipino style.  Cerchio Grill & Lounge, however, was able to do this successfully!  This definitely had a different taste but it was complete inspired from French Onion Soup.  The queso puti and bulalo bits were perfect ingredients to this tasty soup.  It was yummy!

• Shrimp Tempura in Tamarind Broth (Php 145)

Cerchio’s own version of sinigang na hipon.  They made it a bit Japanese by putting breaded tempura into the soup.  The other different thing they’ve done was to use Tamarind broth.  This was okay but I think I’ll stick with the original sinigang but this was good too.  It’s just a matter of preference 🙂

• Mixed Vegetables with Tofu & Mushroom (Php 170)

Our meal won’t be complete without a vegetable dish.  I guess we consider vegetables as a light dish. This dish was just ordinary but it was tasty.  I love how the sauce was evenly spread out the dish that every spoonful of this was flavorful!  If you’re a vegetarian, Cerchio’s mixed vegetables with tofu & mushrooms is a good option.

• Oven-Baked Crispy Pata (Php 650)

Who can ever resist crispy pata?  When I saw the name with ‘baked’ in it, I thought it could be less oily.  We all know that Filipinos cook crispy pata by frying it.  So baking it might make it a bit healthier by removing those oils.

The taste was just as delicious.  I really love the crispiness of the skin and the tenderness of the meat.  This is a must-order.  You also have 3 choices of sauce: sweet, spicy and a combination of sweet & spicy.  I liked the sweet & spicy sauce the most but it all boils down to your own taste.  So take your pick! 🙂

• Garlic Rice

Most of us are on diet.  The waiter was very firm in recommending the garlic rice to go with the oven-baked crispy pata.  I took his advice and didn’t regret it.  It was a great combination indeed.

• Toffee Sansrival (Php 140)

I love the presentation of Cerchio Grill’s cakes.  They put the name of the restaurant in a plate using Choco syrup.  It was simple yet very delish to look at.  Toffee Sansrival Cake was my choice of dessert and I was so glad that I stuck with it in spite of many choices in the menu.  The cake wasn’t too sweet and you can taste the nuts in each bite.  The icing were soooo good too!  I totally forgot about my diet.  I just wanted to eat this Toffee sansrival.  I’ll take care of my diet right after this meal.

• Carrot Cake (Php 160)

While I enjoyed Cerchio Grill’s toffee sansrival, the carrot cake was a disappointment for me.  I felt the icing had too much milk.  However, the cake itself had real bits of carrots.  It definitely stayed true to its name.  It was indeed a carrot cake.  I really just hope they fix the icing in their carrot cake.

A lot of friends do ask me for restaurant recommendations.  I now will put Cerchio Grill as one of my top choices for restaurants in Tomas Morato.  Beautiful ambiance, great service and yummy food – what else can you look for?  They got all the ingredients right.  Highly recommended 🙂

Me and my high school friends had a great dining experience.  For sure, I will be back in Cerchio Grill & Lounge soon! 🙂

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Cerchio Grill & Lounge
76 Sct. Limbaga St., Brgy. Laging Handa, Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 351-5279