Bistro Mateo

I rarely go to Tiendesitas area.  Tiendesitas is famous for their pet shops and tiangges (bargain stores).  The place also has tons of food places.  However, Bistro Mateo caught my eye because of it’s ambiance.  I’d rather eat in a secluded place where I can hangout with friends and enjoy the food than in an open noisy area.

The place has this Spanish theme into it.  Apparently, Bistro Mateo serves Spanish-Filipino food.  I had high expectations.

The 2nd floor has a mini bar where most people hang out for some drinks.

Customer service was superb.  The server that was assigned to our table was so accommodating.  He was patiently waiting for us to choose our orders plus he was sharing what the dishes were to help us decide.  It wasn’t hard calling the servers as well when we had additional orders or wanted to ask for water refill.

I felt Christina and I ordered too much to eat for just the 2 of us.  Anyway, it’s always nice to try out something new.  I wasn’t impressed with the food in Bistro Mateo as I feel the dishes weren’t extraordinary.  But hey, the food are so affordable!  With the ambiance of the restaurant, I believe we are getting more than we are spending.  So it’s all good 🙂

We tried the following:

• Fresh Pineapple (Php 85)

I rarely drink fresh pineapple.  My order was surprisingly good!  I have to learn how to make one on my own in the future.  For now, I know that I like the drink.  I’m glad that Bistro Mateo put sufficient amount of pineapple that it didn’t taste like water 🙂  Yummy!

• Special Hot Chocolate (Php 50)

Hot, thick and dark — that’s Bistro Mateo’s special hot chocolate!  It wasn’t my order.  It was my friend’s.  If only they offer white chocolate expresso, then I would have ordered it in a heartbeat 😛

• Sopa de Mariscos (Php 170)

I liked this seafood soup.  Bistro Mateo was very generous with their serving that both of us were already full when we finished the soup.  We ended up taking home a lot of left overs of the other dishes haha!  Anyhow, it was a good start for a decent meal.  If you want to order soup in Bistro Mateo, then this should be your order.  It’s worth it!

• Tokwa’t Baboy (Php 90)

Tofu cut into cubes with crispy pork and onions immersed in soy-vinegar sauce.  I like that the restaurant used crispy pork rather than normal fatty pork that other restaurants’ use.  It had the right amount of spiciness, yumyum!

• Paellita (Php 155)

Bistro Mateo’s pride is their paellas.  Surprisingly, their paellas are pretty cheap (less than Php200 for an order).  We ordered their paellita which is flavored rice with seafood, meat and vegetables.

• Bistek Tagalog (Php 260)

Unfortunately, I didn’t like the Bistek tagalog we ordered.  The pork was a bit tough and the dish was super oily 🙁  It had great flavors but the pork was a bit disappointing.  I hope they presented it better too.  Other restaurants serve it in a sizzling plate.  The effect could be different if they presented it beautifully.

• Tortang Talong (Php 125)

from all the dishes that we ordered, Bistro Mateo’s Tortang Talong was my favorite.  It’s basically an eggplant omelette that can be served with either ground meat or crab meat.  We have chosen crab meat and I really loved it!  It was just a small simple dish but it was very nice.

• Churros con Chocolate (Php 105)

I saw other customers enjoying their churros order in their table and I got a bit curious.  When I checked the menu, it says there that it’s Bistro Mateo’s specialty.  I had to try it out as I felt I might not able to go back to Bistro Mateo anytime soon.  Well, the churros was what we expected it to be.  A pastry served with chocolate sauce.  The sauce wasn’t too sweet which is good.

• Coffee Jelly (Php 55)

I like their coffee jelly as you can really taste real coffee in every scoop.  However, I really wish they used vanilla ice cream instead of whipped cream.  I really don’t like eating too much cream in a dessert.

• Buko Pandan (Php 75)

Bistro Mateo’s buko pandan is basically the same as their coffee jelly.  It’s Php20 more expensive which i I think is because of the real bits of buko on top of the dessert 😛

As I said earlier, Bistro Mateo serves affordable and decent food.  With its big space and good location, I’m sure it’ll stay.  Service is a great reason for a restaurant’s success and Bistro Mateo has that.  Hopefully, the chef can get a bit adventurous and work on improvising new unique dishes and improving current menu.

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Bistro Mateo
Tiendesitas at Frontera Verde, Ortigas corner C5 Ugong, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 631-4367