The Aristocrat
432 San Andres Street, Malate, Manila
(02) 524-7671
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Last Sunday morning, I had a girls only breakfast with my old college friends. I haven’t seen them for such a long time and it was great to have breakfast!! So nice to spend 1st part of your day with your closest friends. Anyway, since we all live all over the place, we decided to just meet halfway and this is in Manila. Aristocrat being very popular among Filipino-Chinese was our chosen venue.
I arrived at 8AM and oh boy, the place was packed! Good thing there was still 1 table available for us! So I sat and ordered soup while I waited for my other friends to arrive. After 30 minutes, we were complete and by that time, everyone was starved. Now, I had to control myself from ordering too much as I have this tendency to do so when I’m really hungry.
Here are what we ordered:
- Melon Shake (Php 74)
I was about to order buko juice but then, the server mentioned that their melon juice was better. So I took his advice. I felt though that too much water was put in it and I really thought that it didn’t feel fresh though it was freshly made.
- Sotanghon Soup (Php 53)
This is just my favorite soup of all time. I don’t know how they made this but I’ve always loved the taste of sotanghon soup. I know it has sotanghon, meat, onions but there’s just something that made me not forget to order this dish whenever I visit Aristocrat. IMHO, this is the best soup the restaurant offers.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup (Php 58)
My friend said the soup was a bit salty.
- Native Chocolate (Php 51)
If you’re fond of chocolate, then this is for you. I wondered why I ordered this considering I’m not a chocolate person. I ended up just taking a sip and just left it at the table. Though don’t get me wrong, it was good. I’m just not a chocolate person. I bet all chocolate lovers would appreciate this drink..
- Brewed Coffee (Php 51)
- Pork Spareribs Barbeque (Php 172)
- Boneless Chicken Barbeque (Php 149)
Since the meal was for breakfast, I opted to order their breakfast meal. But if ever I’m there for lunch or dinner, this is surely something I will order. It was nice that you don’t need to exert some effort taking the meat out of the bones as this has already been prepared beautifully by Aristocrat.
- Cheese Omelette (Php 120)
One of my friends is a vegetarian so this was the dish that she decided to order. Cheese omelette, I wonder how this taste like.
- Combination of Longaniza & Adobo Filipino Breakfast (Php 239)
This was my order. Honestly, their presentation sucked! Geez just look at this dish! It looked weird. It wasn’t even sumptuous at all! I ordered the combination meal which included pork & chicken adobo, longaniza, 2 pieces eggs, garlic rice & 1 drink (either coffee, chocolate, tea, iced tea). The food was just normal. I appreciate the home-cooked one better though.
- Sinigang na Baboy (Php 281)
Customer Service is of utmost importance for any company. One thing that was very much noticeable in Aristocrat was their lack of servers. It was really hard to find any waiters available for orders/requests. Plus, the servers looked sooo stressed that we rarely even get any smile from them. Our water didn’t get refilled. Something that really disappointed me. It was too bad that the food was good. Owners of Aristocrat have to learn to hire more servers. Because look at what happened? Their customer service was failing due to their employees being burned out or stressed.
Still, I would personally go back to Aristocrat along Roxas Boulevard when I have craving for filipino food. I really just hope the restaurant would improve their customer service. Still one of the best filipino restaurants in Manila.
More pictures from the breakfast here.
Sotanghon soup is a fave of mine too. Usually pretty easy to make, sautee garlic, onions, tomatoes with bits of pork/chicken (you can add ginger if you prefer too).. soy sauce.. then add hot water (or chicken broth).. the sotanghon.. salt and pepper to taste.. turn off heat.. add bits of chopped green onions and chicharon, and it's a simple soup but great flavors..
Considering the color, they either add extra tomatoes, or maybe some tomato paste to deepen the tomato flavor..
(pinch of sugar instead of msg to taste)
Will cook for you if you want 🙂
I want! I want! :D:D:D
Thanks for sharing the recipe… 😀
🙂 common practice is to place atsuete 🙂 this is also used for palabok (for its orange color)
oh atsuete! What's atsuete in english?
My last two lunch dates with Mom was at Aristocra. She really likes it there. You are right that their servers tend to get stressed out. They need extra hands during peak hours.
sotanghon soup is indeed good. i think this restaurant will last forever:)
yeah mom loves it there too! Whenever she visits Philippines, we drop by Aristocrat too 🙂
I believe so too 😉
Their chicken bbq is al ultimate winner! 🙂
original is still the best! 🙂