Galli Village Cafe

Reymond Antoine Opiana

4.0

Lettuce Says,I had a strong craving for a good homemade tapa just tonight and instantly remembered the soft beef strands of Angus Beef Tapa of Galli Village Cafe. John and I ate at a nearby restaurant with Beef Tapa but the craving just intensified! I can still vividly recall the first time it was served to us, it looked like a simple dish as it is, but once you tasted the beef, you'll request as John did, and for what? For extra rice! No need for vinegar or calamansi with soy sauce, yes, it was that good! It was like a tapa version of Yoshinoya's Beef Gyudon. Pair this with a runny sunny side up egg with a cup of coffee and sparkling lemonade and I can definitely enjoy it any time of the day.Lettuce and John of My Empty Plates

Ronaldo Duran

3.0

This place has always confused me. When I used to have my own must-try-restaurant list, I would put in all the details of the restaurant, from the contact details to the bestselling dishes, so whenever I need some restaurant ideas, I could easily look at it without the need of having internet connection. One of the restaurants on my list was Galli Village Café, which was said to be located somewhere in Makati.Then one day when my mom and I were talking about it, she said that it’s not located in that busy district rather somewhere near Katipunan and I would debate that it is situated in Makati.So when Aldous invited me to join him and a few other bloggers, my question was finally answered. Galli Village Café has two branches already; one in Makati, the main branch and in Quezon City, which is their new baby.More often than not, people would display the souvenirs they got when travelling so it was a first for me to see the owners’ souvenirs in their restaurant. I’m glad Ms. Christine was there to entertain us throughout the night giving us trivia about each piece of art. Not only was I very interested but I was also amazed by how good her memory was!In accordance to the wall pieces are magazines they got in airlines as they travel around the globe. Arroz a la Cubana (P170)A few years ago, our cook at home used to serve this particular dish and I never really knew what the name of the dish was. She would serve it by putting all the ground beef at the middle of the plate while putting 2-3 pieces of sunny side-up eggs on top and surrounding them with bananas. I remember myself eating all of the bananas and an egg except the ground beef lol eventually, I learned how to eat the entire dish and turns out, I loved it! So when this particular dish was served on our table, it didn’t look as delightful but it reminded me of that home-cooked dish I had. I am very particular when it comes to sunny side-up eggs since I prefer the malasado one and I’m glad that they served it just how I liked it! :)Fish Salpicao (P230)The fish wasn’t as dry and it was relatively new to me since it was my first time to try a salpicao that wasn’t beef, was a bit spicy and was tomato-based. Something out of the ordinary yet I still prefer the traditional salpicao shown below.Beef Salpicao (P230)Of course, this has been the crowd’s favorite when eating in Spanish restaurants. It may seem really unappealing and it even looks dry but the beef wasn’t as tough as I thought. Though I must say, this isn’t the best beef salpicao in town.Paella Valenciana (good for 4-5 persons; P580)Well, this wouldn’t be a Spanish restaurant if it didn’t have paella. I love the abundance of this dish and the texture of the rice. It was good but because I was able to try Calderon’s paella already, my heart still belongs to the latter. For affordable paella, maybe this would do!Pollo al Ajillo (P170)The chicken was tender, smothered with garlic sauce and spiced up with some jalapeño. This dish turned out quite well!Callos ala Madrilena (P230)This favorite Spanish dish of mine never fails!Coffee Jelly (P40)What do we often see in Spanish restaurants? Churros, of course! However, Galli hasn’t added this dessert in their menu yet but they will… soon! I wasn’t able to get my own dessert but I was able to try it from one of the bloggers. Sadly, it wasn’t as great. The coffee jelly was not as smooth and as soft as I hoped it to be. Plus, it was a huge turn of events after all the Spanish delicacies we had.What I like about Galli Village Café is how customers can dress down and wear whatever they want to wear since the place looks like a home than a restaurant. What sets this restaurant apart from the others is the affordability of the dishes and how it can be a go-to Spanish restaurant. I am not lying that there are some Spanish restaurant that are better than Galli Village Café but what I like about this place is how effortlessly easy for them it is to cook the dishes and, even without that grand presentation, still taste pretty good. Not the best, but pretty good :)

Renz Brillantes

2.0

Food is okay, but service leaves much to be desired. Try their vigan longganisa. I wish adobo was better. The place looks good, though, so feel free to take a snap for posting on IG