Gloria Maris

Kristine Tao

Long time residents of the South would surely recount a fond memory or two here at Gloria Maris. Before they relocated at the Commerce Mall of Alabang Town Center, they used to occupy their own two floor building along the restaurant row beside the Church. After our annual Visita Iglesia during Holy Week, we make sure to have this area on our last stop so we can dine in at Gloria Maris since they are open during the Maundy Thursdays. Now they operate within the bounds of mall hours. They have increased their prices significantly. A small serving of Polonchay vegetable in Garlic Sauce costs 400pesos! This can serve 3 to four people though.The new dining area is a vast hall with two private dining rooms for intimate parties. The tables are far between so you are ensured privacy even with the loudest of laughter. Since we were a big group with kids, we ordered the usual fare of...Birthday Noodles - the saucy type of pancit canton which the kids loved. The seniors find it too salty for their taste and was not so impressed with the lack of "sahog" which I did not find lacking. The serving though was big enough for the "small" size.Shanghai Fried Rice - my personal favorite among the fried rice choices. It is wrapped in scambled egg and the rice coated in a dark soy sauce. Filled with chucks of meat and tiny morsels of vegetables. This rice dish is enough to fill you up even if there is no viand. Very flavorful and the egg was a nice fluffy addition to the carbs.Salt and Pepper Squid - super soft and delicately coated in batter. Fried to a crunch. Don't forget to dip it in the vinegar sauce for that sour taste that compliments the salt and pepper coating. It has a little bit of spice thanks to the chopped peppers. The added fried garlic bits are also delicious.Shrimp Hakaw - small bite size chopped shrimps in a rice wrapper. Steamed and served with calamansi and soy sauce.Soy Chicken - half chicken steamed in soy sauce. The ginger sauce and hoisin sauce is the perfect dipping sauce for this type of chicken dish. Good thing they served a generous amount of the ginger sauce since we were very keen of it.Cuapao with Salted Egg Yolk - cuapao bread served with a salted egg yolk sauce. It was more like a dessert dish since the egg yolk was creamy and sweet.Service was quick, the male server was extra nice too. He was eager to refill the complimentary peanuts when my Dad asked for seconds of it. Tea comes with a 90pesos charge. Senior discounts honored.

Eskatara

The prices are veryyyy affordable and you won't regret dining here. They've got big servings that will leave you satisfied. But the staff were a bit slow and it bothered me because marami sila at konting lang naman yung tao.