Gayuma ni Maria

Christer Tan

2.0

Having my diamond peel session on Matalino street one Saturday afternoon gave me the reason to finally try this place. I know GNM is very popular because of their witty food names, amusing design, and to-die-for desserts. Being a cake lover, it's definitely a sold idea that time.We got there around past 8pm and found out that pasta and some beverages were the only food being served. Everything else on the menu was out. The moment I heard it, it was as if a bucket of ice-cold water was splashed to my face. It was a big disappointment, but we still decided to stay. We ordered "Mi Amore" and "No Boyfriend Since Birth" pasta. I cant recall which one is the seafood pasta haha; I think it's the latter. Well, it was another dismay coz the noodles of both pasta were undercooked. The so-called seafood pasta only had mussels and few pieces of squid. The other pasta was sweet; I was expecting it to have that "Italian" taste since it's tomato-based according to the description on the menu.Pasta was definitely a big fail, but I'd still give the place another try. I'm really curious if they serve great desserts, and that's what I'm gonna have in my next visit. The good side of GNM are their brewed coffee, chillax ambience, and charming table setup.

Micci Buenaventura

2.0

We'd been wanting to try Gayuma ni Maria ever since word first got out about a quirky, love-themed restaurant with an exciting, sensual menu on Maginhawa. On a Sunday afternoon we finally got around to trying it only to be sorely disappointed. We were greeted with speakers blasting what might have been Spotify's top 50 as soon as we entered the empty restaurant and as we struggled to place our orders over the loud music, the staff did not seem to have any intentions of turning down the volume. Half of the items on their menu were unavailable so we just chose whatever was there: Rock me, Baby and One Night in Paris. The food was freshly cooked but was still nothing special and certainly not worth the price. The coup de grâce was the little baby cockroach that skittered across the floor under our table like a bad omen rather than a love potion. For a place with aphrodisiacs plastered all over the walls, the food was anything but arousing. Whatever they had going for them in charming interiors and fragrant hand soap did not make up for it. What a waste of an interesting concept.