Pablo's Pub and Restaurant

Kim Lawis

3.0

Another invite from the wonderful people of website!  Weeee!   Getting invites like this makes me warm and fuzzy inside.  And yes!  It inspires me to write longer reviews.Dinner x Drinks at Pablo's Pub!I am the queen of useless trivia and i know who Pablo Escobar is.  He is the wealthiest criminal of all time.  Why am i talking about him?  No particular reason,  i am assuming that Pablo's Pub is loosely based on the king of the Columbian Drug Cartel.  I ain't kidding,  saw a lil bit of Don Pablo in their  Menu.¶ Cartagena -  Don Pablo owned massive island getaway on Isla Grande, 22 miles from Cartegena.  Uncanny,  right?¶ Cartel - Don Pablo is the founder and head of the Medellín Cartel¶ The Escobar -  this is a dead giveaway. Alas!  Menu is revised and the Don Pablo elements vanished into thin air.   I contemplated editing my review but i made an executive decision to run with it after finishing my steaming cup of chamomile.Let's talk interior,  shall we?  Pablo's reminds me of those Irish Pubs i see in movies.  From the dim lights,  the bar and the furniture.  Oh!  The pub where S sang her heart out (while they were looking for Kendall Malone).  I'm gonna zip it with the Orphan Black reference and focus on more pressing matters.Liquids.While we were waiting for the others to arrive,  refreshments were served.¶ Cranberry Juice.   Who among you watched The Departed???  This is Leo's drink of choice (before he beat the crap out of the dude who made a snide comment).   Why am i mentioning this?  No particular reason,  it felt like it's appropriate with the ambience.¶ Jameson and Coke.  Oh whisky!  You and your deviant ways.  This was okay,  biased opinion as i haven't had whisky in a while.  I forgot what it tastes like. Solids.¶ Spicy Chicken Tenders (php 250).  Cayenne pepper infused chicken fillet with some sour cream sauce on the side.  Not enough heat and too much salt.  It's better if you slather an indecent amount of sour cream,  this somehow tones down the salt.¶ Pablo's Cheeseburger (php 190).   I wanted to like this burger,  i really do but certain elements made me think otherwise.  Let's talk burger components.  A quarter pounder patty cooked medium well,  Mild cheddar,  special sauce,  lettuce,  tomatoes and home-made toasted x buttered brioche bun.  The patty is too thin and not as juicy as I want it to be.  The mild cheddar x special cheese concoction is wicked.  Whatever they have on the sauce goes well with the cheddar.  Now,  ze bun....i find it too oily (occupational hazard of toasting them and adding butter).  Apart from the excess oil,  i think it is too airy for a brioche bun. As you can see there are a lot of pros and cons about the burger.  Set aside my preferences,  i think that ze cheeseburger falls on the "just okay"  category.  It is not something that would wow you and not something that would trigger an online rant.  Let's factor in the price,  you cant get a decent burger for less than php 200 in BGC.   ¶ Chicharon Bulaklak (php 230).  The quintessential  "putok-batok"  bar chow.   These babies are coated with breading hence making it less oily compared.  Best eaten with the dipping sauce as it somehow lessens the guilt and health risk... Har-Har.   The dip is a concoction of vinegar,  garlic,  pepper and lemon. ¶ Paprika Fries (php 160).  I love potatoes.  So Pablo's Paprika Fries is right up my alley.  The marriage between potatoes and paprika is perfect.  The fries are cooked well,  not too crunchy and not too soggy.   Apart from adding an interesting flavor contrast,  the paprika adds a dash of colour to dem fries.I'm giving Pablo 3.5 stars due to the following points:° Prices are reasonable° Food is okayThank you for having us,  Don Pablo!

Justin Pagalilauan

3.0

I had a chance to try out Pablo's Pub and Restaurants thanks to the generous people, and not to mention good looking people of website (Thanks guys for inviting us!). At its core, Pablo's is just one of the dozens of restaurant bars lying around in BGC, or is it? That's what we're going to find out in this review. AmbianceIt has the typical restaurant bar look and feel to it due to its dark rustic interior and liquor bar on the side, but it also has some quirks. It has a fake library at the back which is actually a sliding door for its function room. According to the owner, the function room can hold from 15- 20 people and it also has a built-in tv inside all for Php 10,000 consumable food and beverage.  As a side trivia, the name Pablo's is actually a reference to Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord known for being the richest criminal in history (There is also a tv show being aired right now, called Narcos which revolves around the life of Pablo Escobar). The look and feel of the restaurant is supposed to be a tribute to one of Pablo Escobar's cartels.FoodPablo's has been here for a few years now and I've heard from the owner that they've slimmed down their offerings to better control their inventory as well as  the quality of the food itself. Right now, they offer mostly known comfort food, with  a lot  of liquors, as expected with a bar.For starters, we tried out their Paprika Fries(Php 160). These are hand-cut fries seasoned with paprika, served with mayonnaise and tomato ketchup on the side. It's not as spicy as I previously thought, but it's seasoned well enough, good for sharing. Other than that, there is nothing too special about it. But I'm pretty sure my partner will love it. Next, we had their Spicy Chicken Tenders(Php 250).  Personally, I think they nailed this one. The marinate on these fried chicken cubes are just perfect, offering a mix of sweet, spicy and savory flavors. It has a sour cream dip on the side should you choose, but you can enjoy this dish just the same without it.For a more appropriate Filipino bar dish,  we got to try out their take on Chicharon Bulaklak( Php 230) or Crispy Pork Intestines. It is a lot crispier than I'm used to and their use of lemon infused vinegar is really creative of the chef. Other than that, this is a good version of the classic pulutan( Filipino's drinking meal).Last but not the least, they offered us their best seller, the Pablo's Cheeseburger(Php 190). It got the essentials, like the lettuce, tomatoes, special dressing, and the cheese(otherwise, this wouldn't be called a cheeseburger). The patty, though is actually really thin at this price range, is at least condensed. So far it's a pretty ordinary dish, but the real star of the show here is their buns, which is a buttered brioche bun. The buns are really light and fluffy, it's easy to lift the whole thing while keeping all of its ingredients intact. I like that its buttered to give the whole burger more flavor. Some people might not like it, but I definitely do. For our beverage, I went first with the Cranberry juice. Its a typical cranberry juice drink complete with its sour flavor. Perfect for those non-alcoholic drinkers out there. The next one is the Jameson and Coke. For those unaware, Jameson is a whiskey and I actually prefer its mixture with coke more than the Jack Daniels due to its more smooth feel to it. Overall, I think that Pablo's Pub and Restaurant is reasonable. It has average to more than average tasting food for really affordable prices for a BGC restaurant, much less a bar. This is perfect for those looking for a good place to unwind after a very stressful week on a budget.