Nice surprise at Nathaniel's

If there's one newly-discovered (for me!) foodie place that I can heap superlatives on, it's Nathaniel's Bakeshop. If you haven't been there, well, it's not just a bakeshop, it's a restaurant, too, that offers a somewhat wide range of dishes aside from being a food store that sells a variety of breads and pastries, puto, siopao and many other munchies.  I tell you this, and I assure you I'm not kidding, what we ate there were the best in their own league. Consider this: the best pancit palabok, the best pancit sotanghon and the best burger steak this side of earth. Haha!! 

I first heard about Nathaniel's from Ate Baby, one of my co-workers, last month. She wanted to buy Buko Pandan, which, she attested, was so good there. A few days later, we went to the Timog Ave. branch. There were four of us aboard our officemate's L-300 van. At Ate Baby's urging, we ordered palabok for take out. We also bought other food items including pichi-pichi and asado roll for me and a box of sans rival for Pam. Back in the office minutes later, I dug into my palabok. Mmm.. I was in love in an instant! I kid you not, this was the best palabok I've ever had in my life! Since then, I'd been looking for a chance to bring my family to Nathaniel's. That chance came on Black Saturday but alas! The restaurant was closed. Finally, last Saturday, we had the opportunity again. Two of my kids and I dropped by Timog Ave. on our way to get our organic veggies at the QC Circle. 
These were our orders: 

Pancit Palabok, P70. Definitely a must-try!

Sotanghon Guisado, P70. Very yummy too!

Sizzling Burger Steak, P135. The best burger steak I've ever tasted!

Lumpiang Sariwa, P55. 

Siomai, P55.

Buko Pandan Juice, P50. Another must-try!

Brewed coffee, P45.


Man, did we enjoy our meal! All, except for one, was very good! My daughter enjoyed her palabok to the hilt. As I write this, she's asking me to buy her palabok tomorrow. Hehe. My little boy, who eats burger steak each time we're in Jollibee, also loved it here. His ate  and I shared his leftover patty. At P135 per order consisting of two large and thick patties, a generous serving of rice and buttered veggies -  sulit talaga! Meanwhile, my sotanghon guisado left me really full and satisfied. The serving was big (I wasn't able to finish it) and it was really delicious, with lots of meat and vegetables. Even the slice of bread that came with it was good. And the siomai? Delicious too! And unlike other food places that give 3 to 4 pieces per order, Nathaniel's serves 5 pieces of siomai per order. And what did we have that wasn't so good? It's the Lumpiang Sariwa. We (my daughter and I) concluded that the sauce was the culprit - too mild in flavor, it failed to bring out the goodness of the lumpia itself. But hey, there's another thing to heap superlatives on - the Buko Pandan Juice - Nathaniel's signature drink. It's like having a drink and dessert in one. Very refreshing! Well, I liked my brewed coffee too, though it was already a bit cold when I sipped it at the end of my meal. Also, it was served in a plastic cup, which I didn't like 
(BPA, you know!)
Well, where's the surprise I was saying?
It's in the take-out bag!

See? There's a Bible verse written on it, and one of my favorites at that! Thank you Lord 

for my surprise blessing. :-)

Inside Nathaniels's Bakeshop along Timog Ave. in Quezon City.

Nathaniel's Bakeshop traces its origin to the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, in 1994. Its popularity quickly grew, fueled by its siomai, puto pao and buko pandan. Now it has four branches in Pampanga and two in Metro Manila - along Timog Ave. and in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. For more information, check out their website here: http://www.nathaniels.com.ph/index.php