Sorry, I mean Alima (always getting those two confused). Had lunch with my wife at Alima as I was interested in the positive reviews here of the Eggs Benedict and Seared Fish. Found that Eggs Benedict are not served after 11.30 am (fair enough, have to give them hens a rest) and the Seared Fish was not available. The menu seemed interesting and I predicted a good lunch, even without the fish. I was disappointed. Firstly, with only 7 diners and 7 staff (possibly more, but I counted 7) it took 30 minutes to cook one Arroz Caldo (a rice porridge with chicken) and one Peruvian Steak. They were not served at the same time (which I am sure they could have been). The Arroz Caldo contained a VERY small amount of chicken but was tasty; however I become bored with it (my problem not theirs). The meat in the Peruvian Steak was chewy and therefore not enjoyable to eat (if it had been then the small amount of meat would have been insufficient for the price) and the potato chips were only just warm. I feel that at P165 the Arroz Caldo and at P299 the Peruvian Steak were not good value for money (unlike the Meat Platter for P575 we ate last week at Adamo and which sufficed for two us there and three of us at home for another meal). The menu (plus other reviews here) seem to indicate it would be worth another try but I don't think we will; perhaps we made two bad choices but I surrender too easily. Btw, is 'Alima' derived from the Bisayan for "To look after" or a connection with Peru (because of the Peruvian Steak on the menu) - the connection being 'A Lima' and Lima being the capital of Peru.
I think you expect too much from a $6.00 steak. Impossible to get a steak at that price that isn't the size of your thumb or from a part of the cow you don't want to think about. If I see a $6 steak on the menu I KNOW it is going to be tiny, taste like sh*t or, more likely, both.
When i was in cebu last time i discovered rustans in ayala,the meat counter looked very nice and had several noce looking lean steaks. Was looking forward to having a nice grilled steak with a good taste,how wrong i was. Chewey and tasteless,would have been better in the slow cooker for several hours.
Most places are pretty good about delivering my beer quickly and then I lose all track of time. I might be getting a little antsy by the 2nd trip to the CR though. How quickly would you expect a meal to get delivered? Cooking 10 peso ramen takes like at least 10 minutes depending on how much of a pain it is to open those little wrappers. Hard boiled eggs need close to 20 minutes (boil the water and then let them set). I imagine any place with a long-ish menu and not many customers is going to need 30 minutes to cook a meal. Any quicker than that and it has either been pre-cooked (only works for a small menu) or it turns over quick enough that it's being constantly prepared. Also, any place you are going to review in the Philippines is going to roughly follow this same formula. The Chicken was great, the beef was terrible. The pork could go either way. Look around you. Where are the cows? There's 7K islands here, go ahead and check them all out. There's no cows. Sure, there are animals here which they call cows, but they look like giant stray dogs to me. And why are you in such a hurry? It's the Philippines!? After seeing a handful of posts from you, I wonder if you forgot where you are.
"And why are you in such a hurry? It's the Philippines!?" I am old! "After seeing a handful of posts from you, I wonder if you forgot where you are." I am old! My wife reminds me where I am every hour, on the hour, but perhaps I write my posts between those hours.
Slight correction to a post but it doesn't matter because the results are still crap as he stated. There is actually a beef slaughterhouse down by the river west of Dumaguete. Not sure where the cows come from, must be rejects from Mindanao.
