Conveniently a short walk from Greenhills Shopping Center, along Connecticut Avenue and tucked in one of the floors of a small building, is a fairly new restaurant, only 6 months old, with a bold promise hanging on the wall even before you reach its double glass doors: "No appetite will be left unsatisfied." The words were surrounded with images of artfully arranged food.
Upon entering Naci Comfort Food and Dessert Bar, more words are plastered on the walls. One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. Virginia Woolf. Food is our common ground, our universal experience. James Beard.
The words were a tease, a lure, a hint, a confident statement. As if what you are about to experience in this restaurant is what inspired these literary greats to blurt out these words.
Walking across the dimly lit restaurant, softly glowing from the overhead pinlights, my sister and I were welcomed by a very young lady with a long, silky hair, bright eyes, and a sweet, warm smile. You'd think she's a student. An intern perhaps. But she was Nadine Nocom, the 23-year-old owner of Naci. The brains behind the restaurant.
The Food
Think home. Think adventure. Think of your mom's most delicious home-cooked meal and think of that exotic Peking duck you had in China. That's what Naci is all about.
The inspired Nadine and her chefs offer a passionate fusion of your favorite comfort food...from around the world. They have created a long list of creative dishes, the combination bold, inspired and playful. Whatever your comfort food is--adobo, pizza, fried chicken, macaroni salad, fries--Naci hands it to you, with a taste of exotic and adventure. And the whopping 17-course diverse and multi-cultural dishes served to us were all, without exaggeration, eye-popping and wonderfully palatable, like a new breed of comfort food.
My favorites are the following:
For starters, the Chorizo and Brie Puffs (baked cream puffs filled with Spanish chorizo and banana) ranked first as my favorite. It's light and rich, and the combination of the sweet cream puffs contrasted with Spanish chorizo is simply divine. Second favorite were the Beef Taco Spring Rolls (crispy spring rolls stuffed with beef taco filling and tomato salsa served with sour cream), like munching on soft and un-messy tacos.
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| Chorizo and Brie Puffs (PHP 380) |
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| Beef Taco Spring Rolls (P210) |
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| Kani Mango Crunch (PHP 200) |
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| Fried Macaroni Salad (PHP 250) |
The main entree Chef Ed's Pork Shank (French-cut pork shank braised in onion soup topped with melted cheese and served with petite bread basket) melts heavenly in your mouth.
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| Chef Ed's Pork Shank (PHP480) |
Bistek Lechon Kawali (double-fried crispy pork belly served with classic Bistek sauce and garlic rice) is astoundingly tender and rich, and the garlic rice was devastatingly good.
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| Bistek Lechon Kawali (PHP280) |
Nate's Steak and Eggs (a stack of seared beef patty over parsely rice topped with eggs and onion rings served with chunky mushroom gravy, named after Nadine's brother and a bestseller, is absolutely something you'd order again and again.
For dessert, we were served a mini sampler of 12 cupcakes, and a bite of the heavenly Pistachio Chocolate Cupcake (PHP 70; luxurious butter cream made with French pistachio paste and a dark chocolate base) has made me gasp, followed by the unbelievable Red Velvet Cupcake (PHP 60, American cream cheese frosting on top of a dense red cupcake with a hint of cocoa) that on the way home, we bought some to take home. (Sorry, no good photos of each).
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| Nate's Steak and Eggs (PHP385) |
Almost everything we ate that night was glorious to the taste buds.
The food, amazingly, lived up to the words plastered on the walls.
The Ambiance
Furnished to look like a home, Naci Bar is cozy and comfortable. It could have been more aesthetically sophisticated, but then the food is distractingly good that the surroundings no longer matter.
Rectangular tables and comfy chairs and soft, yellow overhead pinlights, clean and a bit intimate, you will quickly ease into the luxurious comfort of dining. Look to your left and you will see chefs at work, baking their glorious selection of cakes, cookies, cupcakes...all a blur of Belgian chocolate, pistachio, cream, nuts, and dried fruits...*drools*
Rectangular tables and comfy chairs and soft, yellow overhead pinlights, clean and a bit intimate, you will quickly ease into the luxurious comfort of dining. Look to your left and you will see chefs at work, baking their glorious selection of cakes, cookies, cupcakes...all a blur of Belgian chocolate, pistachio, cream, nuts, and dried fruits...*drools*
The Service
Impeccable. The service crew respectful, efficient, and well-trained, anticipating your needs and quick to address your requests.
Nadine, who was so enthusiastic and sweetly down-to-earth, dined with us and happily answered our questions and beamed, whispering modest thank you's, whenever we sing our praises with every bite.
Overall Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Naci Comfort Food and Dessert Bar is a must-visit. A sanctuary of comfort food and exotic delights that would definitely make you come back...again and again.
For the complete photos of all 17 dishes with my rank of deliciousness, CLICK HERE.
Naci Comfort Food and Dessert Bar
2/F Fox Square Bldg. Connecticut St. Greenhills, San Juan City Metro Manila, 1500 San Juan, Philippines
Hours:
Mon to Thu: 11:00 - 01:00
Fri to Sat: 11:00 - 02:00
Sun: 11:00 - 22:00
Naci also offers group, parties, and events services.
Two Parkade, 7th Avenue corner 30th Street, Bonifacio Global City
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I would like to thank OpenRice.com, Asia-Pacific's Premier Dining Guide, for the invitation and Nadine Nocom, owner of Naci, for her gracious hospitality and for the extremely pleasant dining experience.
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