Ristras Greenhills: So Close

If you’re looking for one of the better Mexican food in Manila, you don’t have to look far¹.  Ristas first opened in Greenhills and opened a second branch in The Fort, which Marc visited a while back.  I veered away from the usual Mexican stuff and tried some other menu items.  Now, let me say this right off the bat: the food is fucking great.  The service², however, leaves a little to be desired.

Marc loved the quesadilla, so I figured the Steak Carne Asada Quesadilla would be a great place to start.  It came with a side salad and was pretty good.

The Pork Carnitas Chimichanga is a pretty good deal — a better choice than a burrito IMHO³.  Chimichangas are basically fried burritos.  I found that the filling is packed a bit more vs. a more heavy tortilla flour with a burrito.

But let me tell you something — the Crispy Chipotle Chicken Wings?  They are fucking delicious! Just a burst of flavor going on there.  It can get a bit salty, but I enjoyed it a lot.  Loved the chipotle sauce.  It’s pretty unique from other wings you’ll get elsewhere.  My problem is that during my different visits, I’ve only been able to order this once.  They’re usually out of stock — even if during 11AM on a Wednesday.

Their Spicy Short Ribs sounded really good and I wanted to try it.  In fact, we were entitled to it because of this Citibank or Metrobank promo.  No surprise when this wasn’t available⁴.

We ended up getting the Cilantro Cashew Chicharones, which isn’t a bad consolation prize⁵.  It’s a huge chunk of grilled pork⁶ served with a cilantro-based sauce, the same side salad as the quesadilla, black beans, and some awesome dirty rice.  Loved this but maybe they can trim the fat a bit more.  I’d totally order this again.

We did get the Tamarind Iced Tea and the Raspberry Iced Tea, but it’s not something I would do willingly again.  First of all, it tastes fine. But for (almost) 130 bucks for such a small cup, it better be fucking amazing⁷.   Second, they don’t even serve filtered water in the San Juan branch.  Yeah… What’s up with that?

No question the food is great.  Hell, even my Mexican cousin-in-law says this is probably the closest to what he used to have in Mexico.  That has to count for something, right?  It’s so close to being an excellent Mexican joint.  People say that you go for the food, but come back for the service.  I tried to go back to take out a couple of wings.  Guess what?  They were out.

Ristras Greenhills: So Close 2013-04-06

f you’re looking for one of the better Mexican food in Manila, you don’t have to look far.  Ristas first opened in Greenhills and opened a second branch in The Fort, which Marc visited a while back.  I veered away from the usual Mexican stuff and tried some other menu items.  Now, let me say …