PUTTING ON DAYRIT'S!

Not a good picture.. the guy looks like he's going to puke..

              I've heard alot about the place called Dayrit's, and it usually comes up in a conversation around the time i tell people that I'm predominantly a carnivore.

Me (Mid-Conversation): ..because I only eat Meat.. No veggies..

Joe Shmoe (not his real name): You love meat? How about burgers?                                                Ribs? Roast Beef?
Me: Dude, you had me at "meat".

Joe Shmoe: Check out Dayrit's. They have a great selection of Meat                       Dishes. Ribs, Burgers.. you name it..
Me: Joe Shmoe (not your real name), I think this could be the start of           a beautiful friendship. 

        I've seen the Buendia branch, but it looked kinda shabby so I never really found it that appealing. I don't blame them though, because I think it's been there since I was a little kid (It's not anymore). One fine morning, I picked up Rina from the Bus Station after her visit to her Lola in La Union. On our way home, we both realized how hungry we were, so we passed by The Fort, intending to go to Serendra for a nice breakfast. On our way there, I saw the sign of Dayrit's on some street lamps,and immediately got to thinking.. Maybe this would be a good time to try it.


      One of the things I adore about Rina is that she really doesn't care about fancy places. I offer her some place classy, and she always tells me she's just happy with Pepper Lunch, so i knew going to Dayrit's, (despite the earlier intention of going to Serendra) wouldn't be a problem to her. (Sorry, just needed a moment to gush about how awesome my wife is)


      Walking into the restaurant is like going into a time space warp back to the 80's. From the solid green colors to the collage of their food items with some dude on it posted up on the wall (See above pic), makes you actually think that at any moment, they're going to be playing "Just Got Lucky" in the PA system. I honestly felt kind of naked without my acid wash jeans, spiked gloves and neon orange vest. The Dayrit's Fort Branch does have picture windows that tries to give it a more modern look, even though the interior is outdated. 


         But I wasn't there to look at furniture. I was there for one thing, and one thing only. Breakfast. So After getting a nice window seat, Rina and I checked out what they had to offer, and i'll tell ya - it was like their cooks got together, and drew up a menu specifically to my taste. Almost like a "RichieZ Conclave". Out of 14 "House Specialties" Eight of them were hard core meat dishes, four of them fish. Out of those 14, the only thing i wouldn't touch is the "Callos". But with choices such as Roast Beef, Mandarin Spare Ribs, and Crispy Beef Ribs, could you blame me?


          Sadly though, it was too early in the day for me to have something that heavy, so we looked at their breakfast meals, and vowed to come back when we were hungrier. Their breakfast "Hawaiian Rice" meals got our attention, so Rina got their tapa, while I got the Longganiza.

        
BREAKFAST ENTREES

                        

Sauteing meat in onions does wonders for your breath

       We found out that Hawaiian rice, means garlic fried rice mixed with soy sauce and small pineapple bits. Nothing ground breaking, but its a serviceable alternative to the standard garlic (or plain) rice. If you don't have much of a sweet tooth, don't order a sugar based dish with it (Tocino is out of the question). I'm actually a lover of sweet meats, so I was fine with it. Rina, not so much. Their Hawaiian Rice Tapa Meal (P150) was very good. The tapa meat was sauteed in onions, giving it a nice kick to it. I'm curious why it was red though, making it look more like tocino than tapa. I don't think it affected the taste, except making it a bit sweeter than the usual tapa. Regular "Taba" lovers such as myself might agree that the meat could've used a bit more fat. (Or maybe that's just me hehe)

I'm a sucker for longganiza. Wait- that didn't sound right.

                   There's no better way of saying this (believe me, i've tried), but i'm a big fan of longganiza. (No matter how you try to say it, it comes out just wrong) Dayrit's has one of the better Longganiza's (P125) I've ever tried. (see what I mean?) It was fried to a nice golden brown, so when you sliced it with your fork, the sides had a nice crunch to it, but the longganiza meat inside was nice and juicy (Quit it). What I liked about it most was that it had really chunky bits of fat, that ensured it wouldn't go dry. I really enjoyed having this longganiza for breakfast, and wouldn't have minded having seconds (Dude, you're sick). I just wished that they did away with the veggie side dish, and made it into hashbrowns, or home fries.. anything with potatoes in it, instead of Sayote, atchara, and green beans. (I wonder if I got any of those right hehe)

         I liked their breakfast so much, in fact, that I didn't regret not getting their famous Roast beef. I Give their breakfast my stamp of approval, but with a relatively safe menu, it would've been tough to screw that up. I plan to go back soon to try their House Specialties. I heard their burgers were good as well, but to be honest, (and basing it purely on the picture up on the collage) I highly doubt it could top anything more accomplished Burger places like Brothers and Hot Shots have on their menu.

         I liked their meat menu, and I'm intrigued to see if Dayrit's Roast Beef can live up to its legend. 

Me and my beloved longganiza.

*Take note, this is an old album so we weren't able to really take a lot of pictures of the place.

** You know you're a child of the 80's if you understood the joke in the title hehe..