THE CHOW DOWN AT HOLY COW STEAK RANCH & AMERICAN GRILL

     One weekend, Rina, Baby Rain and I found ourselves in  Megamall figuring out where to eat. After already trying the awesomeness of Yabu, I found myself rather unenthusiastic about the remaining choices. All I knew was one thing.. My carnivore instincts had to be satisfied. I was thinking something really meaty, like a steak or a rack of ribs (Which isn't saying much because that's pretty much what I crave for every meal time, but still) so as we walked around the MegaMall Atrium, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me when I saw the name of the restaurant before me.. 

     Holy Cow Steak Ranch and American Grill.

             Like Texas Roadhouse and The Wooden Horse Steak House, Holy Cow tries to invoke a Cowboy Saloon feel to it. It has the requisite wooden interiors and different ornaments that help capture the ambiance of the wild west. 

            Service was exceptional, with the staff always greeting you with a warm smile and jumping at every chance to serve you. They were attentive and very efficient, but managed to keep things casual. By the end of our meal, I was having a conversation with the head waiter about the restaurant. 

STARTERS

            I ordered the Cowboy Combo platter (P320) as our appetizer. The platter was composed of Fried Chicken, French Fries, and Onion Rings and Calamares.. Everything a true Cowboy needed during the good ole' days of the outlaw Jessie James and Billy The Kid.

      The only color you'd find in the platter was a rich golden brown color, which made it highly evident that everything here was deep fried, so if you're health conscious.. umm.. like me.. *wink wink*.. then proceed with caution.

    The fries and onion rings were delicious, but nothing truly standout. What DID standout for me here, surprisingly, was the calamares. Calamares is the ONLY squid dish that I eat (mainly because the coating drowns out the weird squid flavor), and Holy Cow's Calamares.. or "Calamarings", as they call it,  would rank among the best ones I've ever tried. (I still remember the best one i've ever had.. from a Japanese restaurant in Cebu that my friend owned called Fujiyama.. THE BEST EVER I KID YOU NOT)


     What was very disappointing for me was the fried chicken. It was dry and coarse, and giving us all white meat parts didn't help their cause. Maybe if we specified dark meat only, my opinion of it would be different. 

MAIN COURSE

        I said I needed meat and after going through their menu, the Tender-Off-The-Bone Baby Back Ribs (P480) seemed to be in my price range (As opposed to the steaks), so I went with that. I was not disappointed at all. At first glance I was a bit worried that it was more bone and less meat, but tearing into it alleviated my fears.  

       True to it's name, the meat tore cleanly off the bone with very little resistance. it had a wonderful smokey flavor to it, and was accentuated by the barbeque sauce glaze. I found the ribs to be so flavorful, I didn't even touch the extra BBQ sauce that it came with. 


   The dish came with rice and buttered vegetables. I would have preferred corn and carrots, or even just corn. But sayote and carrots as a side dish doesn't really match Holy Cow's "Cowboy" theme, but that's just me. 

            Rina, in her quest to try the Salpicao of every single restaurant in the Philippines, ordered the Line Rider's Beef Salpicao (P250). I must admit that the meat was no where near as tender as other Salpicao's i've had, like from Basty's and Bistro Valhalla. In fact, I seemed to get tendon (litid) in my first two bites.  Apart from the texture though, the flavor was pretty good, and since the meat is placed on a bed of rice, the olive oil is soaked into it, making it a tad bit less oily then your average Salpicao. 

  

                 Rina liked it very much (surprise surprise). It had the right amount of saltiness that she looks for in her Salpicao. The sprinkling of garlic was just right, giving it a nice kick without drowning out the flavor of the beef. The dish also had a nice mix of plump mushrooms for added yumminess. 

          Rina also noted that she loved the mixture of the Salpicao sauce on the rice, making it a meal in itself long after the beef was gone.

More Pix

My sleepy girl with her mommy

          Price-wise, I would say that Holy Cow is rather reasonable. P950 for a 10oz Rib Eye Steak is actually pretty cheap compared to other steakhouses. Save for the Fried Chicken, I did like everything I ordered, and I wouldn't hesitate going back to try their steaks or burgers. 

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