Max’s – Tapsilog meal
Tapsilog is a term combined from three food items, "Tapa-sinangag-itlog"
A meal consisting cured/dried beef (tapa) fried rice (sinangag) and fried egg (literally 'egg' is itlog as there isn't any direct translations to 'fried egg') Not to be confused with the Spanish "Tapas" as it is entirely different.
A meal consisting cured/dried beef (tapa) fried rice (sinangag) and fried egg (literally 'egg' is itlog as there isn't any direct translations to 'fried egg') Not to be confused with the Spanish "Tapas" as it is entirely different.
The Tapa:
In a nutshell, it was definitely for the “Filipino taste” as it was sweeter than I expected. It was tender and the portions were around a bite and a half for me. The vinegar that usually compliments this kind of meal had a heat to it that was a little understated for me. I like it a little more hotter, and maybe less sweet. The egg was runny and well of course no complaints, a perfect sunny side up. The rice had the garlic titbits that I wasn’t so fond off. But yeah, altogether a good meal
In a nutshell, it was definitely for the “Filipino taste” as it was sweeter than I expected. It was tender and the portions were around a bite and a half for me. The vinegar that usually compliments this kind of meal had a heat to it that was a little understated for me. I like it a little more hotter, and maybe less sweet. The egg was runny and well of course no complaints, a perfect sunny side up. The rice had the garlic titbits that I wasn’t so fond off. But yeah, altogether a good meal
Recommend? I’d rather eat Tapa elsewhere; the price feels a little unreasonable to me though getting to eat this at any time of the day is always convenient. Go for Chicken (Or Crispy pata) I would always go for what Max’s do best— their spring chicken. They’ve got my loyalty for that really lovely tender piece of dark meat and thin crispy golden skin. It’s one of the tastiest cooks on chicken I have ever eaten. It goes well with their thick and soulful creamy mushroom soup! A recommended meal if you haven’t tried it yet. |
Branch Rankings:
In terms of service we were disappointed by around two branches and were highly pleased with most, here I’ll just enumerate the 5 I've had the best and worse experience thus far. Although I've eaten at more branches than five, these are just the ones that really left an impression
- SM North EDSA Max’s – spot on service, large beautiful setup, caring waiters and seriously quick and informative staff. It was a different feel altogether. And I wished I lived north for the sake of having the pleasure of experiencing their service again. They were ‘everywhere’ it felt like I was some sort of celebrity with the service they gave. It was priceless, I wish we tipped them more.
- SM Makati Max’s – The bottomless pepsi was REALLY bottomless, they were so fixated on the glasses that they filled it before it ever got empty. Only issue is it’s smaller than most of their outlets despite being in Makati, so that you could easily hear the conversation at the other table even when you don’t want to.
- Outside Glorietta 4 – Could've been easily number 2 on this list, but service can be a hit and miss sometimes. At one point, we got a really weird tasting Crispy Pata and let me tell you that I have tasted this from several of their branches and I do know the difference between a newly cooked one or one that was probably cooked hours before. Not a bad thing of course, it’s just a matter of luck but hey…still makes the difference. They’re really quick on their toes though at some points we did get forgotten during rush meal hours in spite of frequenting it sometime ago.
- Inside New Glorietta – if I didn't like their food so much, I wouldn't visit this branch at all. It’s conveniently located, only issue is their staff seem so busy ALL THE TIME. One of the silliest things service can be slow at is giving you the bill. First come, first serve that’s how things go regarding fast food. UNLESS there are reservations in order there shouldn't be differences in service. It's always annoying to have to remind the staff to give you your bill.
- SM Mall of Asia – And the worse ever service we ever got was from this branch, we ate and left faster than their service. Our order hardly varies from branch to branch, so honestly we had enough experience to know when something is slower than it should be. The food probably sat out and didn’t get delivered to our tables right off. It was a little cold when it was served. Asking for the small things like water, ice and whatnot was HARD. We had to ask twice or so and I wanted to give up. It’s also one of the smaller branches. They also frequented other tables more than others (for example ours) and that was simply unfair as we were also paying customers. It was one of the rarer occasions that I didn't feel like tipping.