Ludo's Resto and Bar

Yesterday, my mom brought me and my siblings to Ludo's, a small restaurant-slash-bar situated along Timog Avenue, right infront of the GMA 7 building, just a little before hitting EDSA. The location seems a little obscure and can easily be missed so it is wise to keep an observant eye out for it when on the road.

The said resto-bar has two fully air-conditioned floors, modestly furnished with some abstract paintings and mid-human sized decorative vases. The first floor is generally for dining customers, but the floor above that seems to be a promising venue for small grouped parties and gatherings. There's nothing above the ordinary with the interior design, but generally Ludo's seems a comfortable enough place to be lounging around with friends.

The place is owned and managed by my uncles and aunt, Ludovic Escolar, his wife, Waloy and Jerome Lim, who also happens to be the chef at Ludo's.

The food at Ludo's ranges from 150 - 400 pesos, averaging around 300 pesos per person. A fairly reasonable price, in my opinion. To view the menu, kindly click here.

As much as I'd like to have a complete inventory of pictures of all the food we consumed last night, we were a bit too ravenous (think teenagers) to care much about photographs - so please bear with the few noob-y photos we managed to take.

Mom started with an order of Cream of Mushroom (90 Php), a rich soup with real bite sized shitake and button mushrooms marbled with swirl of cream. Mom allowed me to have a couple of spoonfuls to try it out, which I must admit was very good. I've tried a lot of cream of mushroom variations, and this one just hit me right.

We also ordered their best-seller salad, Seared Tuna Salad in Mandarin Peanut Vinaigrette (185 Php) - a commendable dish with its bright and citric sauce jiving with the greens and the seared tuna rolled in sesame seeds. As a personal recommendation, I prefer to keep the sauce and salad separate, seasoning my salad with the sauce as I deem reasonable since the sauce can tend to be a little overpowering. This dish though reminds me of Jaden Hair's Seared Tuna with Lime Ginger Vinaigrette.

My sister opted to try their Calamares (150 Php), a Spanish-originated dish of breaded squid that has become a popular snack in the Philippines. The dish was slightly spicy served with fried breadcrumbs mixed with chopped chilis - although I must admit it doesn't really stand out from all other Calamares dishes out there. For some reason though, Ludo's Calamares kept making me think they've given a very Filipino twist to the usual Calamares served with garlic mayonnaise or tartar sauce, since it came with a vinegar-garlic dipping.

For our main course, my brother ordered Ludo's Chicken Barbecue (225 Php) which is beautifully plate with a serving of Basil Rice and a siding of veggies. I got their Grilled Baby Back Ribs (280 Php) also served in the same manner. My other brother, being a little frugal, got one of their 99 pesos rice bowls - pork barbecue, a big bowl of rice topped with some vegetables and served with a glass of free iced tea.

The basil rice was just perfect - the fragrance of the herbs in the rice just mixes well with the tangy flavor of the barbecue dishes. The chicken barbecue was relatively good and flavorful; but as of the baby back ribs, it does seem a little too bony, without much meat stuck on the bones, making it a little difficult to eat.

For desert, we shared a Crepe Suzette and a Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake. The Crepe Suzette, according to their description, is made of "mangoes flambéed with rum or brandy on a crepe. Topped with vanilla ice cream grated chocolates and roasted almonds." This was consumed in less than 3 minutes - the sweetness was just right for me - not too sweet and not too bland. I tend to get bored/ fatigued when a dish is too sweet.

As for the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake, it was also good - my favorite part being it's chocolate cookie crust, wiping it on the rich chocolate syrup. Although comparing the two, I'd have to vote the Crepe Suzette better.

As a whole, I find the Ludo's experience to be gastronomically pleasing - with the prices fairly reasonable given the quality and scope of the menu. I believe it is worth a return visit.

Personal rating out of 5:
Ambiance: 3
Service: 3.5
Food: 4

Ludo's Resto and Bar
136 A Timog Avenue, Quezon City
(02) 924-71-81
http://come2ludos.multiply.com/