Terraces at the 5th

Hearing positive reviews from friends and even via the net, I was quite intrigued to try out The Terraces at the 5th. It is located at the ground floor of Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center in Makati. Being so conveniently near my work place, my friend and I took one night off to dine there with his sister.


The Terraces at the 5th, in my opinion, is a classy and fanciful restaurant trying to emanate the feel of English garden tea parties. The ambiance and decors are well unified and beckons a sense of calmness and serenity among its diners (that is of course, before other diners arrive and start making all sorts of nerve-whacking, loud-mouthed cacophonies). In fact, as a personal note, the place reminds me of MDM Design Project's bird and trees journals.

My friend mentioned that he wasn't particularly impressed with the menu offerings in the said restaurant, but has still agreed to push through with the plan so we can assess whether it's a place we'd like to go back to. The average cost per person ranges from 500 to 1,000 Php, which makes us expect the food to be worth the cost. You can click here to view The Terraces at the 5th's menu.

We've requested for some of the restaurant's pride dishes - the theory is, your restaurant is as good as the best dishes you're boasting. We didn't get the Angus Porterhouse though, I find it way beyond my budget.

We were each given complimentary herbed breads and butters to begin our meals. The bread was tasty and soft, but for some reason reminds me of McCormick's Italian Seasoning. My friend started off with an order of Minestrone, which he rates to be fairly good - but nothing near outstanding.

I ordered their Homestyle Confit of Pork Belly, which costs P520.00. According to the description, it's a "12-hour, slow-roasted pork rib belly in reduced balsamic sauce". Trusting the claim of the waiter, I ordered the said dish - I wish I had read more reviews online since most of them have practically advised their readers to stay away from this dish. But as a whole, it was an okay experience. The pork skin was crispy and the meat was generally soft to the bite, but the sauce seemed uniquely out-of-touch. I think it's trying to mimic the Chinese Haixian sauce a bit, but it just didn't work as wonderfully for me.

My friend, on the other hand, ordered Chins Cruz's Sole Meuniere (P480). He said it was alright, nothing extra ordinary. He was also not so pleased with the meal saying that it seemed overpriced. I couldn't understand his apprehension until I saw the picture and realized he was right - the presentation was extremely lacking - it further highlighted the fact that his plate was practically empty.

We've finished our meals, without any gusto for desert. Overall, the restaurant didn't meet our gustatory expectations, although it was fairly enjoyable, there wasn't anything orgasmic to tempt us back for another round. The price just didn't justify itself, had it been cheaper, we'd have been more forgiving.

Personal rating out of 5:
Ambiance: 4 (Yes, those noisy diners ruin it)
Service: 4
Food: 3.5