It's no wonder that this restaurant is one of the best restaurants in the world. Your Local offers inventive flavors that surely plays with its customers' tastebuds, and we were very excited to have gathered together to try their award-winning dishes.

We initially booked a table for 12 people via an app. The restaurant called shortly after confirming our reservation to ask for a security deposit of P5,000, since we reserved for more than 10 people. This deposit should be made at least 3 days prior to the date of reservation. Unisse C volunteered to pay for it in advance 😊

Sadly, Monday night came and we were down to 7 people because of our friends' schedule change. We asked if we can take back the security deposit since we're now less than 10 in the group, but it was denied. So, our main goal that night was to consume all of the P5,000 that we paid for! 😋

The ambiance of the place was a bit dim, with light coming from just a few, small bulbs in the area and the white light from the kitchen. The cold airconditioning in place, plus the good music in the background ensures the customers' maximum comfort and satisfaction.

We had a hard time ordering since we were trying to compute everything first to make sure that we reach the budget. We then decided to get a bit of almost everything.

STARTERS

[caption id="attachment_517" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Beef Rendang Buns P290[/caption]

The mantou alone was delicious. It was slightly glazed with some sugar. The cilantro added a little sharpness to the dish. The beef rendang was tasty. This was a good start.

[caption id="attachment_519" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Chili Crab Buns P290[/caption]

I'm not good in handling spicy food, and this I found hot, but it was yummy.

[caption id="attachment_524" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Semi Fried Eggplant P340[/caption]

It might be just "talong", but this dish proved that nothing in this restaurant is to be belittled. It's a dish made of baby eggplant, mascarpone cream cheese, squid ink crumbs, tempura flakes and ponzu. Who knew that a normal talong can taste this good?

[caption id="attachment_518" align="aligncenter" width="1728"] Parmesan Fries with Truffled Ketchup P120[/caption]

Thinly cut fries with truffled ketchup. I honestly didn't taste the truffle, but it's still good. It's fries, duh! 😆

[caption id="attachment_516" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Mock Mentaiko Fries P220[/caption]

Thinly cut fries with secret sauce (I think it has mayonnaise or something like that) and nori. Not a fan of something with loads of mayonnaise but I still liked having pieces of it. I just had to remove some of the sauce.

MAINS

[caption id="attachment_527" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Steak Fried Rice P680[/caption]

Korean spiced wagyu, egg, herbs, and shiitake fried rice.

[caption id="attachment_520" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Braised Beef Pasta P380[/caption]

Minced beef, wine reduction, torched parmesan cheese on fettuccini. This was good. We were able to taste real tomatoes in the sauce of the pasta.

[caption id="attachment_528" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Tofu Steak and Eggs P390[/caption]

Pan seared tofu, eggs, shiitake mushroom with roast corn and shiitake black rice. I liked this dish. The tofu was cooked and seasoned to perfection, just the way I want it.

[caption id="attachment_525" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Torched Salmon Donburi P595[/caption]

Torched Norwegian salmon (cooked medium), mentaiko, oboro, ebiko, salmon skin on roast corn and shiitake black rice. We ordered two of this since we knew that this will be the star of the night. And as expected, we loved it.

[caption id="attachment_522" align="aligncenter" width="2592"] Chicken Rice P390[/caption]

Steeped chicken, ginger rice, sweet soy, chili sauce. This is similar to a Hainanese chicken rice. It tasted light and delicious.

DESSERT

[caption id="attachment_523" align="aligncenter" width="4032"] Chocolate Earl Grey Pudding and Lime Mousse P290[/caption]

A dessert to test your sense of taste, with a little of sweet, sour and bitter in the mix. The taste of the earl grey was strong and bitter, while the lime mousse was the sour part. The milk crumbs added a little sweetness and crunch to the whole dessert. I tried mixing them together to tone down each element's overpowering taste, and it didn't really work too well in terms of the toning down part but it' still good.

Service was fine, but had some major lapses. Yes, the server managed to exchange some laughs and jokes with us, but she did fail to mention an important item to us: that the waffle she offered from Yardstick will be billed SEPARATELY. We were all blindsided since we included this in our computation. In the end we ordered another dessert from them just to completely consume the P5,000, and added some extra cash for the waffles.

I am thankful as a foodie that a restaurant such as Your Local exists in our country. Imagine, we don't have to get out of the country to get good food! It's something not just for us to enjoy, but also for us to be proud of. Looking forward to visiting this restaurant again. Soon.