Curiosity Led Me to Master Kitchen

Does a restaurant with all tables occupied (and mostly by foreigners) pique your curiosity? Master Kitchen, along Gov. Cuenco Ave. (near Banilad Town Center), got me wondering what was cooking in their kitchen. Next chance I got, it was to this kitchen I went.

Ahhh...so this kitchen serves Mongolian rice bowls, pizza, and baby back ribs. A strange mix of food. But a strange mix of affordable food it is. Keyword: affordable. Could it be the reason why I often see this place packed? The 9–inch pizzas go from Php99 to Php139, Mongolian rice bowls from Php49 to Php89, and baby back ribs from Php55 to Php149.

I wanted to try the pizza, but the Filipino rice–eater in me won. Spicy chicken rice bowl it is. Regular or large, what's the difference? Same size bowl, but more chicken. I stop eating rice when my viand runs out, so I get the "large" one. My friend picked the ribs, but chose just one piece with extra rice (regular meal is one piece with two cups of rice).

The spicy chicken rice bowl lived up to its name... spicy! I downed my half–liter of water midway through my bowl and had to buy a bottle of softdrinks to try and put out the fire in my tongue. I tried a small bit of my friend's rib and thought it tasted okay with the right tenderness. My friend's comment? More sauce and it would taste like Casa Verde's baby back ribs.

Affordable good food will make it in my book (and, I would guess, in everyone else's book, too). Affordable? Yes. Good? It wasn't Master Chef, but alright for its price. And if I wake up at three in the morning craving for ribs or a rice bowl, there will be a kitchen to invade: Master Kitchen.