It was the start of the long Eid Mubarak’ holiday. As is customary for me during holidays, I skipped breakfast because I was too lazy to get out of bed. I had already cleared my stash of emergency food – mostly candies and chips – before I found the motivation to finally get out of bed and feed myself real food. I know, I know… so healthy, right? So like the modern day hunter-gatherer that I am without any more supplies, I got up and walked over to Kapitolyo to find something to eat…
Location
Gostoso Piri Piri Chicken is located along East Capitol Drive in Brgy Kapitolyo. I discovered this place while attempting to walk the length of East Capitol Drive to find something to eat, starting from Charlie’s Grind and Grill until (hopefully) somewhere past Cilantro. My walk was going well for the first 100 meters… under the hot sun… with grumbling sounds coming from my stomach… before I decided I didn’t need to make a pilgrimage for food. Gostoso Piri Piri Chicken was the closest restaurant to where I gave up. Having only really known four kinds of chicken in my life – fried, roasted, curry, or adobo – I decided to see what “Piri Piri” was all about.
Ambiance
The graffiti on the wall was the first thing I noticed when I entered the restaurant. It was very vibrant and festive in colors. I felt like I was in a Mexican Dr Seuss book about spicy chicken – oh, the chickens I will eat! The graffiti complemented the Bob Marley tunes playing in the background very well. If they had played Latin jazz, then it would have sounded a lot like a Starbucks coffee shop… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because I tend to focus really well when I cannot understand the music.
The interiors were very spacious with a section clearly laid out for couples and groups, and another for solo diners. The solo dining section was a row of bar seats facing the wall. The great thing about this part was that it had wall outlets!! I like setting up a temporary office in a restaurant or cafe and just work there for a reaaallly long time… or until my butt gets sore. So I think I’ll be visiting this place again for the sole reason of working outside of the office. Perhaps the only thing lacking for me was in-house WiFi.
Service
I always find myself eating in places that are not packed. Gostoso was no different. After ordering my food, the staff served the food fairly quick. It was like suddenly…chicken! And it was still quite hot and tender. The waiters were on ninja mode most of the time. But they were easy enough to call even from the obscure solo dining corner of the restaurant.
Food
The chicken was superb. I tried it out with four of Gostoso‘s signature sauces – known only as mild, garlic lemon, barbecue, and hot. I didn’t have any particular favorites, but I found that it was best to combine “mild” with a little bit of “hot” to get the right balance of spiciness in the chicken. “Garlic lemon” was a bit overpowering for me, and “barbecue” was really tasty but a bit reminiscent of baby back ribs. In all the chicken was really delicious and worth every peso spent on it!
The price tag for a quarter chicken with rice may be a bit pricey (P180 + P55 for olive rice) for a single person…baka sakto lang kung sobra kang patay gutom. But the serving size was large enough to get me through the rest of the day without needing to eat another large meal for dinner – sulit din!
They also served a range of beverages that I never got to try. I was particularly interested in trying their red wine, which was a 250-ml bottle of wine. Parang Coke sakto lang pero for getting a buzz. They also served three variants of Superbock beer – stout, lager, and lemon. I imagine the stout – a type of dark beer – goes really well with all the spices and herbs in the chicken. I was tempted to try it but maybe next time.
I left this restaurant feeling really satisfied with what I had eaten. It definitely made up for all that junk I ate earlier in the day! I don’t know if Gostoso serves authentic Piri Piri chicken. But it was affordable and sulit enough given that there were provisions like wall outlets for people to really bunk down and stay for the long haul. I’m really recommending this place for solo diners.
Gostoso Piri Piri Chicken
51-B East Capitol Drive,Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Phone No.: (02) 477-7330
For the menu, check out their Zomato page here:
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