My visit: February 5, 2011
Happy Cow
#25 unit B Balete Drive, New Manila Quezon City
Our trip to Happy Cow by Secret Oven was not really planned. We were supposed to eat at Cooking Mama but decided against it when we saw a newly renovated Secret Oven. Gone was the purple colored theme restaurant. The place became a steak restaurant thus the new name, Happy Cow.
herb rubbed chops PhP190
The owners were there and told us their reason of changing the restaurant's name. Most customers thought that the name Secret Oven connotes cakes and other baked goodies. With the change of name, customers are now enticed to order entrees from their menu. Meanwhile, cakes are still being offered but not on display though.
I ordered herb rubbed chops- 2 pieces of pork chops rubbed with different herbs and spices. I find it on the salty side. Good thing, gravy was served along with the order. I dipped most of the pork chop slices in mushroom gravy. I would love to taste a slice of cake and order one of the drinks on the menu but I was informed that not everything on the menu was available.
onion rings PhP60
The onion rings are good but the serving is quite small. It is served with aioli dip.
buffalo wings PhP135
6 pieces of fiery hot chicken wings dipped in red sauce and served with a ranch dip. The red sauce on the chicken reminded us of Don Henrico's. It was DH who was able to tell because I for one couldn't place the familiar taste.
mustard herbed beef tenderloin PhP320
This order is usually served in strips but DH, stubborn as he is, requested the order to be served as a huge chunk of meat. We have requested to return it back for additional cooking time because the middle portion was bloody red. He usually orders his steak medium well but even him couldn't eat what was served to us. It came back better because now it was sliced into strips of tenderloin. There wasn't much left of the mustard mix- dijon mustard, olive oil, tarragon and pineapple on the plate. I learned that their beef came from Batangas. It was not tender like the Angus beef and some portions were salty.
Suffice it to say, given that they just opened for 2 weeks, there's room for improvement.
