Wooden Horse Steakhouse

It was a Sunday evening, and usually, families go out and spend their Sundays together. Such routine was never really a habit for my family, but once in a while, we still go out and enjoy dinner, whether complete or not. Last night, since my dad had just arrived from his business trip in Auckland, the family decided to have a dinner out. Unfortunately, my brother is in Batangas so we lacked one member of the round table, but that didn't stop us from satisfying the craving of our grumbling bellies. My dad suggested that we eat at somewhere new. We went off to see this new bistro in front of Alabang Town Center along Madrigal Ave. The bistro is called Wooden Horse Steakhouse.

(pardon for the set of pictures that i would be posting on this entry. i only used a 5-megapixel camera on my phone. :D)

The Wooden Horse Steakhouse is a dinner-only restaurant which opens at 6:00pm every night. You have to carefully search for it because it's hidden behind the Franck Provost-Starbucks-Pancake House building. Well, we arrived there at 5:30pm, but the owner, a friend of my dad, was there so he insisted to have us seated immediately. At first I doubted the restaurant's reputation because there were no customers entering, 'til i knew of their opening time. :D after a couple of minutes, the restaurant was already filled with hungry customers, and many were foreigners maybe craving for some original american style steak.

The ambience of the vicinity was country-style Texas, filled with cowboy hats and a mini-bar on the side and the walls were filled with photos of Cowboys and Indians. The furniture sets were first class, and just the tables and chairs make their own statement. Each table has a bottle of wine on top of it, and what I loved the best about the restaurant is that the customers are able to see the chefs doing their own gastronomy in the kitchen. You get to see the flames and smokes while they flip those steaks on the griller. lessens the paranoia if the kitchen's well maintained. It's definitely not one of those cheap bistros. (sadly, i was not able to take a photo of the whole restaurant)

For the food, the prices were very affordable. Prices range from 120 to 500, exclusive of the steak prices. As for the steaks, the cheapest you can get is 690, and it ranges around 750-2400, per order that is. hahaha! But don't be overwhelmed by the price. They're definitely worth the moolah.

So we ordered clam chowder soup. It was just good for one, and we had Buffalo wings & Calamares for appetizer.

HAHAHAHAHA. apologies for the photo. The appetizer was barbarically devoured by my family, especially ME that i forgot to take a photo of it first. :)) The calamares and buffalo wings weren't the best that I have tasted, but there's no bad food for a hungry stomach. It was ok, kind of a mediocre for me. The dip was not as awesome as that of other bistros like CPK. 

Again, i could not stop the hands of my parents from ruining the plating of the salad before i could even take a decent picture of it. :)) we had two orders of Caesar Salad, and this was my kind of food. The salad was great, had that sweet, bacon-y and fresh taste. And for some weird reason, I had the "Ratatouille" experience, the "going back to your childhood" experience because the salad had this Mik Mik taste. :)) for those who don't know Mik Mik, it's this white/chocolate powder on sachets and you use straw to indulge the sweet kiddy taste of it. and the salad's croutons had a subtle touch of that distinct milky kick.

Mik Mik! with the straw and those hearts. :)) got it from google.

My mom ordered grilled Salmon steak. The veggies were fantastic. The carrots had the perfect crunch and sweetness to them. I'm not an avid fan of fish dishes, but the Salmon was very tender and the sauce makes it even better.

Now this one's a muchow baby back ribs. I gotta say, the dish was perfectly cooked. just a slight scrape of the fork on it makes the meat shed off the bones. You can't ask for any more tenderness to it; it's perfect the way it is. But the taste of this baby back ribs is something new. It's not the usual hickory bbq sauce poured all over it. It tasted sour-ish and spicy. It's not bad AT ALL, but not the usual baby back ribs you expect. It's only around 400 pesos but trust me, it's meatier than what it looks like. :>

This was the main performance, the highlight, and the grand finale of the night, and I WANT AN ENCORE!!!  My dad and I ordered Sirloin steak for each. Now, I'm really not a steak person. I always find them expensive and I don't want my parents gagging up on me when I say my order to the waiter, but since I was sick for more than a week, I did not care at all. :)) All that mattered to me was treating myself with delectable delights. I only ordered a 5-ounce sirloin steak since i'd be sharing the baby back ribs with my sister, AND THAT WAS THE BEST 5 OUNCES OF MY LIFE. =)) I had mine medium well, and it was tender. the knife just goes through it with just the slightest effort of my hands on it. And that cheese/butter on it really makes everything work. i rarely gorge myself with steaks, and my criteria for them were still in the making, but after eating this, man, its just has to be better and better every time I eat steaks. The steaks were quite expensive, but really, if you want to be satisfied, you got to try it. It is worth the penny.

I just got this from google. :)) forgot to take a photo of my drink

For our drinks, we were supposed to have a bottle of wine since it goes well with steaks, but unfortunately, there was liquor ban yesterday since barangay elections will be held the next day, which is today, this morning. So I ordered bottomless iced tea for myself. It's only 50 pesos, cheap for a bottomless iced tea, BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE TWO BEST ICED TEAS I HAVE EVER TASTED (the other one's from Orchard Golf & Country Club). I'm guessing that they put peach syrup on the iced tea. Reminds me of Dole peaches. :D

As for the services, the waiters were very friendly, very spirited. The owner was one of the chefs and he himself was cooking our food. After our dinner, the manager even approached us and asked how our dinner was, and after a while, he relaid our message to the owner. He gave us his two thumbs up and his thank you sign (he's japanese, go figure) while in the middle of cooking. Such a nice dinner we had there.

Not all the dishes were the best I've eaten. Overall, the wooden horse steakhouse experience was like a sexual intercourse. Starts with kissing, foreplay, builds up the tension, and BOOM, a delightful and very titillating climax. That sirloin steak definitely gave me a Foodgasmic experience. It was the best way to end the week and most of all, put an end to my weeklong sickness!