Dencio's Grill & Bar- Robinson's San Fernando Pampanga

It was coincidence that we went in Dencio's for the first time. My son was looking for beef steak for the lunch, that it seemed every restaurants has been closed during lunch time on the first day of January.  So I decided just to look around the Robinson's Star Mill. Then I spotted this Dencio's Bar & Grill at the main floor.

Nestled between the ground floor at Robinson's and just along the parking area. There is outdoor seating space and a glance at the menu board outside hints at the delights within. Despite being at the entrance of a busy shopping area. So you could just imagine people buzzing in and out.

The place was not too crowded when we went there. And we were immediately taken care of, there’s enough space to move around and while waiting for our order. The decor indoor was nice with bamboo hanging around the place. The restaurant is properly lit yet still relaxing to the eyes with comfortable sitting tables. The lighting is all surrounded with paper origami cocoon shapes that absence of fancy decors add a more simplistic touch to the place.

In Taiwan when you order the drinks together with the dish it will serves after the meal. But in the Philippines they first sent the drinks to the table before the meal. It may be annoying for Taiwanese traveler?  Any way I order the California grape halo halo smoothie for the price of ₱105, an ube-flavored frozen shake topped with diced red grapes, bits of cheese and gulaman. The combination of grape and ube it tasted a bit funky. But very refreshing and delicious it almost like dessert is just perfect for lunch nonetheless.

Then after a while our dishes was arrived at the time. This lumpiang shanghai or Filipino spring rolls which are bite-size pork are a nice appetizer especially if you get the right sauce. It also has a texture contrast of soft pieces inside as well as crispy on the outside. My son loved it as much as I do. They were really good!

Then we had a regular size sisig pork for the price ₱190. Sisig is truly Filipino food loving folks in Pampanga. It was made from chopped parts of a pig’s head with ears, snout, then reinvented into simple minced meat served on a sizzling platter with chili, liver, onion and seasoned with calamansi and fresh ground black pepper. The crunchiness from the sizzling plate was amazing flavor and just superb taste!

This is pancit canton ₱195 (Filipino yellow noodles) which is like stir fried chopped mixed vegetables, pork, shrimp with noodles is equally delicious. However the noodles were much too soft , too much water and more veggie than noodles. They also added an extra flavor of tofu.

The pork barbecues ₱120 are meaty and tasty, the sauce is a bit salty and strong, which again was so good it was the best barbecue pork I ever had in a long time.

Sizzling bulalo ₱285. A tender beef thigh bone with buttered veggies and think gravy, it was served on a hot cast iron plate. The serving is huge enough, it also has a texture contrast of soft pieces as well.

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Overall the food was great, what a feast! It tasted pretty decent, not fancy or pretentious, but just plain good. We feel full when we left and packed our leftover. For the price we paid, we sure got a deal! I definitely recommend this place for anyone wanting excellent Filipino food and service at very reasonable cost.

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Dencio's Grill & Bar
Ground floor Robinson's Starmills
Olongapo-Gapan Road. San Jose,
City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Philippines