First Bite: Vera's Place

Visiting Pearl Drive brings back memories as I have spent 5 years of my life there. No, I was not a homeless Ortigas girl; my alma mater is along that street. I would remember visiting Food Channel, Starbucks and Hotshots across my university. I have witnessed several restaurants come and go and shed a few tears when my favorites were among those that had to go. And fast forward to present, there are now more buildings and food choices around and one of which is located in Pearl Place called “Vera’s Place”.

Hello, Vera’s Place. 

To be honest, I was originally planning to eat at this Japanese restaurant along San Miguel Avenue but we had to change plans after seeing the prices of sashimi, sushi and wagyu. We headed back to Pearl Plaza with gloomy faces to match the grumpy weather. But the inviting homey Filipino restaurant adjacent to Where’s Marcel captured our interest. 

There were no customers when we arrived and we could not help feel iffy dining here. Then again, the weather was not exactly pleasant for people to go out so we assumed that it was because it was such a lazy Saturday night. 

Vera’s Place offers pocket friendly Filipino fare and we decided to go with solo servings of Gising-Gising (PHP135), Lechon Kawali (PHP250) and Kare-Kare (PHP300). Solo servings are inclusive of one cup of plain rice per viand. You could also order a sharing size portion of kare-kare for PHP550. 

Service was quick and our orders were served all at the same time. Presentation-wise, it was like the ones you’d expect from home. It was simple and zero frills. 

Gising-Gising had a nice combination of coconut milk and pork flavors. It was also a bit spicy making it slightly addicting. It also made me finish my cup of rice. I liked the winged beans too as it was not too hard nor too soft. 

The kare-kare was also good with its thick peanut-y sauce. It would have been a lot better if there were more meat in it. Nonetheless, it was pretty good and a bowl could be split to two. 

The lechon kawali was your usual lechon kawali with crispy skin. It was just a bit too fried as the meat was too dry to be enjoyed. 

Overall, it was a decent meal. You really could not expect much given the friendly prices. But I don’t think I’ll head here if I crave for local dishes. Manam would still be my top choice.

Vera’s Place is located at Ground Floor, Pearl Plaza, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

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