Gostoso Piri Piri is one of the new additions to the Kapitolyo dining area, located farther down the road in the less congested area. Gostoso serves Portuguese cuisine, one of the least represented cuisines in our dining scene. The restaurant is owned by Chef Joao Branquinho and a couple of partners and features heirloom recipes from Chef Joao’s family. I got an invite to try out what they serve at Gostoso so we took advantage of a weekday lunch while Lauren was in school. We’ve actually tried going to Gostoso a few weeks before with Lauren but found out that they only serve olive rice so this was a deal breaker for our picky daughter.
Even before you get inside Gostoso Piri Piri, there’s nice quirky touches already. This hits a little too close to home. (Oh no, I’m porky). There’s a couple of parking spaces in front and you can go farther down the street for more.
The place is small but there’s lots of character and passion owing to the bright red and brown color scheme. The Piri piri figures prominently even in their lighting.
Here’s their fiery mural depicting the story of how Piri Piri (bird’s eye chili/siling labuyo) traveled from Africa and was introduced to the world.
Chef Joao makes 2 kinds of piri piri sauce in Gostoso. One is called the Mild Piri Piri, a bright red tomato hued sauce that is devoid of any spice and the other is Joao’s Piri Piri, a spicy sauce with a golden hue filled with chili seeds. The spicy piri piri sauce is already toned way down compared to the ones in Portugal where people only use a few drops. Use one or the other or mix them together to get your level of spice like I did.
We started with something to warm the stomach, Caldo Verde (P125). This is a traditional Portuguese potato soup with kale chorizo. The soup is hearty and flavorful with lots of refreshing strips of kale. I’d definitely order this again, even Irene liked it despite having potato as a main ingredient.
Next was a plate with two appetizers, Coxinha (P150) and Bolsas (P150), served with piri piri sauce. The Coxinha are breaded balls filled with cream, chicken strips and bell peppers. Chef Joao said that these traditional street food are usually shaped like big balls but since Filipinos love sharing, he shaped them into easier to eat pieces. The Bolsas are flaky pie pockets with minced meat, similar to an empanadita. I liked the coxinha while Irene enjoyed the bolsas, nothing surprising considering the textures and flavors.
We paired the food with some of their Gostoso De Tea (P190/carafe, P80/glass). Their homemade lemon ice tea get a fresh kick from the inclusion of peppermint. Get the carafe since its a way better deal.
If your liquid needs are more of the alcoholic kind then you can pick among their Portuguese wines and beer. I was surprised to know that Super Bock is from Portugal, it sounds so German to me.
We also got a Gostoso Platter (P1045/all three). We had the all three which comes with half Piri Piri Chicken , one Porco Gostoso, and Espeto de Gambas/shrimp skewers, 3 servings of olive rice and 3 sides. This is a great deal especially for groups of 3-4 persons. The chicken was tasty all the way thru the bones and was surprisingly not dry.
This is the olive rice (P48), basically white rice mixed with chopped olives, definitely something that Lauren will not eat.
Our sides were Creamed Spinach, Creamed Corn and Chick Pea Salad. Other side choices were Mac N’ Cheese and Potato Gratin, extra orders cost P70 per serving. Irene and I both enjoyed the creamed spinach and corn.
The Porco Gostoso was fork tender and smoky flavored owing to the slow cooking process. This is something Lauren would enjoy, minus the piri piri sauce, maybe next time we should bring our own plain rice for her.
The Espete de Gambas was actually my favorite among the three components of the platter. The shrimps were slightly charred, oozing with sweet seafood juices and basted with the mild piri piri sauce and best of all de-shelled.
Gostoso Piri Piri is a nice and bright addition to the burgeoning Kapitolyo food scene, serving some tasty Portuguese food that really quite approachable. I enjoyed our visit but I’ve also heard other not so enjoyable visits from people I know so they really have to work on consistency. They are also planning to launch a number of sandwich options to coincide with the opening of their next branch in UP Town Center.
Gostoso Piri Piri
51B East Capitol Drive Kapitolyo, Pasig Contact No.: (02) 477-7330 Branch: UP Town CenterFacebook Page: Gostoso Piri Piri
Instagram: @GostosoPiriPiri
Twitter: @GostosoPiriPiri
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