Food makes you feel good. But good food, with unbeatable prices and servings, makes you feel better.
And speaking of the word "better," there's a restaurant and cafe that will definitely appeal to budget-conscious diners who nevertheless love to eat big: Better Days Restaurant & Desserts, located in Barangay Poblacion, Makati City. But will it see better days, or will it have seen only better days? (yes, there's a difference between the two phrases)
After my first dining experience there, I could say that this is the Pinoy version of a diner: budget meals with ridiculously big servings.
I first learned of this restaurant through Instagram. I thought this was a fairly new establishment.
I proceeded to check their Zomato page. Browsing their menu, I thought it was promising: pocket-friendly, with a variety of choices -- it even offers Pinoy street food classics such as fish balls and squid balls. That piqued my interest to go there even though I am not quite familiar with Poblacion -- and I hate going out during the summer as the heat is killing me.
Nevertheless, my curiosity won out in the end. So recently I dropped by at the restaurant despite the sweltering, migraine-inducing heat, along with my food-loving friend and lunch date.
It didn't take us long enough to spot Better Days Restaurant & Desserts. You can easily locate the restaurant along the stretch of J.P. Rizal Avenue, just a few blocks away from the intersection on E. Zobel.
There's a restaurant and cafe that will definitely appeal to budget-conscious diners who nevertheless love to eat big
Stepping inside the place, at first I thought this was small. Never did I realize until later that the restaurant also had a dining room on the second floor, which also serves as an events area. The interiors were nothing to write home about -- no cutesy IG-worthy decor to be had -- although I admit I didn't get to look around further. We were seated at the rear end of the restaurant, at a smaller table just near the restroom, ha ha ha (it was my lunch date who suggested it). But the ambiance was easy-going, and this was another plus point for the restaurant because it meant that anyone is welcome to dine here. Well, anyway, we came here, first and foremost, to try their dishes and I couldn't be more excited.
Actually, we had already asked Better Days on Instagram about their best sellers, to which they replied.
So on the day we paid a visit here, I tried to order as much of their best sellers as possible, but the staff told me they didn't have Blueberry Cheesecake and Mango Float just yet. Instead, we were made to choose their other best-selling cakes.
1) Mains
Dagupan has been on the news lately because its temperature has soared to nearly 52 degrees Celsius. This data was recorded by PAGASA last Tuesday (April 9). A heat index between 41 and 54 degrees Celsius is considered dangerous. At this temperature, people are at risk of heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke (which is often life-threatening). I just hope that people will take preventive measures to beat this punishing heat.
Well, why do I mention Dagupan? It's because it's also the home of "pigar pigar," which is actually a street food that's popular in the city.
One of the reasons why I wanted to check out Better Days was this dish. I had not tried a regional dish before other than the ones I'm familiar with (Tagalog and Bicolano, mostly). Pigar pigar had gotten me so intrigued immediately after coming across it on their menu.
I was expecting something weird or revolting from pigar pigar -- and with full conviction, I was ready for something exotic. ;-)
But to my surprise, this dish was actually simple and the taste and the ingredients were quite familiar. It consisted of thin slices of beef, cabbages and onion rings, with the main flavoring being soy sauce. It's like a Pinoy "bistek," only with the inclusion of cabbages.
It was a bit too salty and a bit too concentrated to my taste. You really had to wolf down a lot rice to offset the saltiness of the viand
Otherwise though, I liked this dish, overall. Well-balanced ingredients: meat, cabbage and onion rings -- and I love onions in particular. Only they should have gone easy with the soy sauce.
I thought I had found something new to cook at home. Thank you, Better Days! :)
Mixed Seafood Noodles - P118
My lunch date's order. I wasn't able to take a picture of it so I could only offer some vague descriptions. This soupy dish consisted of flat noodles and cabbages (?), and of course, seafood, but I did not know which exact kinds of seafood. I am allergic to shrimp and crabs though, and I thought this dish was most likely to have any of them.
So I was only able to have the taste of the broth -- it was spicy. And boy, I do love spicy things. The noodle soup had just the right kind of spicy, not the "give-me-a-cold-glass-of-water-quick" spicy. It was actually delicious. The amount of heat was tolerable; nevertheless, I was amused at my lunch date who ordered this kind of dish considering it was really hot that day. This spicy noodle soup is going to be perfect for the rainy and chilly seasons.
2) Side dishes / Pinoy street food classics
A mini-platter of Pinoy street food fare (actually it was our request to put them all in one plate): fish balls, squid balls and kikam.
Squid balls, 5 pieces - P28
Kikam, 5 pieces - P28
Better Days has everything, including skewered Pinoy street food classics. I was really pleased with their quality and taste, particularly the squid balls. Squid balls are not my favorite in particular -- but maybe it's because the squid balls I have gotten used to eating may be consisted of mostly flour and little squid. Yep, the squid balls that you buy from the wet market.
I was surprised and delighted at the squid balls here -- they were nothing like the squid balls you buy from the palengke. The squid balls here actually had squid "meat" -- siksik na siksik! You could see the squid balls had cracked open, something that you can't see from "pretender" squid balls. :D The fish balls and kikiam were also good and "meaty."
One of the delightful surprises here was the siomai. I am a siomai freak -- I often have siomai with rice. So I was really, really happy with what I got here at Better Days. Ten pieces of meaty siomai at only P50!
There was no chili garlic in sight, but nevertheless I was ridiculously stoked at having so much siomai for an unbelievable price. If you're a siomai lover, go here, seriously!
3) Drinks
We were totally unprepared for the servings here at Better Days. But the biggest surprise we got was the drinks! We expected them to be just of regular size, but when the drinks came, we were like, "whoa"! The glass was even bigger than Starbucks' "Venti" size cup.
My Mango Smoothie was literally filled to the brim, so I couldn't transfer it to the other table to take a good picture of it. Seriously, it was good for two. Had we known, we would have ordered just one drink. As mangoes are seasonal right now, mango smoothies are the perfect beverage for the summer. I even had the leftovers for a takeout which I later drank to beat the heat. Yum! :)
It had the same glass size as in my Mango Smoothie. I was fooled into thinking that this was a two-toned drink (I was like, "that might be hibiscus", lol). But the tint actually came from the glass itself part of its design. :D
I got to taste it -- it was really good, the sweetness was just right. I could tell outright that this was made from brewed tea. The boba pearls were also delightfully soft and easy to swallow, not hard or chewy.
I couldn't exactly make out the size of our drinks, but I surmised they might be half a liter or something. These were really sulit!
To milk tea addicts: why resign yourself to the long queues at the more expensive milk tea shops when you can go here at Better Days for a big, big milk tea fix? You won't regret it!
4) Desserts
Like most of the items we ordered, the choices were based on the restaurant's "best sellers" list and not really based on our own discretion. Actually, cheesecakes are not a particular favorite of mine -- I do eat a cheesecake when it's there but it's not something that I would crave for.A lot of first-time diners aren't sure what to have, so they usually ask a restaurant staff for best sellers. That is exactly what we did. The server enumerated the best-selling cakes and sweets: Blueberry Cheesecake, Nutty Almond Cheesecake and Mango Float. Unfortunately, the Mango Float and the Blueberry Cheesecake weren't available at the time, so we settled on other best sellers.
I love things matcha, but I found myself preferring the Nutty Almond Cheesecake over the Tasty Matcha Cheesecake. Well, maybe it was not a surprise -- the Tasty Matcha was a bit too sweet for me. I also found out that their cheesecakes were baked instead of frozen (which I prefer), and the cream on top of it was more like a hard icing. Not sure though! Their cakes really bemused me, but taste-wise they were good. The servings were unbeatable for that price -- a slice of their cheesecakes is good for two or even three people (especially if you don't have a hearty appetite)
I was happy that I got to take the cheesecakes home so that I could have something to eat later. :)
Verdict
I could say that Better Days Restaurant and Desserts is the Filipino version of an American diner judging on its easy-going, no-fuss atmosphere and big servings on most of their dishes.As I've mentioned, the meals are pocket-friendly and had big servings. So even if you come to the restaurant with someone else and have only 500 bucks, rest assured you will be satisfied -- sated, even. Sulit talaga!
It opens at 10 am (Monday thru Friday only) so it also serves breakfast and brunches.
I liked the variety of meals here. They're mostly Pinoy and Chinese classic favorites -- rice meals, pork, chicken and fish (including value meals, XL orders and "by the kilo" orders), soups, noodle dishes, fried rice, side orders, milk teas, smoothies, juices, brewed coffee, iced tea, desserts and other baked goods such as brownies and cookies. Water comes free (yay!). We liked most of the best-selling dishes we tried. But on my next visit I would definitely order what I really like. And oh, that now-elusive Mango Float. :P
It also offers free Wi-Fi so if you'd like to linger a bit longer while having your meal, Better Days is a great place to do such. While you're dining, you may post pictures of the restaurant's best sellers and other favorites on your social media accounts. You may as well as hit "like" and "follow" Better Days on Facebook and Instagram, or do a quick and instant review on Zomato, if you'd like -- it's not listed on looloo yet as of this writing -- or write a blog review on the spot.
I have observed that 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is where the Better Days is at its peak, as it is also lunch break. I saw a group of uniformed workers going up the second floor, as the ground floor was already full with customers.
The staff was also friendly and accommodating, while the service and waiting time were typical. We didn't have to wait long for all our orders to come to our table one by one, despite the fact that the restaurant was having quite a busy day.
With budget-friendly and tasty meals, big servings, ample seating on the ground floor and second floor, and great location, I'd say Better Days Restaurant & Desserts is poised to see way better days to come.
Better Days Restaurant & Desserts
806 J.P. Rizal Avenue, Poblacion, Makati City
Check them out on:
- Instagram - @betterdaysrestaurant.ph
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