Dinner Date at SMITH Butcher and Grill Room via SEATS

If there’s one thing that the Cupcake and I love to do, it’s exploring different restaurants around Metro Manila. We usually have our go-to restaurants when we can’t think of anything else, but we like to be on the look out for places we haven’t tried. There’s nothing quite like an experience of discovering a great dish over good wine and an even better conversation.

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited by the team of SEATS to the relaunch of their app, which is basically a free online table reservation service that easily lets you book your favorite restaurant without the hassle of Googling for the restaurant’s number and calling them. As a very non-confrontational person, I kind of avoid talking to people (I don’t mean to sound weird, mean, or snobbish—it’s just my personality to be very shy and awkward at first). Booking restaurants through SEATS is not only quick and convenient, but it assures me that I don’t have to overthink about whether or not there’s a table available in a particular restaurant I want to dine in (overthinking is another one of my specialties). SEATS also provides restaurants with the right tools, so that they can manage reservations more efficiently, improve in-house productivity, and give customers better service.

It’s actually very straightforward—you can either download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store (it works on both iOS and Android), or you can log on to www.seats.com.ph and sign up. As a treat, SEATS asked us all to pick a restaurant on the spot and reserve a table anytime before June 30! I had so much fun looking through different restaurants listed on the app. You can even filter restaurants based on what’s new, what’s popular, what’s recommended for big groups, the type of cuisine you feel like eating, or location.

Because the Cupcake and I both work in Makati, I decided to filter it by location. I narrowed down my choices to La Cabrera Manila (in 6750 Building, Ayala Avenue), ROUX (in Greenbelt 3), and SMITH Butcher and Grill Room (along Dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village). The Cupcake once dined in SMITH with his colleagues and highly recommended it, so I booked a dinner date for us last night at 8:30pm. Because the app informed us to be at the place 15 minutes before our schedule, we were there a little past 8pm.

My first impression as soon as we walked in those large wooden doors was how spacious the restaurant was—there was a bar right in the middle, an entire wall that showcased bottles of wine, a chiller that kept a variety of cheese, and at the end near the kitchen was a viewing room where different kinds of meat were kept.

Our orders for the evening included:

• Butternut Squash Soup scented with Indian Spices and Poached Lobster – Php 250
• Kinilaw Soused Fresh Catch of the Day in a Citrus Ginger Marinade – Php 498
• Bavette Flank (from Australia) for 2 with Black Truffle and Bearnaise Sauces and Side Orders of Creamy Mashed Potato, Garden Salad, Baked Potato, and Blue Cheese and Black Truffle (Php 1,300 + Php 250 for the premium side order of Blue Cheese and Black Truffle)
• Menage a Trois Chocolate Mousse – Php 250

Butternut Squash Soup scented with Indian Spices and Poached Lobster

Kinilaw Soused Fresh Catch of the Day in a Citrus Ginger Marinade

The highlight of the night? Definitely the Bavette Flank, especially when paired with red wine (I had Shiraz) and the Blue Cheese and Black Truffle. The richness of the blue cheese emphasizes the tenderness of the meat. On its own, the steak was superb—I kept alternating it with the Black Truffle Sauce, Bearnaise Sauce (which had such a full-bodied flavor), and Blue Cheese and Black Truffle. I very much enjoyed dessert, too!

Bavette Flank

Menage a Trois Chocolate Mousse

If you’re looking for premium steak in the Makati area, look no further than SMITH Butcher and Grill Room because though it’s a little on the expensive side, every bite is worth it. The Cupcake and I are looking to book dinner here again, just because we can’t get the Bavette Flank out of our heads.

To view the rest of the menu, you can visit SMITH Butcher and Grill Room’s website here. I highly, highly recommend this place! I can’t wait to book it again via SEATS.