Chives Bistro & Market Restaurant [Quarantine Eats Series | Home Food Delivery] | YedyLicious Manila Food Blog in the Philippines

Prior to the quarantine, I was able to visit Chives Bistro & Market, one of the many local restaurants in Antipolo City for an early lunch with my parents. I was supposed to blog about my experience last March but I thought it wouldn't make sense because everyone's in quarantine and the possibility of dining out is non-existent.

Then the quarantine loosen its tight grip and local restaurants started offering take out and delivery services. I was able to score a chance to enjoy a hearty lunch at home with Chives sumptuous dishes gracing our table. And although I became two thousand peso poorer, the meal was splendid. I have included Chives in my blog post about the Local Home Food Deliveries I Enjoyed While on Quarantine.

Then restaurants started opening once again including Chives. So, here we are now.

With a sustainable farm-to-table concept, Chives Bistro & Market prided itself for serving Asian-European cuisines made with the freshest local ingredients they can source. It opened its store way back 2016 and now it has two branches located in Antipolo and Marikina City.

Its branch in Antipolo, the one I was able to visit that one time, was quite a looker, I must say. It was sporting a modern industrial style highlighted with wooden designs that look as if it were lifted straight out of Pinterest. Every corner, as one would say, is Instagrammable.

First on our table were service water coupled with a bottle of cold lemon water that served as a refreshing respite from a rather humid almost-afternoon hinting the beginning of Summer. The water was enough to quench the thirst but the heat was a good excuse to enjoy a glass of Raspberry Iced Tea (Php70) which sweetness was enough to tide me over while waiting for our meal.

Then a serving of complimentary bite sized pieces of focaccia bread with balsamic and olive oil for dipping. A satisfying bread baked in-house, it was warm, crusty, and soft. Its simplicity in taste paved way to the complexity of flavor once it was dipped into the balsamic and oil concoction. It was a well-appreciated kind gesture.

Their Beer Battered Onion Rings (Php175) is one of their must try appetizers hence, my mother who's crazy about onion rings decided on it. Its beautiful hue of golden brown color was a dead giveaway of how crisp it would be. And it did not disappoint. It was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, the innate sweetness of white onion complemented the beautiful seasoning of its batter. Dip it in its accompanying garlic aioli sauce, your taste buds will be greeted with nothing but perfection.

Then we also had their bagnet style pork belly called Pork Belly Crisp (Php310) which was served on a bed of beautifully cooked red rice with pickled vegetables and seasoned vinegar on the side.

It was a perfect dish for anyone who loves their pork crisp. True to its promise of being bagnet-style, it can be liken to a perfectly cooked chicharon or fried pork rinds. The crispness of the skin was paired perfectly with the flavorful tenderness of its meat. And if you are going to try, might I suggest to enjoy it right after it hits your table otherwise the skin will turn a tad too hard to the bite. Otherwise, it was a lovely pork dish.

The Roasted Lemon Chicken (Php290) was a dish equally pleasing with its tender meat hinting of lemon and herby flavor. It was aesthetically satisfying not jut to the eye even more so to the palate.

Truffled gravy maybe a bit too much because of its citrusy flavor profile, but trust me, the combination was so perfect you would want more bite after another. The menu said it is served with roasted bell pepper and corn relish which would have been a perfect accompaniment, but I guess it's just one of those days when they run out of it so a mixture of corn, peas, and carrots served as its side kick instead.

Part of Chives' Lunch Specials (Php195) was this perfectly cooked Gangnam Chicken served with Spring Roll on a bed of red rice. Customers have the option for white rice which I deem perfect for something as flavorful as Korean flavor-inspired chicken and it was also served with an iced tea. It was a bang for a buck considering its flavor and serving portion. Since it is a lunch special, it's only available from 11am to 2pm only.

I am not the one to say no to when it comes to a promise of cheese-laden meals, so we also got Chives' Four Cheese Burger (Php270). It was a perfect burger dish with its 1/3 pound pure beef patty in a beautiful homemade kaiser bun laden with melted mornay mozzarella and served with potato wedges.

The dining experience was pleasant enough that in my mental note it merits a revisit. But when the community quarantine happened, I figured, it will take time.

Good thing though that one of their Facebook posts appeared on my timeline one day and I figured why not give their delivery service via third party app a go. Unfortunately, our area isn't part of their delivery coverage, hence I arranged a pick up via the local delivery guy in our area. It was not a walk in the park, I sincerely hope that food delivery services realize that there are plenty of food enthusiasts in our area ready to pay to be fed with good food.

Anyway, I was lucky enough that a good hearted delivery guy agreed to the arrangement I had with Chives' personnel for food pick up.

it is expected that most restaurants accommodating pick up and delivery services would only offer limited menu during the pandemic. It was a good thing that Chives' menu, although limited, still offers sumptuous feast well worth the bucks and calories. Their House Salad (Php195) for instance, can be a meal in itself. It has leafy greens, tomatoes, green apples, anchovies, and crisp fried calamari served with tangy vinaigrette sauce. Dare I say it's one of the best house salad I had in such a long time.

For entree, we had their Salted Egg Pork Belly (Php335) which I find solidly impressive with its fork tender texture. The salted egg flavor was very mild which can be a good thing because I always find too much of it can be a tad cloying.

This was my favorite among the lot we have ordered and I can see myself probably having it once again when I revisit Chives Bistro and Market. Their Pork Belly Crisp dish which I am guessing was a cousin of this dish was good, but this Salted Egg variety took the game to several notch higher.

We also had the Chives' Signature Ribs (Php350) which was expectedly impressive since it is a signature dish. It sort of reminded me of the ones normally enjoy at Bannaple, although this one was more savory than sweet.

Their Southern Fried Chicken (Php280) was a bit of a let down simply because I wasn't given a heads up that it's mostly strips of fried battered chicken. It's more of a chicken fingers than anything else. but I am not complaining since my kid nephew enjoyed it.

The Truffled Mushroom Pasta (Php270) was a tad dry and a bit bland in my opinion, I was looking for that distinct truffle taste, but it was so subtle it was close to none. But I am guessing it has something to do with the fact that it was a home delivery after all? I could imagine enjoying this after it was freshly cooked - perhaps it could have been a stellar experience.

Despite some misses, Chives Bistro & Market is one of the restaurants I would love to go back to if only to taste again those dishes which I love and to try some of those which I haven't yet. Their food attendants were very accommodating, even during the time when I was arranging a food pick up, they were very nice and friendly.

Good thing that they have once again opened their door and are accepting dine-in customers because trust me, it is one of restaurants you would want to visit when you are in the area.