Lettuce Says,
A random invite for a foodie meetup from Zomato PH brought me, my hubby John and my two foodie colleagues Gnoe and Nathan to this goto haven, Goto Monster on a rainy workday, the perfect weather for eating goto. They are located along P. Ocampo St. cor Primo De Rivera, La Paz, Makati City. For driving directions just use Google Maps like what we did. The first thing you will see along the street is Chooks To Go, then Dexter Pizza, then the red and white theme of Goto Monster. Be warned though that they do not have parking spaces so you have to park on the side streets near it.
On to the PLACE
Goto Monster is a no-frills al fresco hole in the wall goto joint that serves simple yet appetizing dishes with unexpected twists. This is an upgraded gotohan like no other. We were welcomed by owners, Jean and Michael. Jean shared their love for home cooking with a dash of creativity that led to the birth of Goto Monster. She personally designed their logo and had made a wall with the caricatures of famous Filipino personalities.
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| Resto Logo |
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| Creative Wall |
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| Sidewalk Dining |
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| Open Air Dining |
On to the FOOD
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| Fresh Spring Rolls with Bagnet (PhP120) |
Fresh Spring Rolls with Bagnet served with 3 sauces of peanut butter, pesto and chili. The filling of leafy mustasa and cucumber greens were really fresh and crunchy, with the bagnet meat, fat and skin to surprise you with a hint of saltiness with a little dollop of sauces, will surely whet your appetite. The transparent roll that they used resembled that of a vietnamese roll but were more jellylike in firmness and stickiness. Other options for the filling are mushrooms or eggplant instead of bagnet.
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| Tinapa Flakes with Chili |
They also have tinapa flakes on oil and chili as dip that you can generously add and goes really well to about anything on their menu. You can also buy small jars to take home.
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| Fresh Garden Tofu (PhP150) |
Fresh Garden Tofu was served next. A big block of soft tofu with a semi-sweet ginger sauce, mustasa, green onion leeks, fried dried dulong fish and duck salted egg. This dish was actually a surprise, the photo says it all, can you imagine this served in this simple gotohan and not in a fancier restaurant? And the taste was unique and refreshing.
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| Fork It Out |
I liked that they already cut the tofu into rectangular cubes you can easily fish out a piece using a tiny fork.
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| Tokwa + Bagnet + Talong Chips |
Tokwa + Bagnet + Talong Chips
This three musketeers are the perfect side order to overload your goto cravings. These are all deep fried and are great to eat on their own.
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| Pampalasa Barkada |
A mix of their bagoong and suka was what Jean recommended us to try as dipping sauce.
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| Goto Bagnet Special |
The Main Star - Goto Special
Goto is the Filipino version of rice porridge or congee, cooked from malagkit (sticky) rice and slow cooked with the goto (ox tripe) and beef broth. Goto Monster's version made use of only rice, spices and patis (fish sauce) as the main lugaw base, and just add the goto as toppings together with toasted garlic, green onion leeks, chicharon (pork cracklings), tinapa flakes (smoked fish), and salted duck egg. The use of tinapa and salted egg instead of the usual boiled egg was interesting and effective on adding that salty kick to the goto. No need to add more fish or soy sauce, just squeeze in the calamansi, load with tokwa and bagnet and you're good to go, scoop this warm comfort food while listening to the drizzling rain outside.
They also have rice meals in the form of silogs (sinangag with itlog or garlic fried rice and egg) but we skipped these because we were already full and a bit sleepy from all the goto.
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| Pineapple Herb Slush (PhP75) |
Pineapple Herb Slush
The slush was really refreshing with just a hint of sweetness. I liked the taste, though quite lacking of the pineapple essence and the texture needs improvement. The herbs overpowered the slush that I had a hard time sipping it down, too much leaves maybe?
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| Service Water from a hot water kettle! Cool! |
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| Champorado Waffles Special Ala Mode (PhP135) |
Champorado Waffles Special Ala Mode
Waffles + Vanilla Ice Cream + Rice Crispies + Champorado Sauce Drizzle with a shot of Crispy Fried Dulong Fish. Brilliant combination of sweet and salty, I loved it!
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| Pour and Devour |
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| Banana Chocnut Waffles Special Ala Mode (PhP135) |
Banana + Chocnut = Sunrise Approved (meaning hubby John love this!)
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| Bibingka Waffles Special Ala Mode (PhP135) |
Upon seeing the salted duck egg, I was quite skeptic if it will work on this kind of dessert. As soon as I forked a portion of the waffle which was made from bibingka batter, ice cream, caramel sauce and a bit of egg, and upon tasting the combined flavors, I knew I have discovered a new favorite!
Goto Monster Challenge: Man Vs. Goto
They have an ongoing challenge for goto lovers with big stomachs who can finish a big bowl of Goto in 45 minutes or less. Beat it and your goto will be free! You will also get a certified Goto Monster T-Shirt and have your spot on their Wall of Fame. If you lose, you will have to pay PhP 750! So, are you up for the challenge?
All of us 12 Zomato foodies present were all well fed and happy that the continuous rain did not dampen our chatty spirits nor our appetite. Hope to see and dine with you again fellow foodies! Photo below, Ralph the FoodChief and friend Jessa, Lettuce and John of My Empty Plates, Shet Sarap Boys (Aric, Fonte, Renzo, Chino), Mel of Foodie Day Out, Ron of Psst.Ph, Gnoegrapher and Nathan!
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| Photo from Goto Monster |
Shoutout to Zomato's fantabulous girls, Trisha, Louie and Iris!
Nice meeting you Jean and Michael! We will surely be back for more of the amazing and craveworthy goto and waffles! #Taraletz Eat! #MyEmptyPlates #LettuceandJohn #LettuceandSunrise
This Foodie Meetup event was organized by Zomato and all dishes served were complimentary, courtesy of Goto Monster.
Rule No.1 NO LEFTOVERS
Hashtag #myemptyplates for all your emptied plates!!!
Goto Monster
Primo de Rivera Street Corner Pablo Ocampo Sr. Extension
La Paz, Makati City
(02) 246-9069 ext:315
Open 24 Hours, Mondays to Sundays
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