Looloo Rendezvoos: The Halal Guys (Quezon City)

One of the best things about being invited to a looloo rendezvoos is to able to taste different dishes that you have not been familiar with before. I'm talking about foreign cuisine in particular, and this event allowed me not just to accustom myself to different flavors but to make them a part of my next "foodventure."

I've tried some Japanese, Chinese and a few Korean -- they're pretty much everywhere. So I was fortunate to be invited to Cocina Peruvia last October where I was introduced to Peruvian cuisine, which I was not familiar with. It was a new experience to me and I enjoyed it very much.

One of the most recent "rendezvoos" I attended was an event at The Halal Guys inside Eastwood Mall last March 20. As with all the looloo rendezvoos I've gone to, I hadn't tried The Halal Guys yet so I was, again, lucky to be invited there. Every looloo rendezvoos I have been to is the "first" for me, so far!

The Halal Guys was "cooking up" (pardon the pun) new items at the time so we were both curious and thrilled at the same time on what we would try.

I had heard about The Halal Guys and seen them on several food shows before. It is a halal fast-casual restaurant based on Manhattan, New York City. It began as a humble food cart but now it has several branches not just all over the US, but in other parts of the world as well.

I believe that The Halal Guys' first Philippine branch at SM Megamall (which opened in 2015) is their first overseas store (correct me if I'm wrong). At the time of its opening, there was certainly the hype that surrounded it resulting to long lines of customers eager to try their gyro platters and other stuff.

I had been actually eyeing to drop by The Halal Guys, but eventually the discouraging mixed reviews made me to shelve any future plans of visiting there. So what customers were mostly beefing about? They said that their gyro platter was too bland. But was it really? I thought that since The Halal Guys offers Middle Eastern cuisine, it's supposed to be flavorful, to say the least (if not spicy).

Fortunately, this invite from looloo's Peanut D. and Roegan T. and The Halal Guys would let me see if their stuff was any good. So let's begin!

Spicy Chicken BBQ -- as of this writing, this will be available for a limited period only. Contrary to the name, the chicken itself was not too spicy; in fact, it was more on the sweet side, but it certainly had the hints of BBQ sauce.

When you add the hot sauce and the white sauce to the dish and combine all of them together, the result was really, really good and satisfying. The chicken was tender too, not dry. It was an explosion of flavors, and I thought it was a very balanced meal. You get all the protein, carbs and vegetables in one plate -- if the Spicy Chicken BBQ doesn't fill your belly, I don't know what will.

As I've implied before, most people who have tried their "platters" say that they are bland, they are lacking flavor, etc. The problem lies with NOT mixing all the components together to get the desired flavor. We otherwise did that exactly to our Spicy Chicken BBQ. If you want it a lot spicier, just add the hot sauce. I liked spicy flavors, and I was blown away by their hot sauce (spiciness level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 over 10) but it was okay. Although it made my nose a bit runny, it was fine! :) That's the usual reaction you get from eating spicy stuff. I thought any specific dish would be boring without some kick. And oh, the pita bread was good too.

Grilled Chicken and Beef Gyro - I wasn't able to take pictures of these samples, so I will describe them in mere words.

Beef - it appeared na parang tapa siya, but I was surprised (and delighted) that they weren't dry and chewy. It was flavorful as well.

Chicken - I preferred this one. Tender, but less flavorful, and I get that because you'll add the white and hot sauce to create the perfect balance of flavors.

And oh, by the way, "gyro" is actually pronounced as "jee-ro" in Greek.

Hot Wings -- they were not really that "hot" to my liking. I was a bit (just a bit) disappointed that they came as a bit too salty instead.

Good thing I had the pita bread, the blander turmeric rice and veggies on my Spicy BBQ Chicken platter, plus the white sauce, to go with the Hot Wings. But I liked these wings, I liked their flavor, texture and the glaze -- I would have loved them if they weren't a bit too salty.

Aaaaaaaannndd here are the newest ones on the menu: the Pocket Sandwiches! They were officially released sometime last week and are now available for a limited time only.

However, we were lucky to have the exclusive opportunity to try them first on this rendezvoos:

🔸Cobbler Fish - it was bland. I felt that it needed some more seasoning, but I liked the texture of the fish especially the breading. I added it with the hot sauce... So maybe that was the point. You add the flavor yourself.

🔸Falafel - I preferred this one better. I loved at how crusty-crunchy the falafel balls were. And they were a bit more flavorful compared to the fish one. I know falafels are vegetarian, but it was my first time to taste them and they did not disappoint! (considering I'm somewhat feeling iffy about vegetarian meals) And this meal came with fries!

Both were good and filling... not to mention they were low-fat but rich in protein. Healthy!

While there were a few misses and inconsistencies, I was otherwise satisfied by most of what The Halal Guys offered to our rendezvoos. I love spicy foods so that further added my appreciation for Middle Eastern cuisine in general. And come on, it's not as bad as you think! Give them another chance and you'll appreciate the flavors in the end.

Thank you looloo app and The Halal Guys for the opportunity! Good thing their branch in Megamall is still up (it's the most accessible branch as I am a Megamall baby, hehehe) so I plan visit there any time soon. :)