Fely J: Redux

I had the chance to revisit Fely J (someone treated a whole bunch of us for lunch; as a rule, I tend not to object to a particular venue if I am the treatee). However, I did manage to steer them clear of most of the disasters from my first visit, except for the tilapia, which on this second visit was actually good (at least better than the first time I tried it).

This time around, we had the vegetables in gata, crispy pata with bawang, tortang talong, sapang (hope i got the name right) spicy squid, and the lumpiang ubod along with the tilapia. Unfortunately, I remain underwhelmed. The cripy pata with tons of toasted bawang looked incredibly appetizing. Unfortunately, although the trotter was quite meaty, the skin was disappointingly chewy. The garlic accompaniment was also toasted with something I couldn't quite pinpoint; I much preferred the purity of bawang. Overall, the lack of crisp was a major letdown. I mean, the whole point of a crispy pata is that it should live up to its name and be darn crispy!

The squid was (it tasted to me) a pale version of the original Indonesian(?); reworked to appeal to the Filipino palate. Bland and tough, the dish was not memorable. (I wish restaurants would stop fiddling with recipes to cater to Filipino tastebuds; I would much prefer unfamiliar authencity to bland reinterpretation). The simple vegetable dishes stood out among our orders. The lumpiang ubod is the kind with the sauce built in; quite good and not too sweet. The vegetables in gata and the tortang talong were also quite tasty. But then again, it is not saying very much if all the kitchen can whip up are the basic gulay dishes.

I also had the chance to sample the desserts; we had the bayabas pie, cassava cake, and something intriguingly called Secreto ni Maria Clara. I didn't care too much for the bayabas pie (which was admittedly a healthy serving size); it was an apple pie in disguise, sans the apple (I would have preferred the apple). The cassava cake was soft but lack that certain oomph. As for the much vaunted Secreto (served for 25 years), it was just mango and sticky rice with macapuno sherbet, and not a very good version, I might add. The dessert might have been a mind-blowing decades ago, but nowadays, you can get the same at a number of good Thai and pan-Asian restaurants (try the mango and sticky rice in People Palace, mucho better).

Overall, the restaurant still failed to impress. (As an aside, have anyone else noticed that the restaurants in Greenbelt 5 are generally not very good? particularly given the price points. I've tried quite a few but not one stands out. Oh well, there are still a good number I haven't tried so there's hope).

Fely J

Fely J is a new restaurant in Greenbelt 5 serving an eclectic menu of Filipino and Asian dishes. The restaurant is part of the LJC group of restaurants, which, upon my discovery (the group had cleverly printed all their restaurants on the paper placemat), had raised a red flag (too many forgettable meals in different LJC restaurants). However, since we were seated and my friends had already ordered (I arrived late), I decided to give the new kid on the block a chance.

I knew I should have trusted my instincts; the meal was really not very good. We ordered the dilis rice, sisig, kadyos, and the tilapia with plum sauce. The recommended (by the waitstaff) dilis rice reads nice (fried crispy dilis on rice) but the execution fell short. The oil from the crispy fish had soaked through the rice, resulting in a heavy, oily mess (one hopes they used olive oil). The dilis itself was tasteless, pure texture, no substance. Not a very pleasant dish; we left half untouched.

The sisig was the smallest sisig I had ever seen, the serving was literally the size of a saucer plate (yung patungan ng coffee cup). The dish was also quite oily (I know, you order sisig, you should expect oil). The kadyos was an unusual dish, a regional specialty of Iloilo consisting of pata and langka in soup base (flavored I think with star anise). It must be the manileno in me, I really couldn't appreciate it. To an ilonggo it might be comfort food, but to me, it was pork and langka in a pool of oily, brownish liquid. Finally we come to the tilapia, fried and smothered with the sweet plum sauce. It takes great skill to ruin what was basically a very simple dish, but the restaurant managed somehow. Really, you can get better in any decent chinese restaurant. (Oil seems to be a signature element of the restaurant).

We couldn't wait to leave and seek comfort in dessert (thank goodness for Classic Confections).

Service was good (that's a certainly a plus), but I found the restaurant to be incredibly noisy (seems to be a common problem with Greenbelt restaurants). Pricing was also okay given the location (I don't mean cheap though, P1500 for three persons).

Overall, recommend you look elsewhere for your Pan-Asian food fix.