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).