Restaurant Review: Congo Grille

My husband and I were once again out on a Friday night for a dinner date. My parents were also out on a date and my brother does not usually have dinner in the house on Friday nights, so my mom “forced” Boyet and I to eat out. Of course, we gladly obliged.

Unfortunately, Boyet had to work overtime so he arrived at The Fort at 8:30PM. We were both tired from the day’s work and I was so busy to even try to look for a place to eat. There were a couple of times when we planned to go out on a Friday night but we ended up going through a McDonald’s Drive-Thru for dinner.

Since it was already getting late (Yes, late na sa amin ang nasa labas ng 9PM), we spontaneously searched a restaurant along Jupiter St. with a decent parking space. We spotted the newly-opened Congo Grille which was a little crowded with a lot of yuppies who were relaxing after the work week.


For a cold and rainy night, hot soup for dinner is a must. My husband scanned the menu and decided to get Sinigang na Tyan ng Bangus. I know people who skip the belly part when they’re eating bangus (milkfish) which is absurd. Bangus belly is my favorite. As a matter of fact, we need to equally divide the belly whenever my mom is serving bangus on the table as everybody wants a piece of it.


Congo Grille’s sinigang has the right acidity, and there was a generous amount of the bangus belly. However, I noticed something was off when I gave it a taste. It was a little fishy but there was also something in its taste that I couldn’t figure out. When I asked Boyet to taste it, he said that the bangus is “ma-gilik”. Gilik is actually that muddy taste in fish, most common in milkfish. Because of this, we didn’t force ourselves to finish the dish. We didn’t even attempt to take home our leftovers.

Congo Grille boasts of its award-winning sisig. When it was served to us, I was hoping it would at least redeem the restaurant after the disappointing sinigang.

It’s actually moist, and the sauce is very delicious. The pork bits are really small so I couldn’t figure out whether their sisig has the usual pork ears and snouts. The pork bits are very crispy so I’m pretty sure that their sisig has pork skin, more of chicharon. The only downside I had with this particular dish is the amount of onions. The white onions surely enhanced the flavors of the sisig, even adding to the mild sweetness of the dish. But it was too much. Parang Sibuyas Sisig dapat ang name nya. :(


Congo Grille
Jupiter St., corner Orbit St.,
Bel-Air Village,
Makati City