No Whiner, Big Boy's Diner

My recent post about Big Boy's Diner on my facebook page received an overwhelming post engagement! Unfortunately I wasn't able to include a blog post with further details about the restaurant because I was so excited to share the photos and review so I uploaded it a s a p! Talk about too much excitement 😁

Retro isn't really my thing. It's an era I'm not really familiar with at all and somewhere from afar a baby boomer rolls their eyes at me - because I'm the typical millennial although I appreciate the classic vintage and jazz music! does it count? lol. But I came across Big Boy one time when I was riding Angkas along Sto. Domingo (huhu I miss angkas) and I searched for it on Zomato.

Honestly some food and crowd reviews in Zomato from 3 months ago made me a bit skeptical in going there. But I always have this personal mantra, "See it for yourself before you judge!". Good thing it was my friend's birthday celebration and the night is still young before the festivity so I decided to make a quaint request to my boyfriend for a really really quick dinner at Big Boy's Diner.

HOW TO COMMUTE 101: From Sto. Domingo Church near Araneta Avenue, you can ride a tricycle and just tell them Big Boy's Diner.

Big Boy's Diner is hard to miss at night along Sto. Domingo Avenue in Quezon City. I prefer to go there in the evening as the place actually looks better with the neon lights on. The restaurant is open from 10am to 10pm. The place is not that big so I guess the queue really gets long on a peak night. I counted the number of seats and the whole resto can accommodate 25-30 pax at most.

The restaurant facade

Cinema lights menu board!

Boyfriend keeps on playing phone games---hayyy bad, bad hmp!

As we sat down, the waitress quickly went to our table and gave us the menus. I asked her what are the bestsellers and she said their chicken and their Christmas special ribs. My boyfriend likes western meat so without hesitation he wanted the solo platter of ribs then he wanted to try their pancakes. And because I knew I'm going to end up finishing the pancakes he ordered, I just opted for the appetizers- chili fries and onion rings and as a loyal strawberry lover, I ain't gonna leave without trying their milkshake.

(From top clockwise; Ribs Solo platter with creamy baked mac, chili fries, 2 pcs pancakes, Onion Rings and Strawberry milkshake)

                            

Overall, I loved their food!! 

SOLO RIBS PLATTER WITH CREAMY BAKED MAC- Soft and tender so it's hassle free eating, no incident of our teeth getting cracked and our jaws locked hehe. My boyfriend will vouch as well because I've never seen him eat ribs so fast and with the bones licked clean lol. But the best was the creamy baked mac and cheese. It's not runny nor it's too thick and it's more of creamy cheese than the usual baked mac that has creamy tomato sauce.

CHILI FRIES- This one is also good and the serving is generous! It's dripped with melted cheddar and topped with olives, Parmesan, jalapeño, ground beef with beans. Although I hope they put in more jalapeños than olives.

2PCS PANCAKES - The pancakes aren't really super thick inside but it's not like the hole-y ones. Although it's not think either. But it's big in terms of circumference. What made it taste good is the creamy butter and the syrup. NOTE: You can ask for a syrup refill!

ONION RINGS- When I saw the onion rings I remembered the brick onion rings of Racks! The serving is great but the batter is not tasty enough and I'm thinking if they used the Crispy Fry breading mix of Ajinomoto, hmmmm. I should've asked! But it comes with a garlic mayo dip so that gives the taste.

STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE- This is the part I was keen of. I specifically asked the waitress if the milkshake is syrup based or ice cream based and she told me it's ice cream based. As I expected, the milkshake is thicker and more frosty. The thickness and creaminess kind of overpowers the strawberry taste, I'm an obsessed strawberry lover so I want the flavor more but if you prefer really creamy milkshake you'll love this. I had a bit of hard time to sip it from the straw so I had it as take-out kasi ang tagal maubos. 

VERDICT

AMBIANCE - Aesthetic-wise, it's really nice but not that super grand either since it's a quaint space. The neon lights made the place special. And it's nicer if you know how to edit photos with neon lights. It's better to go there at night for the neon lights. I've heard that they only open the neon lights by 5pm.

CROWD- I went there on an ASEAN weekday holiday at 7:30pm. All the spots were occupied and luckily we got the last table for two. If there are only the two of you, you won't get the special round cubicles which are good for 4-6pax. I've read that on a peak night the queue really is long!

STAFF- The staff who served us seems new since she was asking her co-workers but she was definitely very accommodating. She offered to pack up our left-over for take out and she is very willing to answer all my questions. 

FOOD- The food is really good including the servings. Definitely worth the bucks.