The Fat Seed + Roastery foodie experience (UP Town Center)

I haven’t been back to Katipunan in awhile, so imagine my surprise when I went there one sunny Saturday and saw UP Town Center in all its sprawling glory. WOW, it’s huge now! Last time I was there, there was only one building and around ~10 restaurants – now it’s a mall, with at least a hundred restaurants (I didn’t count them, so don’t trust this number), its own cinema, hardware, etc etc

Anyway, the reason why I was at UP Town Center one Saturday was because I was meeting up with friends at The Fat Seed + Roastery – a quaint little cafe which served good food amidst splendid ambiance (or so a Zomato review said). Thankfully, the Zomato review was spot-on because I absolutely loved The Fat Seed + Roastery – from the intricate paintings on the walls to the delicious food – I’d definitely come back again and again

So, without further ado – let’s dive into the food shall we?

For our starters, we chose Street Fries (potato wedges with bacon, nacho cheese, cherry tomatoes, sour cream, cilantro, jalapeno) at PHP 180; coupled with Brazilian Limeaid at PHP 135

The Brazilian Limeaid was refreshing and tangy, everything a good lemonade-like drink should be, and I’d highly recommend it. The Street Fries, on the other hand, while yummy, was nothing special. In fact, I’d have liked it more if there were more toppings – which seemed sadly woeful in comparison to the fries themselves

For our soup, we tried the Mushroom Soup at PHP 175, and the Clam Chowder at PHP 180. I don’t normally wax poetic about soup, but the Mushroom Soup was REALLY good – with mushroom chunks floating in the creamy soup, without being salty (a common complaint I have against mushroom soup in general). The Clam Chowder was so-so however

Ok, time for the mains! The first dish that came out was the Buttermilk Fried Chicken with bacon infused maple syrup, ube waffle in salted egg sauce, and pickled red onion (PHP 325)

The buttermilk fried chicken was expertly cooked (and boneless), definitely a tasty treat and something I would reorder. Plus, dipping the chicken into the salted egg sauce was just SINFUL. The waffles weren’t as crisp as I usually like them, but the ube flavor was definitely interesting

Next, we had the Wagyu Pares (wagyu beef cubes with beef broth served with fried rice & shao xing rice wine) at PHP 305. The wagyu beef cubes were incredibly tender and extremely flavorful (the sauce and beef broth were just superb!) Unfortunately, I felt like the serving was way too small (only 8 pieces!) and the fried rice was nothing to write home about

Afterwards, we had the Tartufo Pasta (cream truffle sauce, porcini, prosciutto and parmesan cheese) at PHP 310; and the Hotate Soy Cream Pasta (Japanese soy cream, scallops, ebiko, bonito flakes, nori shreds) at PHP 385

I personally love pasta when they’re springy, and both the Tartufo Pasta and the Hotate Soy Cream Pasta didn’t disappoint on this regard. Likewise, the sauce of both pasta were sufficient – not too cloying, but not underwhelming either. Having said that, the Hotate Soy Cream Pasta was DELICIOUS – all the flavors just came together really well. If pressed, THIS would be the dish I’d reorder if I came back here on my own

Last but definitely not the least, we feasted on The Fat Seed Signature Porkchop (beef brine porkchop, creamy deli mustard sauce, homemade miso, sweet potato puree) at PHP 395

While this was the most expensive dish, I didn’t regret it. Every single bite of the porkchop was expertly cooked – tender and bursting with flavor (albeit a bit salty according to one of my friend); while the sweet potato puree was an interesting spin to the traditional mashed potato

And that was pretty much it – all in all, our bill came out to PHP 2,249.50 (including service charge). However, because I had Zomato Gold membership, we got the Hotate Soy Cream Pasta for free – and our bill went down to PHP 2,044.50 (for 5 people, ergo ~PHP 400 each). Not bad for a satisfying meal!

Restaurant information:

• Address: Ground Floor, Phase 2, UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
• Operating hours: 10AM-10PM
• Approximate cost: PHP 500 per person
• Payment options: Cash, credit card