Viaje By Kev’s Pollo ala Brasa, Barley Risotto, Callos, Seafood Black Rice Burger Honest Review

Viaje by Kev has been making the rounds in the Manila food scene, because it delves in a cuisines that’s not as common here in the Philippines – Peruvian.

I’ve heard rave reviews about his Pollo ala Brasa so I decided – why not? (Especially because my brother finally got his first paycheck! So as per tradition, he had to treat the family – and I essentially told him this was the meal he was sponsoring LOL).

Anyway, long story short, this is what I ordered:

• Pollo ala Brasa: Rice Combo
• Barley Risotto
• Callos
• Seafood Black Rice Burger

Let’s start the review!

 

Customer Service

Let me just state that even before the food arrived, I was already in a slightly pissy mood.

The actual ordering process via the website was actually pretty smooth. I inputted my order, got confirmation email. All good. I then paid via bank transfer and sent proof of payment via email. I waited and waited and waited. Four days pass by and no response, despite me emailing again. In the end, I messaged their IG page and was informed that yes, they had received my payment. Phew – Strike 1.

Strike 2 – on the day itself, I had booked Grab at 10AM (pick up was set for 10:30AM). After an hour, the Grab rider hadn’t moved at all. At this point, I was feeling rather stressed. Kuya Grab wasn’t picking up either. So I call Viaje by Kev, couldn’t get through. Gaaah – the stress. My family gets super HANGRY when the food doesn’t arrive on time.

Finally – I get through to Viaje by Kev, am told that no my rider hadn’t picked up the food yet, and that I should pin Molave Gate, instead of the house address. What in the world, this wasn’t part of the instructions…?! But fine, I rebook and the food finally arrives at 1PM (my family has reached the HANGRY state and start all their sentences with “where’s the food?”)

Then Strike 3 occurs. When I open the food package – you need to “cook” it. Gaaah! Anyway, it isn’t cooking per se. Just need to heat over the stove, place in oven, those kind of stuff. But this still added an additional 30 mins before we could hunker down and eat. My stress levels was over the roof by this point, but what can one do?

Finally – time to eat!!!

 

Taste

Let’s go through the dishes – from the ones I liked the most to the blah ones.

#1 Pollo a la Brasa and Chorizo Rice

Roast chicken might sound simple, but Pollo a la Brasa was consistently praised by those who’ve tasted it, so I was pretty excited about this.

It didn’t disappoint. The Pollo a la Brasa was truly complex in flavors, AND the flavors permeate down to the bone. Every single bite was simply bursting with flavor. So good!

This came with two pepper-based sauces (red and green), no idea what they were. But honestly, the chicken on its own was already so good, you didn’t need to use these dipping sauces.

10/10 would recommend.

(The Chorizo Rice seriously underwhelmed though)

 

#2 Barley Risotto

I’ve tried making risotto and let me just say, it tasted nothing like this! So, this is clearly what good risotto should taste like LOL. The barley risotto was creamy and decadent, with mushrooms, leeks, and bacon as its toppings.

I found it a tad salty though, but suspect this was my fault because in the instructions to “cook” the risotto, it said to cook with 1/4 cup lightly salted water…. I probably over salted hehe!

Anyway, it was still good – and I really liked how the risotto absorbed alllll the flavor.

8/10 would recommend

 

#3 Callos

This had my family split. My mom and I quite liked it – it’s really generous with tons of oxtail, beef tripe, and ox trotters. But my brother pretty emphatically said it was too gelatinous in texture (which it was). Soooo, I guess I’d recommend this but with reservations?

5/10 would recommend

 

#4 Seafood Black Rice Burger

Booo – this one I would NOT recommend. It’s small, and lacked anything distinctive to it. Pass!

 

Okay, so overall – the bad customer service was quite upsetting, but the food is actually pretty good. Let’s see if I’ll reorder. But for now, we shall let this one fade into memory first LOL.