Pepper & Peppers

A group of young Dabawenyo entrepreneurs — coming from different fields of expertise but altogether passionate about good food — opened last 1 December 2007 a new restaurant that will certainly add color and flavor to the fast-growing restaurant scene in Davao. Pepper & Peppers.

Last 26 January 2008, Mike Sy, John Obsines and Carlos Alba hosted our band of foodies for a hearty lunch at their place. Pepper & Peppers is hip and classy. It really matters to discerning diners when the restaurant is well-appointed and uses quality materials. What more if the food is great!

The house specialty at Pepper & Peppers is the Iberian Chicken (P375). It’s one whole chicken, marinated in herbs and spices (including lots of garlic), olive oil and unpeeled potatoes, and oven-baked for two hours! This is certainly a must-try for those of you who haven’t been there yet. This dish serves 4 to 6 people.

When I eat chicken, I go for the white-meat parts, but I know many people prefer the dark meat. The white meat is less tasty, but it’s healthier. In Pepper & Peppers’ Iberian Chicken, however, the whole chicken is superb. The breast was so juicy and savory, I was happy to give away the legs and wings to the rest of the gang. And the marinade! It was all I could do to stop myself from pouring it all over the chicken and rice.

For starters, we were served two types of salads: the Chicken Caesar’s Salad (P75) and the Garden Fresh Salad (P75). I helped myself to the latter, which had lettuce, strips of carrot, fresh tomatoes, jicama (singakamas), cucumber and bits of cheese. The first one also looked good, but it looked rather heavy, so I opted for the other one. Both salads can actually be split into two orders.

I’d also recommend their Chicken Croquetas. In Davao, I’ve only ever liked one source of croquetas, and that’s made by my good friend Silvia Gomez-Gempesaw. But the croquetas at Pepper & Peppers have opened my eyes to more possibilities…

Our enthusiastic hosts let us try quite a number of their other offerings. It was too much, actually, but nobody was complaining. There was the Peppered Steak (P200), which was tender and cooked just right, but had too much rosemary in it, I think. The others enjoyed it though.

For a hassle-free but filling meal, you might want to order what they call El Grande (P175). It’s prepared with a quarter chicken, hungarian sausage, beef slices, tiny shrimps and scrambled eggs. It also comes with a hefty serving of rice.

Seafoods? They have that, too. I forgot to check the menu if there were others, but we were served the Mixed Seafood Platter (P165), which has fish, shrimp, squid, shellfish (imbao), all topped with a seasoned red sauce.

I shouldn’t forget to mention the pasta! They have several choices, but what we had last Saturday was their Spicy Portuguese Pasta (P100). It’s really hot and the taste is simply awesome. Mind you, it’s herring that they put in there — but it doesn’t have that fishy aftertaste at all.

What I appreciate is the fact that Pepper & Peppers doesn’t scrimp on ingredients, and the servings are really ample. Many of their dishes can actually be good for two people already. If you’re going there as a group, a good way to eat there would be to order a couple of entrées and maybe two salads, and everybody just digs in.

Pepper & Peppers is located at this new arcade called “The Site” on Jacinto Ext (near Bangko Sentral). According to the owners, though, the place has come to be called “Convenience Store Compound”, because of the store right in front. The restaurant is rather small (only about five or six tables inside), so it’s advisable to call ahead for reservations. For the Iberian Chicken, they ask that you order it two hours in advance. Tel.: (82)303-5955.

Photos of the Davao Food Trip #5, courtesy of Ria Jose.

Tags: Continental, Filipino, Spanish

462 views, 5 today

on 28 Jan 2008 at 9:45 am 1) Ria Jose said …

WOW! I’m so happy you used my newbie photos.

Looking to more food trips with you!

on 28 Jan 2008 at 4:59 pm 2) DFH said …

We’ve been dying to try this place out since it opened. Sige sige will try it out na! Thanks Master Blogie!

on 28 Jan 2008 at 6:22 pm 3) Louhanna said …

Finally! A review on Pepper & Peppers. Can’t stop thinking about the Iberian Chicken. Kahit la na ung chicken, the oil and the garlic over rice ulam pa rin…..YUMMY!!! Yun pa lang na-try ko dun eh. Will try the croquetas next time….

on 29 Jan 2008 at 10:04 pm 4) Bon said …

Blogie - Another great review! Looks like you are loosing a lot of weight from the photos. You are definitely determined to get a six pack. It’s going to be a challenge with all the upcoming food trips.

Gosh, I would be so amazed if you can get DFH to come. I would even be more amazed if you can snap a photo of her and post it on your blog. Have you actually seen her in person? I’ve always been curios what she looks like.

on 05 Feb 2008 at 10:46 pm 5) Alex D. Divinagracia said …

We were there last Monday…not so satisfied with the service. The adobo that we ordered was too oily and dry… my porkchop was not too good either… we ordered beer and it took a lifetime na dumating…kung hindi pa ako tumayo at pumasok sa loob-hindi sya na serve at nakalimutan na! we were sitting outside then coz we were smoking… i think the waiter/waitress were busy entertaining those young people inside…my gosh..they got all the menus and we were left waiting outside…. we are a better capacity paying guest im sure!and you dont treat a travel agent like that?Anyway, better luck next time…

on 06 Feb 2008 at 11:23 am 6) Mistalava said …

I entertained friends at Pepper & Peppers on my recent trip to Davao. It was great! Unfortunately, when I ordered the croquettes the answer was the ubiquitous “sorry sir, out of stock”. I will be back on future visits. The place was a little hard to find from the street, buried in the back of the convenience complex. The Iberian Chicken is really the dish to go for.

on 14 Feb 2008 at 8:42 am 7) certifiedfoodie said …

wow! im readin this blog while im supposed to be doin sumthin else.. anyway, I have not visited this place yet but Im gonna try it really soon. Btw, can we submit our “reviews” of the places we have visited. I’m really a foodie, not a healthy eater though. But id love to share my new experiences with food.

on 24 Feb 2008 at 8:51 am 8) for the love of food said …

hi! i would like to comment about this restaurant, kasi my mom went here twice and after every visit she complains about the service…if you could advice the owner to look into their staff… in the two occasions that she went there, the waiter always made a mistake of only putting the order for only one person, when in fact she orders for two. and the people she brings there are usually important guests from outside Davao. It gives a bad impression to not only my mom but the restaurant and Davao.

on 12 Jul 2008 at 3:54 pm 9) Fr. Tom Martin said …

Went there last night. We had coffee at near by coffee shop and decided to walk down the street looking at restaurants. We walked into the center where Pepper and Peppers was located. I saw the name and recalled it from your blog. We would have never found it if not just walking by because I do not recall any signage on the street. The decor was nice and it certainly was very clean. The wait staff was okay since we were the only ones in the restaurant. I happen to be one of those people that like for the wait staff to make suggestion and engage in some conversation which they do not, but others may prefer not being bothered by the wait staff. The garden salad was good, the nachos were certainly different than someone use to Tex-Mex food would be familar with, but they were okay, my friend had fish and he said it was good, I happen to have steak and found it tough and dry. Oh yes, the potato soup was good. Pepper and Peppers is a place if I was hungry and close by I would stop in, but certainly would not travel across town or take special guest to. There was a barber shop in the same center and my friend did get an excellent haircut after dinner so it was a trip well worthwhile.