Dekada: A Family Destination for Great Food in Glorietta

When we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this year, we decided to treat my parents for lunch. The week before was also grandparents' day, so we brought our little princess with us to enjoy some bonding time with her lolo and lola.

When we got to Glorietta, I had no idea yet where to have lunch, and the first restaurant that we chanced upon after leaving the wonderland that is Landmark Makati was Dekada, which now occupies the space that was once held by a boutique in the corner of Glorietta right by the exit/entrance to Landmark.

It looked quaint and welcoming, painted in blue and white, with interesting knick-knacks on shelves. We skimmed the menu outside and saw they had rice and lots of Filipino viands. And at that time, around 11:00 am, it wasn't crowded or chaotic, and since we were all pretty famished already, we decided to go ahead and 'take the risk' with this new place.

Dekada offers 'historic Filipino cuisine' - in short, your traditional favorites. :)

We learned that Dekada is actually one of Marvin Agustin's (and his partners') newest restos, so it joins the likes of John and Yoko and Sumo Sam, and the other successful dining destinations in their line. I wasn't a fan of Marvin before, but seeing as how he was able to 'widen his horizon' by becoming an entrepreneur, I immediately took a liking for him - he's smart. :) Now enough about him. Hehe.

Dekada has a warm, homey ambiance. Like you were in your own dining room - with better paint and furniture. Shelves with vintage-y stuff keep you busy looking or tinkering around, while you wait for your food. My little one took a great liking for an old rotary phone right beside our table, the kind of which I was actually still able to use in my younger years (I miss the 90s.) 

Thankfully, the greatest distraction ever (aka FOOD) came, and we were able to pry her away from the phone. And oh, distracted we were! I ordered gising-gising, kare-kare, binusog na pusit, and crispy chicken for our party of four adults and one kid. I did not order drinks for myself because I discovered I can enjoy the taste of food more (especially if it's a new resto we're trying out) if the taste of the beverage doesn't get in the way. Hehe.

The gising-gising was divine, it was not overwhelmingly spicy, and the vegetables still had that nice crisp to it. The pusit tasted fresh, was flavorful, and despite being inihaw didn't taste charred in any way (as some inihaw offerings get). The kare-kare was creamy, and I loved how it had the right balance of veggies and seafood meat. The chicken was indeed crispy (but not oily! Yey!), and despite not being her usual Chickenjoy flavor, my picky-eater of a daughter enjoyed it so much she had like triple servings of it.

From left to right: Gising-Gising, Kare-Kare, Binusog na Pusit, and Crispy Chicken

Perfect way to end a meal! :)

The servings were generous. The prices were reasonable. The service was also prompt.  The food was cooked to a T (they were all pretty much - perfect!), in short, wala kang itatapon! They were all worth our hard-earned money. :) 

Oh and let's not forget this dessert/drink my daughter requested: Strawberry Milkshake. My 4-year-old said: "Ang cuuuute! Nasa jar!" I loved the presentation too. Kudos talaga for the effort. It had just the right combination of sweetness, creaminess, and that little 'sour' bite you can only get from real strawberries. :) I wanted to drink it all. But it wasn't mine.



To sum it up, Dekada is definitely a place where a family can enjoy good food at prices that would not weigh heavy on the budget - a restaurant you can actually go back to every weekend and still say it's worth it every single time. :) We live in Cavite, which is still quite a distance from Makati, so we most likely will not be able to do that a lot, but hey, given the chance, we absolutely would!

Our Grandparents' Day/6th Wedding Anniv lunch date