Influenced by a raving review of the place from a celebrated local food blogger, we trooped to Gulliver’s of San Francisco at the Great Eastern Hotel along Makati Avenue to have our fill of their prime rib steak in the hopes that it would top our Elbert’s experience.

So how does it compare? I can’t wait to tell you — read on.

Setting. Brass trolleys, costumed servers, and candlelit tables aside, the ambiance of this place reminded me of one thing: the daily scheduled brownouts (power interruptions) in Manila during the late 80’s/early 90’s. It takes the meaning of the phrase dim lighting to a totally different level, one that would make you squint at any strobe of light upon exit. More so, the place looks and feels shabby and begrimed. Perhaps its only redeeming factor is the wide view of the Makati skyline, but even that was not enough to compensate. This has got to be one of the worst restaurant atmospheres for me. I was hoping the food would make it worth while.

I was wrong. Here’s what we had.

The Gulliver’s Tidbits platter (P295) consisted of crab rangoon, crispy duck, panko, prawns and calamari fritti was pretty much your standard bistro-type appetizer sampler. With the exception of the crispy duck, I did not find anything in this dish exceptional — I’d even go for Ersao’s deep fried treats any day.

The saving grace of that platter was the Crispy Almond Duck, served with a spicy plum sauce. I liked its crisp texture and rich flavor.

Bread from the complimentary basket was soft and doughy

This is perhaps the most forgettable scallops dish I’ve ever had. The Sea Scallops Mariniere (P675) had a weird combination of flavors, with the milky sauce confusing my taste buds. All of us did not like it.

The main event was our Roast Prime Rib of Beef — I ordered the Gulliver’s Cut (P890), served with Yorkshire pudding, spinach souffle, baked potato, and creamed corn. So how was it? In one word, and in my humble but honest opinion: atrocious. Despite being a cut of the highest grade of beef (prime), the texture had a very rubbery feel to it — I had to laboriously saw through the meat with my knife just to cut through. The flavor was not any better either, in fact, it was bland and tasteless. The most flavor I got was that similar to chunky corned beef in cans. Perhaps roast beef is just not for me, but the experience was really that bad.

It says a lot when one likes the cheap side dish so much more than the main course — and that’s what happened to me with the creamed corn.

The service was nothing to write home about, although it wasn’t as bad as the meal. A costumed server stood and watched steadily a few meters away from us. I noticed that our bread basket was not refilled, despite their instant agreement to our request. Price wasn’t that bad either, at around P1000+ per head, but it’s a different story altogether if you have to take the food quality and total dining experience into consideration.

Overall verdict. It’s very seldom to have my frequent co-diners agree on our favorite dishes whenever we eat out, given our very different tastes, likings, and gastronomic upbringings. However, we unanimously agreed that Gulliver’s was one of our worst dining experiences ever, leading me to believe that the glowing blog review I’ve read was, at best, nothing more than the writer’s quirky personal taste and should not be regarded as anything relevant to anyone’s potential enjoyment. If you do heed my taste and opinion though, here’s what I can say: avoid this place at all costs.

Gulliver’s of San Francisco
10/F, Great Eastern Hotel
7842 Makati Avenue
Makati City, Metro Manila
Tel. #: (02) 896-7475

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