I had to pick up my brother’s medical records at a Quezon City hospital today and since traffic was horrendous, as usual, we arrived in the Quezon City area almost noon. We decided to grab a quick lunch before heading to the hospital since the lady at the medical records was kind enough to warn us ahead of time that there was one document still missing and that she would text me if it was ready after lunch.
B and I decided to try Livestock since my sis-in-law has been raving about their so-tender-you-can-use-a-popsicle-stick crispy pata. When we arrived, parking was easy enough as there were few people on a weekday noon. I was happy to find out that El Cangrejo was also in the same block as Livestock…this was another restaurant that I knew my husband would love. We were ushered in by a friendly server into an almost empty restaurant and promptly shown to our table.
The Livestock menu is really cute…with the pig drawing on the face of the menu. I have this affinity for pigs, or rather, my family has an affinity for pigs…back when I was little, we even have a collection of pig and piglet figurines and decors.
Place setting…so ready to eat!
Melt-in-your Mouth Crispy Pata (Php650 + SC)
Verdict: The crispy pata was really tender, not as melt in your mouth as touted by sis-in-law or the menu but more tender than most crispy patasI’ve eaten. It certain is bigger too…big enough for me to wonder if this was a boar. And I am pretty sure it was when I bit into the meat because boar have distinctive smell when cooked. In this case, while the pata was huge, it certainly wasn’t good for 3-4 persons since the bone was huge as well. The husband loved the crispy pata although he says it’s probably not something we’d order for our rare crispy pata Sunday dinners since it was too expensive (we usually order from Andok’s which is only Php300).
Grilled Lamb Ribs (Php480 + SC)
Verdict: This was a really good dish, tender and juicy. We initially ordered the 12-hour roast beef but they were out of this. A good non-pork option for us since we rarely order lamb when dining out. i was surprised that we didn’t need to have mint jelly on the side. I do wish they added a few more sticks of asparagus to offset the richness of the lamb.
Overall, Livestock is a good place for your crispy pata fix especially if there’s more than two of you dining. It gets pretty pricey when there’s just two people and you get lesser chance to try out other dishes too. Service is fast and friendly. There’s the occasional fly that can pester you especially when the food arrives but nothing that the server can’t fix.
Bisdak Girl: Work Hard, Live Harder 