Delivery Snippets: Mi Cocina x The Purple Wok x Black Iron Grill

MI COCINA

Just a few minutes away from my house is a Spanish restaurant called Mi Cocina which serves up a selection of paella, tapas and lechon belly (which requires a 3 day lead time). For our family lunch, we tried its Mixta Paella (good for 5 pax) and their Lechon Belly Roll (good for 4 to 5 pax).

MIXTA PAELLA (P1500)

One impressive thing about Mi Cocina is that they give you utmost flexibility with regard to your preferred serving size – you can start as small as a serving size meant for 2 pax, and go as big as a serving size for 15 pax! The Mixta Paella is a beautiful mix of large shrimps, clams, chorizo, and mussels atop paella rice. They definitely do not skimp on toppings – assuring you of the utmost value for your money. Personally, I prefer drier paella – theirs is too saucy for my liking – but I cannot deny how tasty it is. Reheating is all it needed for me to get my desired paella texture.

LECHON BELLY ROLL (P1700)

Its Lechon Belly Roll easily pleases its diners as it covers all the basics we’re looking for – tender and fragrantly flavorful meat, crunchy skin, addicting sauce – personally, it can’t unseat Manilachon as my favorite lechon belly – but it’ll definitely be a perfect alternative if you can’t have the latter.

Mi Cocina

Date of Delivery: January 30, 2022 (via its FB page)

THE PURPLE WOK

It’s hard not to do a double take when you see any post about The Purple Wok’s food – its gourmet dishes served in picture-perfect golden trays simply scream luxurious. We were supposed to order from The Purple Wok during the Christmas holidays but we were simply overwhelmed with too much leftovers that we had to forgo ordering a few meals from our checklist. Finally, we were able to sample its dishes last February.

US ANGUS ROAST BEEF with MASHED POTATOES (FAMILY - P1300), MUSHROOM SALPICAO (P350) and BAKED SALMON SUPREME IN GARLIC BUTTER (SHARING - P1580)

For my family, we ordered a family-sized tray of their US Angus Roast Beef. It comes with a free side so we opted for some mashed potatoes (roasted vegetables is the other option). True to its word, the roast beef slices boasted of a perfect meat to fat ratio – succulent and will truly melt in your mouth. I did find it to be on the salty side though. Price-wise also, it seems like you’d get more value from other roast beef purveyors such as H Cuisine. The Mushroom Salpicao was a great addition as its flavor profile worked well with the garlic mashed potatoes and the roast beef.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide my disappointment when I saw how small the Baked Salmon was. Yes, it was cooked perfectly – and prepared in a simple but flavorful manner – but it was simply too small than what I expected it to be given its price point.

The Purple Wok

Date of Delivery: February 1, 2022 (via its Instagram page)

BLACK IRON GRILL

I started becoming a big fan of smoked meats when I first tried the now-defunct Mighty Quinn’s Burnt Ends in its Megamall branch – I just couldn’t get enough of its charred flavor. My general affinity for barbecue sauce definitely bolstered this love of smoked meats as well.

BLACK ANGUS BEEF BELLY (500 G – P1150) AND BLACK ANGUS BEEF BRISKET (500 G – P1700)

I know that sponsored ads are a pet peeve for most people, but personally, I don’t mind having them since most of my searches are food-related anyway – one such ad I’m grateful for coming across would be Black Iron Grill’s.

Its menu is straightforward -Angus Beef Belly and Angus Beef Brisket – but you’d definitely be more than happy with both of them. Both come with pickled onions and REALLY great barbecue sauce but I would never say no to a side of their slaw! Their beef come vacuum sealed and accompanied with easy-to-follow reheating instructions.

Expect gorgeously smoky charred high quality beef that’s immensely tender and juicy – tasty on its own, but made even more glorious with its mildly spiced barbecue sauce.

Black Iron Grill

Date of Delivery: February 5, 2022 via their FB Page