Delivery Snippets: Serendipity Gourmet PH x Panco Café x 717 Deli

Steffi Milcah Chua
12 minutes ago
3 min read

SERENDIPITY GOURMET PH

MANCHEGO CHEESE BUKO LANGKA GOURMET PIE (P2780)

This would have to be the most unique flavor of cake I’ve ever tried – Serendipity Gourmet PH’s Manchego Cheese Buko Langka Gourmet Pie. Apart from being a mouthful to pronounce, its pie is IG-worthy, making it a perfect gift for loved ones. Individually, the top-tier quality of ingredients is undeniable – however, they seem to all have such distinct flavors that standout – that it didn’t taste cohesive enough flavor-wise. Still worth a try; but it feels like a cake that you’re good to try out once – and that would be enough.

Serendipity Gourmet PH (https://www.instagram.com/serendipitygourmetph/)

Date of Delivery: August 19, 2023

PANCO CAFÉ

Panco Café is a vibrant Aussie-inspired café that aims to bring an Aussie and Manila twist to most of their dishes (Aussie variants would be served as sandwiches; while Manila variants would be served with rice). When ordering their drinks, I do recommend dining in their branches – as most of these come in aesthetic glasses with colorful and bright layers – thus, won’t travel well when delivered – but their Manila rice variants – serve as perfectly filling office lunches that's perfect for delivery.

SPECIAL INASAL (P360) and DIRTY MOCHA (P205)

The Inasal features sliced chicken marinated in the distinctly tangy flavor you look for in chicken inasal that’s served atop rice that's smothered with annatto sauce. The rice box comes with smashed potatoes and pickled atsara. I love ordering their Dirty Mocha – you can really taste the welcome bitter notes of the tablea; but don’t worry, ultimately, this is a sweetened caffeinated drink guaranteed to still perk you up.

TUNA SALPICAO (430)

My go-to order though would always be their Tuna Salpicao – I probably order this for lunch at least once a month from their Podium branch and have never been served a less-than-ideal batch. I can always expect perfectly juicy cubes of tuna that’s well marinated in classic toyo-mansi fashion. It’s served atop garlic bits and is only available in Manila-style (but seriously, you wouldn’t want this served any other way). Similar to the Inasal, smashed potatoes and pickled atsara comes as sides to complete this dish.

Panco Café via Grabfood

Dates of Delivery: August 25 and September 6, 2023

717 Deli

717 Deli’s early closing time makes it tough to dine-in; so we had to succumb to doing a delivery run instead. However, as expected, despite being packed well, burgers and fries simply don’t travel well.

HALIBUT FILLET (P400)

Of course, we had to get the burger that led to the buzz around 717 Deli, the Halibut Fillet. My family still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Filet o Fish has been discontinued by Mcdonalds Philippines; so we were really looking for something to fill that void. Upon opening the wrapper, you'd be greeted by a thick deep-fried golden-brown halibut fillet. It had a nice fish to batter ratio which was slathered with a good amount of tartar sauce and served with a melted layer of cheddar cheese. As it didn’t travel well, it ended up too greasy for my liking.

ROAST BEEF (P500)

Fortunately, the Roast Beef fared better post-travel, we enjoyed the generous layer of roast beef smothered in melted cheese and topped with a delectable horseradish sauce.