Archipelago 7107 - Eating with Friends is More Fun in the Philippines with its 7,107 Islands

The Philippines is composed of 7107 islands. I do not if this is when the tide is hide or when it is low.  What I know is that within the first week of the new year, I had a wonderful dinner with new friends in a restaurant called Archipelago 7107.

Archipelago 7107 can be found at the 2nd level of Il Terrazzo Building along Tomas Morato in Quezon City. It is very near the Tomas Morato circle and ABS-CBN compound. Archipelago 7107 is owned by Barrio Fiesta.

We ordered a lot of Filipino dishes. For starters we had chicharong bulaklak - two orders. The chicharong bulaklak was served with prawn crackers. The health conscious may not really like this but I must say it was really good. It's both crispy and chewy at the same time. How that is possible I really don't know but just trust me.

Chicharong Bulaklak

Then we also ordered Kare-Kare which Barrio Fiesta is known for. I assumed it would be as good if not better. Well for me it was as good although my friends said Barrio Fiesta's Kare-Kare is better. They liked it. No question about that but they pointed out several times that it is still better in Barrio Fiesta.

Kare-Kare with thick peanut sauce

We also has Inihaw na Pusit. For me it was just okay. Nothing really fancy about it.

Inihaw na Pusit with crackers on the side

Then we also had Crispy Pata. I can't say anything but I love it! I love it! I love  it! It's very crispy - true to its name.

Crispy Pata - Should be renamed  Very Crispy Pata

I mentioned first the three common Filipino dishes we ordered. Now its time for the two I was very familiar with. First is Balbakwa and the other one is KBL which stands for Kadios, Baboy and Langka. I've already heard of Balbakwa but I have seen on tasted it in the past. I looked like pochero. It tasted like pochero also. Anyway, the Balbakwa was the least touched among all our orders. This is not necessarily because it was not good but we already have Kare-Kare with a better tasking thick sauce. The KBL also didn't get much attention. I know Kadios and if I remember it right I never had problems eating it. But it's actually the first time I encountered that KBL combination. Had I not liked the Kare-Kare I would probably have eaten more of this.

balbakwa

KBL - Kadios, Baboy, Langka

The waiters and waitresses were attentive. They are always there ready to give us what we need.

The ambiance is also very nice. The seats are comfortable. The comfort room is also good. Clean and nice smelling.

The only thing negative perhaps was the fact that my friend reserved a corner table a week before (and we confirmed again a couple of days before) but we didn't get that preferred table. The head waiter has an excuse though. The owners were having a meeting and they were seated at the table we wanted to get. But again, they approved the reservation so they should have done their best to keep it unoccupied for us. They're the owners so they should understand the the needs of their customers.

Overall the dining experience was very good. Good food, good people. What could possibly go wrong.