Green Pastures is a farm-to-table restaurant put up by Chef Robby Goco of Cyma fame. Its first branch has been in existence since 2013, but this is the first time I’ve managed to visit their newer BGC branch. The main selling point of Green Pastures is that it serves organic food. They make all their dishes from scratch and don’t use any bad-for-your-health additives either.
Having met Chef Goco in an event before, I also know he is an advocate of locally sourcing ingredients to support our local farmers. That aside, knowing where your ingredients come from gives you a certain reassurance when it comes to quality, and Chef Goco has shared that he personally visits certain farms so it’s safe to assume he knows who the farmers are as well.
And if that wasn’t enough proof, you’ll also find quite a collection of local coffee from different parts of the Philippines here.
Reviews all over the web give me the impression that this place is actually well-received by the vegetarian and vegan community. Despite being neither, eating at places like this excite me! I find that it’s always a great challenge to present healthy food in a tasty way, and Chef Goco took the challenge head on.
Here at Green Pastures, the food is simply wholesome deliciousness. You’ll definitely feel like you’re feeding your body with only good things, but without sacrificing any flavour whatsoever.
Mango Poke-Bowl (Php 815 for Large) 🌟
A plate of colours, made up of tuna poke, quinoa, mango, kale, edamame, nori, and 5-minute duck egg, all bound together by a tasty sesame ginger lime dressing.
This dish is chock full of things that I personally love so it’s hard for me to find any fault here. I love quinoa, I love sashimi/poke, and all the other Asian elements just make this dish A++. The dressing also provides a nice contrast.
All’Amatriciana (Php 670 to share) 🌟
House-made tomato passato with red onions, chili flakes, and pecorino on thick bucatini pasta. Slices of tasty pancetta are nestled on top.
Sometimes I can’t help but feel like pasta dishes in restaurants are becoming smaller and smaller for the price. I certainly wish we had a bit more of the pancetta! I enjoyed this dish however, thanks to that red sauce that clung onto every fat strand of spaghetti on the plate. I might be a little partial towards red sauces, but this had a delightful tomato tang and a light kick I quite enjoyed.
Short-Rib Kimchee Fried Cauliflower Rice (Php 650) 🌟
Juicy grass fed short ribs and a 142-degree soft-boiled egg adds substance to this kimchi “fried rice”. Oh but there’s a twist, the “rice” part is actually made from cauliflower. Talk about healthful!
Reading food blogs everyday, I already knew about the whole cauliflower phenomenon way before we had this. While it’s not yet as widespread locally, I’m a fan of this magic veggie and how it has this ability to camouflage itself. You can turn it into “mashed potatoes”, or even a pizza crust, and you wouldn’t even know there was cauliflower if someone didn’t tell you!
Here the chopped cauli acts exactly like rice, pan-fried with kimchi and then topped with juicy short-ribs. Plus an egg for good measure of course, because any decent kimchi rice is always topped with one. In terms of kimchi rice, not the best I’ve ever had, but yummy nonetheless.
Roast Organic Chicken (Php 650)
Chicken in konbu brine broth with lemon and grilled asparagus.
This was probably the least exciting dish we ordered, but my oh my was the texture of the chicken just right! Juicy, with a flavour that makes you clean all the meat off the bone! Speaking of, the chicken was roasted so tenderly it wanted to fall off the bone, so what’s not to like?
Final thoughts
While I’m not the biggest fan of the restaurant’s interior design and ambiance, I am a big fan of the food. Also, we are all big fans of this sauce here below:
Reading through the menu can be admittedly dizzying for the uninitiated thanks to the sheer number of offerings, but that’s also one thing that I like about Green Pastures– the variety. Even in the realm of healthy eating, there’s something for everyone.
You do have to carry some extra budget with you, but that’s always the case with organic food isn’t it? Looking forward to trying out more dishes!
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
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GREEN PASTURES
Net Park Building, 5th Avenue
Taguig, Philippines
Hours: 11AM to 10PM
Contact No.: (02) 2775592
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Full disclosure: This post is not sponsored in any way and opinions are 100% mine alone.
