At the inaugural dinner of the First Friday Food Club, Awee, Yang and I found ourselves in a quiet part of The Fort after having been turned away at another restaurant for lack of room and reservation. We had initially chosen to relocate to Je Suis Gourmand for the evening, but on the way to the NetOne Building, Awee chanced upon a small delicatessen called Dinelli’s at One McKinley Place which was not only well-lit but also did not appear to be crowded.

Not knowing what exactly to order, we found ourselves floating towards the deli displays which presented a wide array of sausages, steaks, and chesses, mostly from Australia. I had already settled into my chair and had been going through their ala carte menu when Yang, ever the meat-eater, suggested that we get a raw steak from the display and ask that it be cooked on site for our meal. It was an inspired idea.

Yang quickly chose the Australian prime rib which I similarly, although somewhat reluctantly, requested. Awee, not feeling carnivorous that evening, opted for linguini with mushrooms in red sauce, with a side-order of spicy Italian sausages and cauliflower soup. (When asked by the waiter what she wanted from the deli displays, Awee insistently said, Basta, ang gusto ko lang, sausage.)

For our part, Yang and I started with the French onion soup, and together, got a bottle of Australian shiraz to wash down the red meat. (Their selection of wines was unfortunately quite limited.)

Needless to say, and to my surprise, the steaks, cooked right from the displays, were tender and well-seasoned. Yang agreed. While the steaks were certainly not of the Antonio’s caliber (which, to my mind, are the tastiest steaks I’ve ever eaten), the quality of the meat and more importantly, the preparation and the cooking, made for a more than satisfactory steak experience. The onion soups were also similarly tasty (made with four kinds of cheese!), and I particularly liked Awee’s cauliflower cream soup, so much so that I ended up finishing her share. We finished the meal with a slice of cheesecake.

But what capped off the string of pleasant surprises was the price at which the meal had set us all back—with steaks, pasta, soup, dessert and a bottle of wine, the entire evening only cost us about P700.00 per person. None of us could argue with that.

We left Dinelli’s at about 11 o’clock, red from the wine, and full from the meat. Indeed, it was an auspicious start to the First Friday Food Club.