The KRI Restaurant in Silliman Avenue is one of the latest additions to the Restaurant – Options in Dumaguete. I read quite some mixed review with the general tendency to be positive about KRI Restaurant. So back and relaxed from my working-trip to Angeles, I grasped Rechel and we went there for lunch.
There would be enough parking space for the guests if not this typical local attitude would rule that people who have a big car must almost drive right into the entrance in a way almost nobody can pass or actually park there. Kuya, you can park in Dauin, it would help the shape of your wife a lot if she need to move her … well skip that.
KRI Restaurant has its name from the three involved people Keith, Richie and Irish and is pronounced -kree- like in “Chris”. The interior is modern and a kind of bright but still welcoming, the aircon working nicely (no ref, not too hot) and music is perfect balanced background music for a nice lunch. The chairs are ok for my big ass and the table-setting nice.
The menu of KRI Restaurant in Dumaguete is pretty small and offers some Salads, Sandwiches, Rice-topping and noodle dishes with some specials announced on a mirror on the wall.
The price range goes from 75 to 98 Peso while the soup of the day is 49 Peso. Drinks start from 40 Peso for a coke to 50 for a SML. Additional several Shakes and coffee are available.
Considering that the menu announces that all is exclusive VAT & Service Charge, the drinks are pretty much expensive for Dumaguete.
Anyway, the staff was very attentive and we had the menu a second after we sat down. Our drinks were out of stock so we decided to stick to the complimentary drinking-water (nice and prompt service, by the way) Rechel mentioned to me that a guy at the table behind us whispered something to the “R-Part” of KRI and pointed at me, who appeared 10 seconds later at our table and apologized for the inconvenience with the drinks and staff is on the way to get some coke light and sprite from a neighboring shop.
Somehow I got the feeling that the “whispering” on the table behind involved something like “ This is THAT Rhoody, better don’t fuck it up” or similar. Well, anyway I appreciated that a lot as I had a similar situation in another restaurant where I was the only guest with a friend and 4 waitresses were standing lazy around but none moved their ass to get outside, resulting that my friend went outside and bought 2 bottles coke light which we consumed with our lunch.
Each time I visit a new place I order a variety of dishes to get an overview of the total. Our order for 2 was:
- Soup of the day (Tom Yum Goong)
- Pad Thai
- Turkey on Chiabatta
- Short Ribs on rice
- Sweet of the day (sort of lime-cake)
- Pecan Pie
So let’s start with the two Thai-dishes from KRI Restaurant. Both are not on the regular menu but I asked our friendly waitress and she told me that they are usually available. I love Thai Food but the last time I had something close to Thai Food was in Angeles City in a kinda weird place with delicious food but strange guys around.
I know it look like Baby-vomit, but was really delicious
Both dishes were absolute delicious and the closest to Pad Thai and Tom Yum Soup I ever had in Dumaguete. My order was very spicy and I am sure for the local pallet it must have been insane spicy while I could have it about 2 steps higher. Anyway, delicious, can I have a bathtub full of that stuff?
Side note: … now our Coke and Sprite arrived (nice service)
Turkey on Ciabatta – Short Rips on Rice
While there was no complain about the taste, the size is a little bit behind my expectations. Same could be said about the Ribs on Rice. Two tiny rips with a little bit of meat covering barely the big hole in my tooth bottom-left-back… Again, taste-wise, nothing to complain but also nothing extraordinary.
Lime-Cake – Pecan Pie
I definitely loved the Lime-Cake which had a great refreshing flavor without being too sweet. Maybe two or three drops of something on the side or a spoon of ice-cream on top would make it extraordinary for me. Rechel liked it also but preferred the Pecan Pie. Both desserts were something I would not wanna miss.
The table settings and food presentations were all fine, nothing I would rave about or would remember in a few years, but hey, we are in Dumaguete, and for here it is at the sunny side of Dumaguetes Restaurants.
When we paid the bill at KRI Restaurant, the coke and sprite where due to late delivery on the house …. Or maybe it was the result of the whispering and pointing earlier on my back… Still very generous and appreciated, so I left a well deserved tip of 70 Peso, which is more I would usually tip on a 500 Peso bill.
I am not exactly sure how to write a summery about the overall experience at KRI Restaurant…but ok, here I try:
It is definitely not that cheap as I can read on some other reviews online but it is a nice place with value for money. I don’t mind paying a bit more for good quality, service, aircon and nice ambience. The 2 Thai dishes are definitely on me do-it-again list, while I certainly will skip the short rips as Mooon has about 4 times as much meat for only double money on their Baby Back Rips…. won’t go for the Turkey on Ciabatta bread anymore either, just too much bread and not enough turkey.
Will I go there again?
Maybe not if the same place would be in a real city. We talk about Dumaguete City, where the choice of Restaurants is pretty limited and KRI Restaurant in Silliman Avenue is a very welcome addition to my style of having a bite to eat. Staff and owner very attentive on that visit and Rechel and I definitely enjoyed our visit at KRI Restaurant in Dumaguete. Congrats Keith, Richie and Irish, all together a nice job, see you again at your place. My chances being a returning customer? For Dumaguete it is a 100% YES!!! (I will be there again and try more dishes and some repeats), 50% yes after the second visit, 4.48% after the 3rd visit …
cheers
Rhoody
i really l like the pad thai… and the deserts … even the soup too… the table is small and its not really comfortable when each move we made its really rocking hehhehehe…
i really wish KRI dont take off the Pad thai on menu..
I’ve been waiting for you to right a review about this place. 🙂 Now I know that I should try it out too. 🙂 Good one. 🙂
Marmel, thanks for your comment. Yes give it a try, I am sure you won’t be disappointed 🙂
Rechel, maybe the table rocks less if you go with a skinnier person not one who has 150KG and makes even big boulder rock when he leans against it … hehe
anyway again both thanks for your comments, keep them comming 🙂
cheers
Rhoody
A lot of people think the place is cheap, no? But when you realize that the prices on the menu do not include VAT & service charge…. argh! And for the amount of food on the plate (fairly little), it is expensive. I have been there twice; first tried the Turkey on Ciabatt. It was so-so, but I loved their Sundried Tomato Fettucine. I wish the place was bigger tho, because it feels so cramped. Rechel is also right, the tables are tiny. And yes, Rhoody, the tables really rock, even without a 150kg guy! Hahaha.
now here is a fact. smuggling a small scale into some places I figured out that Moons can charge for their baby-backrips 480 peso (around 200 real price) and Casablanca for their Haxn 920 Peso (395 real price incl. real side-dishes, not only a tiny cup of rice) based on the meat content of the portion.
That much for being cheap….
I still like KRI, but if anybody mentioning KRI about value for money and cheap I just must laugh, sorry.
For me still a welcome alternative for an occasional snack.
Hahaha. There you go, let’s laugh Rhoody!
Hay naku, we are so mean. Watch out, maybe one of these days we will be denied entrance to KRI. LOL.
just a copy paste from our FB chat, but I think interesting for other readers.
here is how I did it:
I have a small digital letter-scale, I just put the plates on it ate all side-dishes first that I had meat and bones left (first weigh-in), than I ate the meet (second weigh-in) difference is the meet content …
with my big mouth, I better argue with facts and not estimations and emotions … hehe
anyway, I need to go to Mia’s as I heard they have a comparable dish with their baby-backrips which i never tried there, so we get the 4th number in the “value for money “-discussion.
from my side, nothing bad, just setting the record straight, as I can’t see anything cheap.
I don’t care about the general price and understand the points of “wow, all under 100 Peso” well, i guess that is why in this lovely country everybody is a sachet lunatic.
A 5 peso hair-shampoo is “of course” 75 peso cheaper than a whole bottle for 80 peso
OH, it had been a year now and there were great improvements on KRI already. Not to mention the prices and the ambiance of the place levelled up. Pad thai is still alive yes — favorite. And they now have a lot of new dishes (based on the customer’s choice) i had a talk with the owner – chef and he said that they use quality ingredients for quality food. Is this site still alive?
Well, the owner is using the same stuff many others use and it is absolutely nothing special, buys the same frozen Salmon at the same shop than others and the cheap Ciabatta bread, the same cheap back-ribs than others, just charging for a tablespoon of food 200+ peso…
Here what others think (people who are world-travelled and have an idea about food):
Went to KRI with a lady companion last Sunday evening. Started with a soft drink for her and I selected a glass of Chilean Merlot from a choice of three different Merlot. Soft drink arrived at the table and then the waitress went back to get the wine. Returned empty handed. Didn’t have the chosen one so I opted for second choice. Returned again empty handed and said it was not available. De-hydrating, I opted for the remaining one. Returned yet again empty handed and said the three dreaded words – “out of stock”. Was told by my companion, in Visayan, to get me a large glass of the best red. Wine arrived in a glass so small I’ve had a bigger eye bath.
Food ordered. Choices had to be repeated four times before the waitress got it right. My lady’s meal arrived and mine didn’t. We waited. Told her to get started while it was still hot. Mine arrived a good 10 minutes after hers, by which time she was almost finished. She’s not a fast eater, but was almost finished because the portions were so small. Reminded waitress that my meal was not a finger buffet, so I needed some cutlery. Quality of food was good but quantity abysmal. The far extreme of portion control. One soft drink, one small glass of wine, two very small meals, 1020 peso.
Ambience – ok
Decor – nice
Food quality – good
Food quantity – dreadful
Service – appalling
Value for money ? Never
and another one:
KRI is a total Rip off.. was now forced to go there a forth time on business lunch
most drinks are not available, the portion size is a shame and the staff pretty useless with absolutely no knowledge or interests into their job.
stuffing some cabbage in a small glass, and sprinkling some sesame seats over frozen salmon which barely covers a regular spoon on a quarter of a standard 30 peso ciabatta bread is certainly not worth 200 peso. All pasta dishes and sandwiches could be considered stealing customers money. 70-90 peso would be a realistic price.
If their cup of rice with this tiny little bit of ribs goes for 200+ , Mooon’s could charge 1500 for one portion. I thought KRI’s ribs for 99peso opening price already expensive for a cup of rice with 2 micro bones…
You were actually lucky, I suffered with a group of 6, at the end 5 ordered very frustrated some drinking water as basically everything else was out of stock.
The real only dish I saw there half way OK priced and really good was the truffle burger (wherever the truffle was hiding, certainly not on my burger).
But hey, it is a great presentation (well, smearing some red stripe which look like made with a used pantyliner on a plate is REALLY a great thing).
Pretty interesting that a guy earlier rants about expensive boulevard and finds value for money at KRI…
However, if I wanna go somewhere for a nice presentation, spend a lot of money but still leave hungry, I go to a girlie bar…
But I am probably too old to understand the modern kitchen …
and another:
I have had similar experiences at KRI. My service level expectations here are very, very low, but KRI does manage to get down there to meet them. Yes, the food portions are small.