Weighing In On Decades:Fusion Cuisine and After Hours Joint

Exactly a month since its opening, The Mediocre Wanderer  headed over to Outlook Drive to check out the latest addition to Baguio’s  newest food street – Decades:Fusion Cuisine and After Hours Joint. 

The place was a familiar one for yours truly as I would teach Korean middle and high school kids during their winter and summer breaks, in addition to being a Radio DJ. 

It hasn't changed much, except for the deck that rose from the garden (to add more floor space) and the parking area added on the road level.

As the norm with our reviews, I'll be breaking down our Decades experience into 5 categories: Location, Menu, Food, Service and Ambiance.

1. LOCATION: 5/5
As I've mentioned earlier, the resto may be found along Outlook Drive, sandwiched between Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna and Villa La Maja. It's easily a good 5-10 minute drive from the city proper.
It is a bit out of the way and parking is limited to 4 cars, with the option of parking on the street. Not judging here, as I remember when it was 90's actor Onemig Bondoc's family summer home and had a 2 car garage.

2. MENU: 4/5
As the signage says, Fusion Cuisine may be found at Decades. We enjoyed all the items that we ordered. Here's a look at the menu:

Side note:
*The menu stipulated that all Entrees are served with red rice and the soup of the day. Soup wasn't available and the rice that came out of the kitchen was white.
*Portions are quite generous and the prices are absolutely reasonable. Splurge and enjoy, if your calorie count permits it.
*Not all items on the menu are available.

3. FOOD: 4/5
Here's what we ordered:

a. Beef Shank Steak - your favorite Bulalo gets a make-over. Beef was absolutely tender and not dry. Mushroom gravy was spot on and the side veggies were cooked to perfection. MAX wished there was more mashed potato on his plate though.

b. Strawberry Glazed Ribs - oh-so-tender ribs with that subtle strawberry wine after taste. Huge portioning for this dish, however, we weren't fans of the side salad. The ingredients were crisp and fresh, but the vinaigrette was a tad too tart for our liking. 

c. Salted Egg Prawns - one of my fave Asian dish, their take on this dish was too subtle for me. By subtle, I mean, I tasted more egg than salted egg. Prawns were good sized and fresh, so the dish wasn't a total loss. Got this under the "Sharing" section so the portion was meant for 2-3 people.

d. Decades Iced Tea - watered down too much by the ice that you could barely taste the tea

e. Kiwi Strawberry Slush - please see comment above for the Iced Tea

f. Lemon Basil Slush - totally loved this!! Sure, it reminded me of Foccacia, but just a little bit. This drink was refreshing, sweet, tart and savory all at the same time! 

4. SERVICE: 4/5
The Decades Peeps can teach a lot of establishments a thing or two about FAST service. Wait time for food was probably 5 minutes. Served hot and fresh, we were quite pleased. The waiter and staff were also quite attentive. Small non-issue though, I felt that our waiter could have been more knowledgeable of their products and that the resto could afford to be more flexible with their menu items. Ex: allowing the diners to have the option of having their sauce on the side instead of having it incorporated in the main component (grilled pork and that crispy belly).

MAX is bothered by the bugs

5. AMBIANCE: 3/5
I loved the decor of the place! Inviting, comfy and well furnished, staying at Decades a little longer just becomes too easy. Music volume was conducive to conversation and music selections were from the 80's and 90's  - my favorite decades :P Small gripe though. Management should look into a better pest control. We had two flies hovering around our indoor table.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5

We would definitely go back to try out their other offerings. I hope that the menu would be complete the next time around. 

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!