'Cue Modern Barbecue at the Bonifacio Highstreet Central

This continues my Bonifacio Highstreet Central food review. I really love hanging out at this new wing of the Bonifacio Highstreet complex. What's there not to love about this place? With at least 80% of its tenants being restaurants, I'm just halfway through and I love how a new restaurants pop out whenever I pay a visit.

Last week, at the height of my intense preparation for Yummy Eats 2012, I said yes to a dinner invitation after getting non-stop raves not only from my blogger friends but from a certain colleague as well. As I've mentioned before, my friend T really has great taste in food and after hearing her talk about this new restaurant called 'Cue and their delicious pork chop, I knew I have to put that on the list and schedule a visit ASAP.

Paul and I got there a few minutes before our agreed meeting time and we were quickly ushered to our reserved table. 'Cue stands for barbecue as this restaurant features a lot of really good meat dishes. Definitely a manly-man's paradise, in my opinion. They opened a few weeks ago and is currently on soft opening but even without any major promotions or marketing efforts done yet, the restaurant was packed with families and friends on a weeknight. Amazing!

While waiting for our companions to arrive, we were given a bowl of freshly popped popcorn. How did I know that it was freshly popped? Well they have a cute, bright red popcorn machine on the counter! That's how! I was able to try a piece before Paul caught me and gave me a stern look. I couldn't help it as the buttery aroma was just too tempting! I forgot all about my big no-no towards corn for a minute there. 

When you're in 'Cue, I highly recommend that you try one of their Fresh Fruit Shakes (Php. 135). I loved the Grapes n' Ginger which was poured into a cut, vintage-looking glass bottle. My drink was really refreshing and I was surprised that grapes and ginger make a good match!

Paul loved his Strawberries n' Banana n' Cream which was sweet, fruity and milky just the way he likes it. It reminds me of those fruit shakes that I always get from Jonah's Fruit Stand in Boracay.

Finally, we're complete and our meal began with some more starters. Our friend F (who happens to be T's brother) took care of ordering our meal as he has been to 'Cue a lot of times already. Just like T, I trust F's taste and the following dishes that I'll talk about will tell you exactly why.

First was one of Cue's specialties -- Bone Marrow and Steak Tacos (Php. 485).
Served with Russian corn salsa, sweet n' spicy Salsa Verde and soft flour tortillas, this is definitely not for the faint-hearted (or those with high cholesterol). This dish comes with a generous serving of bone marrow and one of the most tender steak cubes that I've ever had.


I first tried it with all the toppings except for the corn salsa and when F saw the tiny amount of bone marrow on top of my steak cube, he quickly scooped up more and dumped one teaspoon full on my flour tortilla. *gulp* I hope my heart is healthy enough for this. One bite and I loved it! The bone marrow was really rich, the steak tender and perfectly grilled. This was just our appetizer and I love 'Cue already! We each had two more soft tacos each and moved on to our next appetizer.

The Fried Buttermilk Wings (Php. 355) is also another must-try. Paul commented that this would go so well with a bottle of ice-cold beer but I was pretty much happy munching on this with my glass of Grapes n' Ginger shake. For those who are not fans of spicy buffalo wings then this is for you. Coated in sweet maple-pepper glaze, each bites makes it  more and more addicting.

I love Mac and Cheese and seeing this in a couple of tables around us, I asked F if we can try this too. Sadly, 'Cue's Skillet of Home-Style Mac & Cheese (Php. 375) didn't match up to my expectations as the top layer was cheesy but the bottom part remained too milky for me. I want my bowl of mac and cheese thick, rich, creamy and cheesy through and through.

Like what I mentioned earlier, 'Cue is truly a manly-man's place to be. Guys, try The House Burger (Php. 395) and I'm sure you'll be blown away with the thick double 3oz burger patty topped with yellow cheddar, white cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, home-made ranch dressing all packed in between a butter grilled burger bun. My husband loved this and told me that the next time we go back to 'Cue he'll definitely have The House Burger again.

For me, I loved the Sweet Potato Fries (Php. 85)! Crunchy on the outside it went perfectly well with 'Cue's homemade garlic mayonnaise. We all loved this that we got a side order of Sweet Potato Fries to share. 

F has been raving about the Chicken Chipotle Chorizo Pot Pie (Php. 325) and so we had that as one of our main dishes that evening. Served in a small casserole, don't underestimate the size of this dish as inside contains some really good stuff! I love the creamy chicken filling and the filo pastry covering was really delicious! Take it from me, I'm not a big fan of pot pies as I don't like chicken breast and carrots that much but I ended up having two servings of this with more sweet potato fries!

Now, are you convinced that my friend F has good taste in food?

Here comes the meaty part...

'Cue specializes in barbecued meat and believe me, they take this very seriously. When dining in 'Cue, I recommend that you try any item from The Chopping Board part of the menu. This is good to share and it comes with your choice of house-made sides or staples and any of 'Cue's house-made sauces.  You may also have the option to order some toppings such as 'Cue fried eggs (steak and eggs, anyone?), Roasted Garlic Cloves (I'll try this next time), Caramelized Onions or some Bleu Cheese.

We had two types of meat dishes that evening. The first was The Baby Back Ribs -- Full Slab (Php. 1,185 / Php. 645 - Half Slab). Since we couldn't decide if we want our ribs Wet or Dry Rubbed, the server of 'Cue suggested they will just make it half wet, half dry rubbed. Good idea!

I tried both and I still want my ribs wet with sweet house-made bbq glaze. The meat was fork-tender! It reminded me of that delicious platter of ribs that Paul and I had twice at Lucille's Smokehouse in California. This is what you call finger-licking good! I highly recommend this.

Our last dish was the Beef Belly (Php. 695/250g). To be honest, I'm not a big fan of beef bellly thus I just had a small piece of this. However I really enjoyed the Chili Monggo that came with it. So goood! I love monggo and really enjoyed this comfort dish.

At this point, we were all ready to unbutton our pants and call it a night. Dinner was so good and filling that we all licked our lips with a big smile on our faces. F wasn't done yet! He wanted to have dessert! Oh, how can we not support him on that?

We had the Caramel Pecan Cheesecake (Php. 235) which was smooth and velvety just the way I like my cheesecake to be. I enjoyed biting into the tiny pecan bits that you can find in between two thick cheesecake layers.

It's rare to find a restaurant that can consistently impress you from appetizer down to dessert. So far, 'Cue has delighted my taste buds with the delicious (and really rich) Steak and Bone Marrow Soft Tacos, the lip-smacking Baby Back Ribs, the addicting Sweet Potato Fries and now.. the perfect way to end our dinner was with this freshly baked Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (Php. 195) topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and hot fudge syrup.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie was soft and moist. It wasn't very sweet which perfectly blended well with the vanille ice cream and hot fudge. Oh, sweet dreams are really made of desserts like these! Don't forget to save space for dessert at 'Cue!

Paul and I were so happy with our dinner at 'Cue that we're already planning when to go back for our second round soon. Thank you F for the amazing dinner!

Other Bonifacio Highstreet Central restaurants:
Jamba Juice
Aria Cucina Italiana
Village Tavern
Sariwon Korean Barbecue

*photo credit: Paul Ang

'Cue Modern Barbecue is located at the Ground Floor, Bonifacio Highstreet Central. Bonifacio Highstreet Central is located at the 7th Avenue corner 29th Street, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. Call them at (0917)899-2283.