Ranchero’s Grill

When I asked Bob Martin for suggestions on where to bring Matt Mullenweg, who is known to love sampling the different barbecue offerings of the places he goes to all over the world, he didn’t hesitate to recommend Ranchero’s Grill. So Bob & I brought Matt there for dinner last 3 September 2008, along with a handful of other friends.

I don’t think a guest would ever say to a host’s face that he didn’t like the food that was served. But, I think Matt did get to enjoy the food that we had that night. Speaking for myself, though, I’d say my favorite was the Baby Back Ribs. It was very tender, not too salty, and tasted heavenly. Thing is, I don’t know why they serve it with the usual Dabawenyo sawsawan (soy sauce & calamansi); it’s good as is, trust me. And one order is huge! If you’re having other dishes, one order of the ribs could be good for 3 people.

The restaurant itself is very homey, and the setting is certainly conducive for family gatherings and intimate parties with friends. The service is not bad either. It could use a little improvement here and there, but I thought the wait staff were trained well enough.

Another dish that we had was the Kalderetang Kambing, the sauce for which was clearly made from scratch (and not made from any ready-to-cook mix). But the order was disappointingly sparse — the whole time I was trying to get that hit-the-spot feeling while hunting for more meat… but I didn’t get there. Matt had some, too. It was very enjoyable seeing Matt, who comes from Texas and was in the Philippines (and Asia) for the very first time, try all the food laid out before him.

Here are more photos from our food trip with Matt, who took all the food shots here with his awesome Nikon D3 (he gave me permission to use the photos here). Too bad he wasn’t able to take a picture of the Sinubgang Panga (grilled jaw of tuna), which was a delightful treat.

Ranchero’s Grill and Steakhouse is an export of General Santos City. In Davao, it is located on Tionko Ave. corner Arellano St., very near the Bangko Sentral building. They’re open daily for lunch and dinner. Tel.: 225-1199, 226-8679.