Lzm Restaurant

Lzm is my family's all time favorite restaurant. Delicious meals at reasonable price. Keep it up and more customers to come!

Another restaurant that my family and I frequent, here's my review of a native restaurant called LZM.

CONCEPT

LZM is an acronym for the three sisters who started the business: Luzviminda, Zenaida, and Manolita. Prior to the group's first restaurant in 1996, the three sisters sold home-cooked meals in their palengke (local market). From a humble karinderiya-style eatery in Cavite, LZM has evolved into a forward-looking establishment that continues to serve local cuisine to its customers. Aside from the first branch in Magallanes, Cavite, they also have branches in Ayala Malls such as The District (also Cavite), Serin (Tagaytay), and Nuvali (Laguna).

ENVIRONMENT

Bright orange and white walls, decorative cement bricks, several paintings of ancient Filipino life, solid tables, chairs, a simple dining set up, a busy kitchen, and lots of diners greeted my brother, Dad, and I when we visited The District branch one Sunday in April.

Owing to the medium-sized capacity of the mall, the floor space itself was unlike the Tagaytay branch we visited some years ago, which had more capacity. Parang karinderiya talaga!

A word to the wise, it's best to come here before or after the lunch hour craze, because it gets totally packed, but not uncomfortable! We stood for around a minute before we were even seated due to the many customers enjoying their lunch.

SERVICE & CLEANLINESS

What didn't help the situation was that the crew was severely understaffed with their servers. They only had 2 on hand, with one taking orders and one serving them. We were seated, had our orders taken and served after a while, since there were other customers  ahead of us. I didn't feel really bad we weren't noticed immediately because, given the time we ate there (in the midst of Sunday lunch), this was possibly the worst time to do so. At some point, we encountered the branch manager (in casual Sunday attire) helping out with orders (including ours) because there were just too many customers.

Surprisingly, despite the visible lack of staff, they delivered everyone's orders and even found room to maneuver through a small dining area. The  place was very well-maintained in terms of cleanliness. How they manage this aspect well, I wonder. But it might be a good idea to hire at least 2 more servers on hand as well.

FOOD

While the highlight of LZM is their bangus (milkfish), they also serve other Filipino delicacies that tastes like lutong bahay. Our lunch was comprised of, aside from bangus (Php 450), was sisig (Php 290), bulalo (Php 520), pinakbet na gulay (Php 310), chicharong bulaklak (Php 320), a pitcher of green lemonade (Php 200), and - of course since we're Asian - three cups of rice (Php 30 each).

The bangus was crispy and juicy, as if it were baked and not just grilled.

The sisig was surprisingly flavorful. Maybe they used organic pork.

The bulalo was firm and juicy, its marrow melt-in-your-mouth. It didn't have the excessive flavoring of a Knorr cube or other additives. A bit jarring at first, but I realized that's how natural bulalo is supposed to taste.

The pinakbet was fantastic, according to my Dad and brother. I didn't eat any because I have a strict no-fruits-and-vegetables-policy on my cheat days (Sunday and Monday).

The cucumber lemonade was sweet and light to the taste, just as it should be.

My favorite was the chicharong bulaklak. They were small, bite-sized pieces of pork fat that were chewy, then juicy and tasty all at once. Next time, I'm ordering just that and 2 cups of rice.

OVERALL

We over-ordered right from the get-go and took home our leftovers after the meal. Even a day after and with microwave heating, they still tasted great! I had some of the sisig leftovers, then let my brother finish the rest. I thought having any more would've been too indulgent.

LZM's a restaurant where you can eat well-cooked, lutong bahay pagkain at fair prices. Their cuisine is eaten best with a group of family and/or friends so you can share the experience...aaaand maybe even the bill as well. ;-)

Food was excellent. Stand-outs are bulalo and the boneless bangus. A bit pricey for regular Filipino fare but portion sizes were good. Service crew were quick and attentive. Great experience overall and will be back for sure.

It was raining the whole weekend while we were in Tagaytay. We were meaning to cook our own meals at our rented vacation house but the weather pushed us to just go and eat out. We were all lazy to move as we enjoy the cold breeze but decided a bowl of Bulalo and a cup of coffee would be a great idea that time.