Mr. Fast Foo: Truly Fast and Af-Foo-rdable Feasts

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It's been several years ago since I last stepped into the University Mall located along Taft Avenue just beside the De La Salle University main campus. It was way back my college days since I've been there, and I was really surprised how it has changed for the better. The establishment has noticeably improved in facilities and there are are now better choices of food outlets.

Since we all know that majority of the customers in the area will probably be students from the different colleges and universities nearby, it is but right to make the food affordable for the students' meager allowances. Even though the nearest schools cater to the more affluent students, it is still the best choice to go to where you'll find great tasting food while saving a lot on your budget.

I now see more popular restaurant brands and with the addition of the Mr. Fast Foo restaurant on its 2nd floor, there are now more reasons why you need to drop by this place as your preferred dining destination.

The meals at Mr. Fast Foo are not only affordable, they are served to you fast - as fast as 3 minutes - under normal circumstances except of course during peak hours of the day. But that's already something to appreciate since majority of the restaurants would take more time to prepare our food. For busy individuals like us who value our precious time, the less time spent on queue waiting for our food, gives us more quality time to spend on more important things.

Dr. Carlos Almeda, a licensed physician and  mechanical engineer, is the man behind the 3-minute fast Mr. Fast Foo. He combined his knowledge in food science and engineering to come up with sumptuous dishes that's truly affordable and served fast.

Partnering with XSite Solutions Inc., ability and experience to develop outstanding retail outlets, the Mr. Fast Foo brand is now a fast growing  and prominent brand especially at its University of Sto. Tomas campus branch, and a kiosk at Lucky China Town Mall in Binondo, since its birth last March this year. It will soon open up another branch at Sparks Place in Cubao, Quezon City.

A visit at their University Mall branch, the biggest so far, proves to be a satisfying experience as we can see how clean and orderly the restaurant is. There is plenty of room to fall in line to order your food, but you really won't be spending most of your time in queue since they do serve your food fast.

We can see the familiar red and orange color hues standing out as the primary colors since these colors are what they say appropriate to set an appetizing aura that's suitable in a restaurant environment.

 As always, I came in early so I was able to take shots of the restaurant while there were no customers yet.

At the farther end was an area where a flat-screen television is located. It's like a special area in the restaurant for VIPs.

Since the tables are not fixed in place so we can move and rearrange them based on the needs of the customers. We actually rearranged and combined our tables to accommodate our large group.

The counter is so neat and wide enough to cater to people lining up to order. There's not much clutter to see, and the menu display is visible enough to showcase their many dishes.

From noodles and dimsum, to rice meals and other all-time favorites, you'll definitely find your favorite soon at Mr. Fast Foo. First impression is to think the place is a Chinese restaurant but they are more like offering the more popular Asian comfort foods.

They have my all-time favorite siopao (asado and bola-bola) as well, plus upcoming Taho, Halo-Halo, and Mango Sago for desserts. Since its the more advanced LED menu display, its easier to edit the list of dishes.

You'll be spending more time getting comfy on their adorable seats with the Mr. Fast Foo branding. These seats are obviously specially customized for their restaurant as seen from the design making use of their Mr. Fast Foo logo.

On their walls are individual displays of their more popular dishes like the Beef Brisket, Maki Mi and Fresh Lumpia.

Complimentary Butchi

Ms. Amalia Domingo, General Manager of Mr. Fast Foo, informed us that they give out complimentary butchi to each guests. Now these butchis are smaller compared to the regular ones but that's already a great treat to have some freebies. As far as I know, only the high-end restaurants give out complimentary starters, so it was a surprise learning they can afford to do it inspite of having meals that ranges from Php 50 to Php 150 only.

Almond Lychee Cooler, Iced Tea, and Gulaman

The Almond Lychee Cooler seems to be the most preferred drink in the house, aside from the Gulaman (plenty of gulaman bits unlike what you'll get in most food kiosks) and Iced Tea (better than the powdered ones) which are the healthier choices compared to the cola and coffee, and of course you won't get wrong having bottled water.

If you were to ask me, I would always go for the Almond Lychee Cooler. It was "cool" to actually crush the crushed ice that came with it.

Asado  (Php 110)

The Asado Rice Meal (just imagine it paired with steamed rice) is a satisfying and flavorful pork meal with asado sauce that you won't get tired of eating. The meat is really soft and tender that every bite you make allows you to experience a tasty culinary treat.

Beef Brisket (Php 119)

The Beef Brisket Rice Meal is equally sumptuous and filling beef braised in soya and star anis and served on top of steamed rice. You won't have a hard time chewing on the beef as it offers no resistance to your spoon and fork. No need to grab a knife to slice into smaller pieces as it was so soft and tender.

Beef Mami (Php 95)

The perfect noodle dish for any season, rain or shine, is the Beef Mami.You have to eat it while its hot to get a more satisfying dining experience. Even the noodles were tasty on their own. My experience with other noodles from other restaurants would leave me dissatisfied with their noodles for having a bland taste, but Mr. Fast Foo must have a special process to make the noodles equally satisfying.

Maki Mi (Php 95)

The Maki Mi is lean, tender and succulent pork loin in thick soy broth. Again, it is preferred you consume this while its hot otherwise the broth will thicken. Some would want it that way since the thicker broth seems more filling.

Chicken BBQ Rice Meal (Php 90)

The Chicken BBQ Rice Meal is full of flavor down to the bones and a lot better than having the traditional fried chicken that is rampant in most fast food restaurants. It's a lot healthier having grilled chicken rather than the oily fried variant.

Classic Hong Ba Cua Pao (Php 65)

The Classic Hong Ba Cua Pao is slow braised pork belly with pickled emusta red greens, sugared peanuts and cilantro. You'll definitely marvel at the distinct taste offered by this dish with combined ingredients that will make you also swoon in delight.

Fried Spring Roll (Php 50)

The deep Fried Spring Roll  is tastier combined with their vinegar or soy sauce. For that very low price, it would probably be my choice if I was still a struggling student trying to make ends meet with my allowance.

Fried Wanton (Php 65)

Another satisfying dish is the Fried Wanton. Though it comes with a sauce, this dish is flavorful even without any sauce to spice up the taste.

Kikiam (Php 65)

For dimsum dishes, the fried Kikiam won't disappoint you at all.  Everything is great with rice or as a stand-alone dish.

Lechon Macau (Php 109)

The Lechon Macau Rice Meal may soon become another favorite especially after chewing on the crunchy chicharon skin on top of the succulent bite-sized lechon pork bits. Though its a "putok-batok" experience, having this dish every once in a while is rewarding after a week of grueling study. They have a special sauce for this which also goes well with other dishes.

Fresh Lumpia (Php 75 for Regular, Php 95 for Special)

If you're not a fan of the fried variants, then settle for the better alternative of having their Fresh Lumpia available in Regular and Special versions. I think the only difference is that the Special one has ground beef while the regular is pure veggies. They have a special lumpia sauce that is so satisfying and brings out a more flavorful experience from the lumpia.

Pork Siomai (Php 55)

The Pork Siomai will also make you smile in satisfaction. This is a favorite snack paired with gulaman for me especially when I'm on the go and want some quick bites before going through the harsh traffic congestion in EDSA or the suffocating MRT/LRT stations.

Shanghai Rolls (Php 70)

The Shanghai Rolls is so crispy yet tender inside. Either a viand paired with rice or as a snack on its own, this dish will delight you as well.

Soy Chicken (Php 89)

The Soy Chicken Rice Meal will make you want to order more rice since every slice is filled with flavor. I'm not really sure if the fine slices were meant to ease our dining to allow us to consume the food really fast as well. However, you'll enjoy every second chewing on their flavorful dishes that you might stay longer than expected.

Tonkatsu Rice Meal (Php 70)

A really affordable Tonkatsu Rice Meal, an alternative to the bigger restaurants that offer the same but with a hefty price tag. Experience this dish that's not so far in taste from the rest. It's a bit thinner but that's quite right for a good bite coupled with the steamed rice.

Plain Rice (Php 20) and Java Rice (Php 25)

Aside from the Plain (steamed) Rice. they also offer Java Rice.

Butchi (Php 60)

The Butchi comes in three flavors: Monggo, Ube and Pandan. You'll enjoy trying all three of them and could probably request a mix of these flavors when you order.

You'll notice from most dishes that they are finely sliced in even proportions so we are assuming that the mechanical engineering expertise of Dr. Almeda is responsible for these capabilities.

Liza Mendoza, Project Manager of XSite Solutions, did say that Dr. Almeda was responsible for many of the special kitchen equipment of many popular restaurants so it was not surprising to see advance ways of preparing food at Mr. Fast Foo.

The brand development and marketing arm of Mr. Fast Foo is now gearing up to further extend the business by offering franchising opportunities to all those interested in pursuing the restaurant business. This will definitely be a good investment for budding restaurateurs.

We would like to thank Stephanie Mapa of Open Rice Philippines for the invitation to this food tasting event at Mr. Fast Foo. It was definitely a fantastic experience to dine where they won't let your hunger wait because "fantastic feasts are served fast" at Mr. Fast Foo.

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