Go Loco and Mad for Garlic!

Garlic is one of the most common ingredients for condiments and seasonings because of its pungent flavor. A newly opened franchised-restaurant, Mad for Garlic, tries to maximize its uses to come up with wide array of clever and bizarre dishes that bid refreshing menu options for food lovers and daredevils alike.

Bulbs of garlic everywhere!

This Italian wine bistro in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig is originally from Korea. “Our Korean partner loved Italian food. She realized that people in Korea really loved garlic as well, which is a main ingredient in Italian cuisine. So with that in mind, she and her team created this wonderful concept of Mad for Garlic. One will find that Italian dishes served here not only stand out because of garlic, but because they are uniquely flavored,” says Global Restaurant Concepts Inc. President and CEO Archie Rodriguez.

Surprisingly, the two-story bistro smells nothing but the strong flavor of garlic. Also, the addiction for the omnipresent ingredient has rubbed off even to the minute details of its design. The garlic garlands in the corners and cute garlic bulb-shaped lamps add quirk accents to the cozy interior.

Their bestsellers include the Garlic Snowing Pizza, which is a thin crust made with special sauce and topped with shrimps, diced pineapples, and sliced garlic. It is big enough for a barkada of five. The pizza looks innocent but the concoction of mild and sweet flavors of garlic and pineapple gives a surprising and winning combination. Another unexpected bestseller is the Gorgonzola Pizza, which is a weird combination of honey and gorgonzola cheese. The weird fusion of pizza bread and honey is shocking but the taste of the seemingly incompatible hodgepodge of ingredients eventually grows on you.

The Garlic Sprinkle Gelato icecream

Even the dessert is not spared with garlic, the Garlic Sprinkle Gelato is vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, topped with garlic bits, and served with garlic cookie on top. The garlicky and pungent flavor comes as an aftertaste, which is strange, but the garlic bits and cookie can be removed, anyway. This ingenious fusion is recommended for food daredevils who crave for something clever and bizarre.

Other garlic-infused dishes include starters like the Dracula Killer, which is an entrée of soft, buttered garlic bread with cooked garlic cloves in olive oil and anchovies. Another dish that is heavy enough to be the main course is the Zuppa di Pesce, which is a special spicy soup with shrimps, scallops, and mussels served with of course, garlic bread sticks on the side.

For starters, try the Dracula Killer

Then there’s the array of pasta like the Crab and Lobster, which as the name implies, has generous servings of sea food meat in garlic cream sauce. Just imagine Spaghetti Carbonara with seafood and you’ll get the exact taste of the Crab and Lobster Pasta. Good thing, the slather of garlic cream sauce is neither too thick nor overwhelming. 

A candy or two comes handy at the end of this surprising and fulfilling meal experience.  

Mad for Garlic is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. from Friday to Saturday.

-30-

Photography by Charie Villegas