Family Approves Herb's Diner in Guindulman

Out of the blue, my mother told us we are eating outside. I was actually about to cook dinner but since she told me not to do so anymore, I happily returned the meat to the freezer and prepared.

My parents said we should try out this eatery on the highway called Herb's Diner. This opened early this year I guess but we never really tried it there so it was nice to go to another place this time around.

Herb's Diner is owned by a neighbor back when we were still living near the highway too. The neighbor's husband, Chef Herbert had a lot of experience in food management and restaurant and I guess that's the reason why they pushed to build their own place. He is known for his food expertise in international cuisine such as Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, etc. And now, he is offering tasty & affordable foods that will surely satisfy your cravings! Simple Filipino foods w/ a twist! Actually, they used to cater too and I guess they still do except that now, they have a physical restaurant.

Their aim was to create a Siargao-vibe resto with the dominant material used here being wood and nipa. The walls have photos of the well-known reggae singer Bob Marley and they even got a second floor.

We arrived 30 minutes after six so there was only one table occupied. Their staff gave us the menu right away and we had to give our orders prior to going to the second floor.

The menu shows really reasonable prices, I like that they offer pasta too and they even have paninis! I regret not checking this place sooner. I ran through the menu and immediately knew I need to try their Chicken Alfredo, I guess that's what I was looking forward to while waiting for our orders.

Anyway, I was tasked to choose what to eat but I also asked the parents to pick what they feel like eating. Unfortunately, they didn't have their spare ribs available as well as the fries so we skipped Herb's fried style chicken and the spare ribs. I guess that's a good reason to come back.

I personally liked this pace here, it's like a spot for a family meeting. That's the parents and my older brother choosing from the menu. The menu by the way is very straightforward and simple. It has only this one-page laminated A4-sized paper so it was easy to choose, we don't have to flip pages!

But of course, we want to eat something good so we asked the staff what's their best seller and he pointed their Jah Sisig so we ordered two servings for that.

We headed to the second floor after placing the orders. Most of the food on their menu is good for 2-3 persons but they also have solo plate options.

Here's a view of the ground floor from above. We picked the table at the end of the upper floor which I regret so much because while eating, we felt there was no ventilation over there and they didn't provide any electric fan too! After dining, we realized it was better to stay at the other table next to the highway because it has good airflow.

This by the way is a tree house! It's cute and really a nice concept as they made good use of the tree instead of cutting it down. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a photo of the place from outside of the gate.

The walls of the second floor were just made of bamboo poles. This is just an open space with bamboo blinds to add more native vibes to the place are the hats made of some native material, I can't quite remember what those were, I guess they were made of Buli material? Not sure though.

After around 15 minutes, our corn soup arrived. This was priced at Php 160 and was already good for the whole family. We were a group of eight adults with two kids.

This was really good and since we were still waiting for the rest of our orders, we started having them because we were already hungry!

Arriving next were the chicken strips which were priced at Php 170. This was ordered for the kids because I am afraid the rest of the orders are not kid-friendly.

I am glad that they served it first together with the two platters of rice. Each platter costs Php 120.

Next in line, Jah Sisig came in. We ordered two so the adults were glad that it had arrived just right after the soup was finished! Boy, we were really hungry and were anticipating for the food to arrive very soon.

One plate of the Jah sisig was worth Php 190. Boy, this was really worth it. It has a crispy texture and the taste was really great! It got sold out immediately! All of us were just appreciating how good this sisig was! I guess it was our first time to have this kind as most sisig served in other restaurants doesn't have this kind of texture. We realized they didn't also put an egg on their sisig! But that's okay.

Here's the sweet and sour pork which was worth Php 210. This was also good! Everyone loved it, in fact, there was nothing left on the plate after we dug into it.

We were glad we ordered it.

They also got Buffalo Wild Wings for Php 170 a plate with around five pieces of chicken wings. This was really wild and we were all laughing because the younger brother is not fond of anything spicy and we let him try it.

He didn't know that I ordered Buffalo Wild wings, he thought it was just a normal fried chicken so he asked for a lot of ice and lemon drink afterward. Sorry brother!

Then came the Lechon Kawali which was ordered by my mother. She asked for it as an additional order because she thought maybe the food we ordered was not enough for eight adults.

One order of the kawali costs PHp 215. My mother was telling us that it was not worth it because it was just a small piece of pork belly but I do understand that this was not easy to cook!

My most anticipated order came as well, the Chicken Alfredo and the server knew right away that it was for me so he placed it right in front of me. The serving was generous and there was a lot of chicken in it too so the price of Php 180 was really worth it! I liked the pasta but the sauce was too salty for me. The chicken was just cooked right.

Lastly, the Korean Beef Stew arrived. This was worth Php 245 which I believe was the most expensive one from all of that we ordered. If the spare ribs was available, it would have been the most expensive but that was not available at that time.

My father approved of the taste but not of the tenderness of the beef. Becauase my father had lost his original teeth, it is very important for him to eat just tender meat. Nonetheless, the taste was for him very good!

But even if my father wasn't able to eat it, the other boys were happy to eat it instead.

We were really happy about the food we ordered, we were all full! I guess everything was eaten and nothing was left on our plates! I must say that it was all worth it! Their pitcher juices were worth Php 120 to 150, we ordered Lemonade and Iced Tea. While their rice platter was worth Php 120.

If I'd pick one from what we ate that night, I'd sure pick the Jah Sisig, it was the best for me and I am sure that we will come back soon to try the spare ribs and the rest of the pasta options!

Perhaps the only thing that I would suggest is that they must make their waiting time shorter. Actually, the first three orders came at a reasonable time but the rest of the orders came after around 20 to 30 minutes after we were done with the corn soup, the sisig and the chicken strips. It would have been better if that didn't take that very long. I guess the chef needs help!

The family indeed approves Herb's Diner and if you pass by Guindulman, it is very easy to spot as it is just beside the main road!