How Now, Fat Cow?

When I heard that there was a restaurant/ bistro/ pizzeria/ foodie place named "Fat Cow" in Davao, images of world renowned chef Gordon Ramsay instantly flashed through my mind. I was thinking he’d reopened his famous restaurant and chose Davao because of the recent change we’ve seen in the Philippine political scene after Rody Duterte won the presidency.

“Yes! Finally I’d get to try out his food!” I was more than willing to shell out a couple thousand bucks just to savour his preparations. Let’s just say my tummy was more excited than what emotions would normally show on my face.

Sadly, this is not the same restaurant and there’s no world famous, potty mouthed chef manning the kitchen.

Okay let’s go into the great points about the Fat Cow Bistro/ Pizzeria. The place is beautiful. It’s at that right size were people can fill up the seats without giving off a feeling that it is crowded. Its design appeals to my minimalist mentality. The place is very well lit and airy. You get a good look of the inside as you enter the place. Fat Cow is nicely constructed, just concrete, wood and glass. Beautiful!

Inside, there are plain wooden boards lining the white walls evoking a sense of balance and tranquillity. The high ceiling added to the spaciousness of the place. Simple, elegant, beautiful.

The use of proper tables and seats also helped to make the place seem more “expensive” than what was listed on the menu. The utensils on the table were beautiful. And I’d also have to mention that the use of a plain piece of grey paper serving as the placemat was a perfect complement to the minimalist vice the place exuded.

The temperature was just right; neither too cold nor too warm.

The food is priced just right with generous servings. No need to break the bank just to eat here.

I had their signature burger for Php260 while Margaux had the Rib eye steak (not listed on the menu so ask the waiter for it). We also had the pumpkin and truffle soup which tasted great! So now I have three places to order pumpkin soup from if the craving ever comes up! We also ordered the oysters and Calamares Negra (fried squid rings using oil and ink and liberally covered in breading). I found the oysters a bit too spicy but my companions said it was ok. I’ll have to admit, I have a very low tolerance for spicy food.

My cousin and his wife basically had the same food that we ordered sans the soup, oysters and calamares negra which I was more than willing to share.

The baby had none.

The food was prepared in a very rapid manner. We had barely sat for about 15 minutes after ordering and it was there! There was absolutely no time for my stomach to complain about any delays. Good Job!

Gordon Ramsay would be proud.

But, in the interest of being impartial, I’ll have to list a few cons we encountered with this place.

One, it seemed understaffed. There were only a few tables with people dining but it seems like getting the attention of the servers required raising your hand for a couple of seconds several times in the air to get them to notice you. There were probably 5 servers at that time which for me seemed like more than enough people to cater to everyone dining. Maybe there’s a need for someone to scan the entire room at all times and then direct the servers over to those customers calling for attention.

The chef kept exiting the restaurant (he did it at least twice) during the time we were there. When he came back, he exhaled a puff of smoke. Now, I don’t know if he smoked a cigarette or he sucked on a vape but from the looks of it, the volume of smoke emitted came from a vape. If you have to smoke, make sure you’ve exhaled everything out before coming back in because that can ruin the atmosphere of any restaurant. Plus, you never know, there may be some people who are allergic to the fumes you’re emitting. (Buddy, I empathize with you. I get the same amount of flak each time I enter a place full of people who don’t smoke.)

Calamares Negra

The calamares negra may be listed as one of their best sellers but I found it a bit overcooked. You could no longer taste the squid because all of the juices were gone. It was like biting off a piece of a hard cookie. A quick dip in the deep fryer should suffice or use an air fryer so you’ll get the right consistency.

Fat Cow Burger

The Burger was good! That was probably the most honest burger I’ve had in a long time. No frills, just slap on some grilled meat between two pieces of bread and eat it! Brilliant!

It deserves to be named as their signature burger. The fries that came with it weren’t. I’d like to complain that it was a bit too big but then again that’s how I like my burgers! Big and full of meat!

The fries were a bit too bland. And I didn’t have any salt to flavour it with. I had to ask for some ketchup and I was given a saucer with only a small dollop of ketchup on it. Needless to say, I ran out of ketchup before I ran out of French fries. The onion rings proved to be a better fare than the chips I had on my plate.

And last, but not the least: They forgot our Cucumber shake.

Never forget the cucumber shake!

In conclusion: is the Fat Cow good? The answer, yes!

No doubt about it, we’re going to be back.

Now here’s what they need to do to make themselves even better: take this review and use it to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Use this review to their advantage so they can increase their standards.

After all, they’re operating under the name Gordon Ramsay once made famous, now all they have to do is live up to it!

For more info about Fat Cow Bistro/ Pizzeria, visit their Facebook page :D

Fat Cow's FaceBook Page

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