Seafood and Music Share the Limelight at This New Resto-Bar In Quezon City

Fin & Claw Grill
69 Scout Torillo corner Timog Avenue, Quezon City
Contact: 0995-008-8093
Facebook: facebook.com/finandclaw.mnl
Open on Sundays to Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. and on Fridays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. 

(SPOT.ph) People in the North often have to travel south to Makati or BGC for most of the Metro's most sought-after night life. But, smack in the middle of the North's party scene along Timog Avenue, is a new resto-bar concept bringing life back to the now sleepy QC hotspot. Fin & Claw Grill is an unassuming corner restaurant along Timog Avenue, and while it may look like any other grill-bar concept from the outside, once you head inside, it's a whole new world of seafood and tipples with the occasional musical act playing. Are we finally seeing a resurgence of the early 2000s resto-bar concepts of days gone by?

Also read: 
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Here's why Fin & Claw Grill in Timog, Quezon City is worth a visit:

Fin & Claw Grill is the brainchild of Locavore's Chef Mikel (a.k.a. Kel) Zaguirre. This resto-bar in the party strip of the North is his newest venture in the F&B space. As with Locavore, its menu is full of topnotch eats and high-quality dranks, but more than anything else, Fin & Claw Grill is the comeback of the QC party and dining scene in one. 

Inside Fin & Claw you'll find a large dining space nothing short of typical for restaurants in Timog. Simple interiors, tableware, and furniture; nothing too alienatingly fancy but still with a touch of timelessness.  

A well-stocked bar on the side also invites you to get your signature drink. While it doesn't seem to fit the scene at first, once the live music gets going, you start to see why such a bar is necessary in a place like this. 

There's a different performer every night at Fin & Claw, and while it does have days where it welcomes newbie performers to take the stage, this is also the type of place where you would find seasoned performers like Freestyle, Nina, Southborder, Imago, and many more belting out familiar, crowd-favorite tunes. 

While food would mostly be an afterthought for places like this in the past, Fin & Claw brings the resto-bar concept to this era by making the food an equally integral part of the experience. It leverages the genius of Chef Mikel Zaguirre and takes the food beyond the usual bar chow.

Seafood takes the stage as the star ingredient in almost everything on the menu. It comes in the form of your classic Filipino eats to contemporary takes on the familiar. A perfect example would be Fin & Claw's repertoire of Ceviche (P420) dishes.

Where other restaurants would have just one kind of seafood, this restaurant has several, each with its own signature tang, texture, and protein.

Then you have finger food and elevated bar chow like raw, baked, or grilled oysters (starting at P390), and Crab Rangoon (P290) bites with a special sweet-spicy mayo. 

There are also main courses like the Tuna Belly Char Siu (P1,100) that creates an exciting new dish with its own style and flavor by treating the seafood a la the classic Chinese technique. There's also the author's personal favorite, the creamy yet delicate Crabonara (P720), which adds a hint of the sea to a traditionally porky dish. If you're looking for a simple eat that's memorable, try their Butter Aged Tanigue Steak (P1,100). This deceptively simple-looking grilled fish is surprisingly moist for a white fish of this cut and cook. The flavors are balanced with the fish, keeping its briny flavor enhanced by the touch of smoke from the grill. 

We always recommend leaving room for dessert and Fin & Claw is no exception to the rule. Funnily enough, the desserts were the most surprising part of the menu. Imagine Seaweed Cheesecake (P390), which tastes a lot like corn and cheese, or the off-menu Dilis and Chocolate Sansrival, which, in all honesty, kills the competition—these unusual desserts are a testament to Chef Zaguirre's creativity and command of flavors.

But it's not all sea critters and seafood-infused food here. There are also other classic mains like their Crispy Pata, a.k.a Fried Pig's Trotter (P1,500), a strong contender for one of the Metro's best crispy pata, much to Chef Zaguirre's credit. And not to forget their smokey and moist Piri-Piri Chicken (P600) that pairs well with homemade chimichurri and aioli. 

The menu is a hodge podge of easy eats, full meals, and bar chow, but we're not complaining. This wide cast menu grants Fin & Claw the ability to appeal to different diners and guests. It's a place where you can go, whether you just want a meal or a full-blown night out. Being new to the QC food scene, Fin & Claw is still carefully treading the waters of being a modern resto-bar with the charms of the old times balanced by the taste and sensibilities of this period. But it does have a lot of promise. It's a place where music and food work in synergy to create a bangin' good time for all.

Also read: This Date-Friendly Pasay Resto Takes Surf and Turf and Your Usual Nightcap to New Heights

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