Secret Menu: The Grid Kicks Off Spot's Exclusive Dining Campaign

(SPOT.ph) The year 2024 has, it turns out, one last secret to reveal. Spot.ph is outing something intriguing but beautifully positive: a wealth of off-menu items diners can find when they visit The Grid at Powerplant Mall. It’s called The Secret Menu, and you’ll be able to gain access to this exclusive world of special dishes and flavors if you have the right key: a Unionbank credit card.

What’s so exciting about the Secret Menu? Well, it’s loaded with dishes created especially by the food purveyors at The Grid, which are being offered exclusively to— as we mentioned—credit card holders of UnionBank, one of the largest banks in the country. Dining at The Grid, whether for lunch, dinner or an in-between snack, has always been a thrilling proposition for foodies, what with the wealth of excellent choices it offers day in and day out—from traditional home-style Chinese dishes (China Mommy) to inventive noodle creations (Pilya’s Kitchen) to Korean favorites (Gochugang) and mouth-watering sandwiches (Bun Appetit). Not to mention the top caliber chefs that do pop-ups here every so often (Bruce Ricketts and Miko Calo easily come to mind).

What's the idea behind the Secret Menu

But the Secret Menu just made dining a The Grid a little more exciting—discovering an off-menu item, after all, is sure to turn any serious diner giddy.

“Secret Menu was borne out of Summit Media’s mission to constantly find new and exciting ways to extend our audience’s relationship with food and dining beyond our online platforms,” says Kiko Galura, Head of Product and Innovation at Summit Media. “The vision was simple: an exclusive access to the chef’s off-menu creations.” For the inaugural leg of the campaign, Spot.ph, together with Esquire, partnered with some of the most notable and well-loved dining names in the city that can be found inside The Grid. “Each dish that you find in our Secret Menu is a product of the brilliant minds of chefs and culinary creatives who fuel the local dining scene.”

Also read: The 50 Great Restaurants of 2024: Best of Manila and Beyond

From December 14 to January 14, visitors at The Grid can try The Secret Menu items when they use their UnionBank credit card. But being part of the team that make up Spot.ph, we were of course given the privilege to sample the bountiful offerings ahead of everyone, and here’s our verdict: there’s something here for all kinds of diners—for spicy food lovers, for comfort food aficionados, for crunch addicts, for anyone and everyone with an appreciation for a gamut of mouthfeels and all the other sensations good food brings. We won’t play favorites. We’ll leave it up to you to choose/curate your journey. But as always, we’ll hand you a guide.

What's inside the Secret Menu

Let’s begin with an appetizer, but naturally. Thomson Road goes a little outside of its usual path of Asian staples like siomais and baos and clay pot rice with their Fragrant Gambas (P450), a bright plate of succulent shrimps stir-fried in garlic and herbs that will surely whet your appetite.

If you’re in the mood for noodles—the Secret Menu has three options for you which goes from mildly spiced to a kind of fiery spicy. The mildly spiced Curry Tsukemen (P600) comes from Tsuke-men, where the tsukemen noodles is paired with a beef curry which brings in the kick. It’s kept company by golden brown and crispy, lightly breaded shrimp and fish. Another noodle dish is the Fire Noodles (P380) from Gochugang which lives up to its name: home made udon noodles coated in the Gochugang signature Spicy Gochujang Pepper Sauce—with chicken, shiitake mushrooms, kimchi and roasted sesame thrown in for a very well-balanced, well thought out meal.

Third but certainly not the least is the meal-in-one dish from Pilya’s Kitchen, the stall popular for its Dandan noodles. For Secret Menu, the pilya in Pilya’s Kitchen strikes again by coming up with Spicy Mapo Chicken Noodles (P460), which is composed of a cheese-topped mala fried chicken sitting on top of a bed of fresh noodles made luscious by a minced pork mapo sauce. From the same The Grid purveyor, there’s also the eye-catching Shrimp Dumplings in Mala Cream Sauce (P430)—a quick trace of Sichuan peppercorns welcomes you to this crunchy on the outside, soft inside shrimp dumplings sitting on a house blend Mala cream sauce.

For tortilla and tacos, is there any other place to go than Bruce Ricketts’ La Chinesca? And here’s another question: Who knew one round tortilla can contain so much good things? We’re talking about Secret Menu’s Toro Tostada (P810) which has chūtoro zuke, ōtoro aburi, akami, tomato pico de gallo and chipotle aioli—an order of this looks like a garden of delights, what with the addition of the little yellow flowers on top. Also not to be missed is the Wagyu Suadero Taco (P390), which has tender Wagyu cheek as the star of the show, served in a soft corn tortilla with onion, cilantro and La Chinesca’s signature tare sauce.

Meals-in-one are a favorite in The Grid, and we have a stellar lineup of this genre in the Secret Menu. There’s Bored N Hungry’s Fish and Chips (P590), for example. The burger joint tries its hand at seafood and the result is a very satisfying cobbler fish fillet coated with a well seasoned beer batter. It comes with delicious fries too and a tartare sauce completes the package. They say it’s not easy to find good Fish and Chips in Manila—well, we’ve discovered one and it’s in the Secret Menu at The Grid.

Another meal-in-one is Happy Ongpauco-Tiu’s Bulalo Steak (P498) at Le Chon, which should bring back memories of her popular bulalo at Pamana but this time it’s served sizzling steak style—a chunk of tender bulalo meat with a sunny-side-up egg, butter rice and gravy, and right smack in the middle is a half bone marrow that tells you, in no uncertain terms, to indulge your pleasure-seeking nature once in a wee while.

A homey, hearty bowl of China Mommy’s Braised Pork Rice (P380) is sure to offer comfort to the hungry, harassed 9-to-5-er because, at least for us, it’s giving Chinese-style adobo vibes: soft, braised pork belly on top of steaming white rice? Sign us up—er, take our UnionBank credit card now.

Also read: Spot.ph 50 Great Restaurants of 2024: Special Awards

Now for some refreshing bowls, let’s go to Ono Poke, which is offering two different poke bowls for Secret Menu: the Yuzu Salmon (P620) has plump, succulent salmon cubes brightened up by the vibrant yuzu ponzu; and the Citrus Mayo Tuna (P520) which takes the classic mayo tuna combo and gives it a citrusy zhuzhing, making this coming together of citrusy and creamy a winning match, building on the strength of Ono Poke’s fresh tuna, of course.

If you didn’t find yourself at The Grid on the hunt for a lunch or dinner meal, an A-lister snack is Bun Appetit’s Scallop Grilled Cheese (P390) which uses bay scallops and a combination of Parmesan and emmental cheese melting into each other and sticking with its vessel of potato bread slices.

And if you’re looking for sweet treats but leveled up by many notches higher, Secret Menu boasts the Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream with Honey Butter Potato Chips (P180) from Dripp, and the Blackout Rebel Dessert (P340) from BLK 513. The former is a crazy, pleasantly unexpected coming together of Swiss chocolate soft serve and honey butter potato crisps, while the latter is the dramatic, glamorous black frozen yogurt from BLK 513 served with its equally glamorous partner, the stripy Dark Side Cheesecake.

Meanwhile, EDSA BDG implores you to toast the holidays with its two classy drinks: the Pompealini, which is described by the folks who whipped it up as “fruity, refreshing and delicate”; and the You Better Nut (both P300 each) which is “straightforward, mildly sweet and nutty.”

How to get your hands on the Secret Menu

The Secret Menu at The Grid is only The Secret Menu's first stop. It promises to pop up soon in one of your favorite food purveyors. Meanwhile, the Secret Menu items at The Grid at Powerplant Mall's second level are available for both dine-in and takeout, and no minimum spend is required. To avail of the Secret Menu items, just make your way to the stall where your chosen dish is sold, make known your order to the stall staff, and hand over your UnionBank credit card (you may get asked to furnish proof it’s really your card). Only one credit card can be used per transaction, and this cannot be combined with upgrade certificates, other promos, packages, as well as privilege/VIP cards.

Secret Menu is exclusive to UnionBank Credit Cardholders. Available from December 14, 2024 to January 14, 2025. Terms and Conditions apply. Per DTI Fair Trade Permit No. FTEB-208495, Series of 2024. Union Bank of the Philippines is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas https://www.bsp.gov.ph