Gandiva Café: A Night of Healthy Eating & Archery

Hailing from the university of green-blooded archers, I have always had a fascination for the archery sport. So when Gellie invited fellow bloggers to the event, my date and I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Yesterday, Gandiva Café and Archery Range treated bloggers to a night of health and wellness appreciation through introducing vegetarianism, yoga and archery. Although not many bloggers made it to the event held at Ortigas due to the heavy rains and traffic-congested streets, attendees such as ourselves found interest on the topics briefly discussed.

Gandiva started off as a 2009 venture of an archery-enthusiastic family to make the sport more known and accessible in the country. However as of today, Gandiva expanded not only to promote archery but to also encourage healthy eating and living through offering vegetarian and vegan-friendly food products made from locally grown ingredients.

With Chef Lali Balagtas, a lacto vegetarian coming from a full-blown vegetarian family, heading the Gandiva kitchen, we were off to a healthy dinner.

We were first served a plate of the Gandiva VG Burger (P198) with a slice of Four-Cheese Pizza (P225 for 12-inch; P355 for 18-inch).

Being carnivorous, my date and I were initially wary that the burger might taste bitter from all the vegetable fillings. However, we ended up loving the Gandiva VG Burger!

The vegan burger is made with onions, tomato, mustard, pickles, eggless mayonnaise and a tasty patty made from soya bean pulp. The buns sandwiching the healthy fillings were also healthy whole grain breads with a sweet glaze on the crust. Although the Gandiva VG Burger is not as juicy as your regular 100 percent pure beef burger, it sure tasted great for something without the sinfully good meat.

Gandiva's Four-Cheese Pizza may not be the best cheesy pizza I have ever tasted, but it was very satisfying. Oozing with sweetness from assorted cheeses -- cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella and white cheese, this slice was light on the palate yet still interesting taste-wise. I also love the very thin and crunchy crust which is really crispy and nice to munch.

We were then served with a plate of their Tuna Pesto (P198) and slices each of the Tomato Basil Pizza (P220 for 12-inch; P350 for 18-inch) and Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza (P275 for 12-inch; P420 for 18-inch).

The Tuna Pesto was really interesting as Gandiva did not use real tuna, but undisclosed veggie meat. However, the veggie tuna strips still tasted similar to tuna but lacking that particular fishy quality. The pesto pasta dish on the other hand, had a light and subtle herby taste. Both my date and I find it a little lacking in salt and pepper though.

Gandiva's Tomato Basil Pizza is considered a bestseller, and I understand why. The basil leaves puree gave out an herby flavor which nicely complimented the bed of white cheese. The slice of Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza however, did not taste too interesting. It was a plain-tasting pizza which was only saved by its nice and crispy crust.

I thought the servers were giving us the same kinds of pizzas, but I was surprised to see that my date got a different one. His was a slice of Gandiva's Veggie Supreme Pizza (P275 for 12-inch; P420 for 18-inch), a vegetarian take on the Supreme-flavored pizza, loaded with bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, black olives and a double treat of veggie meat ham and tuna. I wasn't able to take a bite out of this slice but since my date didn't complain, it was probably good.

Last to be served was one of Gandiva's sweetest pride, their guiltless and eggless non-dairy chocolate cake served to us in a form of a cupcake.

I'm not very knowledgeable with desserts so I don't really know if the absence of eggs and dairy can alter the taste of a cake. But what I know though, is that the structure and texture of the cake may not be as fluffy and moist without eggs. Although there are tons of bakers and dessert shops already offering non-dairy and eggless cakes, this is my first time to try one. No regrets though, as Gandiva's version was very satisfying.

The chocolate icing tasted bittersweet which I love as I am more of a dark chocolate fan (than milk chocolates that is). The chocolate base cake was also tasty and moist. For a non-dairy eggless cake, it was pretty good. But of course, I personally still prefer the fluffier and gooey-er dairy-ful and egg-ful chocolate cake.

But good news to non-vegetarians and even to ovo-lacto vegetarians 'cause Gandiva Café also serves desserts with milk and eggs.

Of course, after sampling the vegetarian food offerings of the café, we were excited to try the other (aside from eating) interesting activity at Gandiva -- free archery trial.

Just across the café is Gandiva's 9-lane, 18-meter range. If you're interested to try and get a feel of archery, you can visit them 'cause they offer free 6-arrow trial!

For the Bloggers Night and Wellness Fair though, we can win different things with shooting a balloon down. But as much as I would love to prove my focus and dexterity, my left arm is just too feeble and I was shaking the arrow shooting all throughout the 6 tries. Yes, I failed.

But although I didn't get anything from the free archery trial, attendees still got some souvenirs. They gave out Sport Sprays and Gandiva shirts. Well, my date though got a Slimmers World P1,500-worth Gift Certificate for successfully shooting down a balloon. (Sige na, siya na!)

There were also sponsors exhibiting their brand and products during the night. One of which is a Coco Sugar product by Veredium Marketing, Inc. We got a free pack of these gourmet health sugar made from coconut sap which I have yet to try.

THE VERDICT

Overall, Gandiva's Bloggers Night and Wellness Fair was a nice and fun evening for both the attendees and organizers. Although I am far from being even the lightest type of a vegetarian, I still enjoyed the food. Everything was tasty and not much different from meat-containing dishes. I even commented to Chef Lali that if I can eat these food items everyday, then I won't mind being converted to a vegetarian overnight.

However if I had to nitpick everything that happened last night, I would have to say that their service can be improved more. Although the waiters were friendly and accommodating, they had some slip-ups in serving our food -- glass that was loudly banged on the table (which is probably unintentional), and cupcake that accidentally fell in our bowl of hot sauce instead of being served on our empty plate. Sanitation can also be improved. Although the whole place was clean, there was an annoying fly which wanted to take a bite on our food.

Taste - 4/5
Ambiance - 3.5/5
Service - 3.5/5
Price - 4/5
Overall Value - 4/5
(Plus point for their free archery trial!)

Archery Range & Equipment Rental
Range Fees - P150/hr
Equipment Rental - P200/hr
Instructor's Fees - P250/hr

Gandiva Café and Archery Range
7/F One Corporate Centre Bldg.,
Julia Vargas St. cor Meralco Ave.,
Ortigas, Pasig City
(02) 638-8711
Official Website
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