Bars, Bars and Band Venues, Entertainment, Food, Restaurants

Bistro 310 - Creepy House Comes Alive!

Last Saturday I had another chance to watch Kapatid—one of my favorite bands—here in the South. Yes!!! To see Karl Roy and the gang play is always a blast, wherever they are. Like I’ve said before, my group has had the fortune of being billed with them on more than one occasion, and those times have always been fun, joking around with the band and talking shop.

The surprise, of course, was that they managed to book a gig at Bistro 310. KC, bassist of CosmicLove, and a very good friend of mine, organized the whole event, together with his band, and Haight St., a new second hand music fx shop next to Parilla along President’s Avenue (we plan to visit this place real soon). There was no entrance free, so the place was packed, with plenty of Kapatid fans from the South singing along to some of their well known songs like “Prayer” and “Banil“.

Last Saturday was my third visit to 310, and the latest with a live group performing. The first two times I’d only gone over to drink with some of my friends, and those times, as usual, the place wasn’t short of patrons. Bistro 310 is part of the bar strip in Phase 3 of BF which includes Porch and Beluga, among others. I’d never known the place to host rock performances; usually they just pipe in-house music, with plenty of drunk teens and tweenteeners milling about (let’s hope the under-aged kids’ parents don’t read this). KC and Haight St., however, are set to change the format of Bistro 310, from chill-out bar, to rock n’ roll venue.

Growing up in BF, I never imagined the day I would set foot inside that creepy house with the monolithic “310″ street number on the house’s lawn. It always seemed like the owner was guarding something, or had an army inside, with portholes from which his archers could kill errant trespassers. Alas, I never knew anybody who might have had access to the Medieval Ages-inspired house, so I only managed to set foot inside the house in the 27^th of my whole 28 years. 310, however, has been open to the public since 2000 or so, first as a tony restaurant (then billed as 310, for the restaurant portion, and Peppers, the more bar-like portion), a venue for sosy dates and upscale wedding receptions, and now as a bar, complete with neon lights and the occasional requisite bar fight.

The “stage” area is very small, has good acoustics, and can pretty much give other bars offering live music a run for their money because of its very intimate atmosphere. I liken the experience to Saguijo in Makati, and 310 could very well be its reincarnation (though still in its infancy) in the South. There is ample seating outside and inside, the latter with a very nice view of the garden and the creepy swimming pool. People wanting to hold intimate conversations can find plenty of tables near the garden, where they can sit away from the hustle and bustle of the bar area fronting the main road.

While I do feel a little nostalgic for the days when “to drink” meant we were going to be at somebody’s house, and BF was a little quieter at night, Bistro 310 does offer a new dynamic to the night life of young Southerners. While us hapless workforce members were forced to go to Makati or Ortigas during our young and swinging days to have a little fun, these days all the kids have to do is step out of their houses where a proper bar sits waiting for them just across the road.

310 of course is not just for the young crowd; anybody wishing to spend 30-40 bucks for beer is welcome, and with the introduction of live music, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be around for a long time. Hooray for progress!!! Oh, and as a shameless plug, Sinosikat?, the group I play with, will be gigging there on March 31 with CosmicLove, so I hope to see you there. Again, no entrance fee, just beer money required.

310 Bistro

310 Aguirre Avenue, Phase 3,
BF Homes Paranaque

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