Food, Restaurants

55AZ Southern Flavors

55AZ Southern Flavors is what I call a mall’s sanctuary. We discovered this quaint little sandwich shop along the perimeter of Festival Mall (there’s another stall near the cinemas which has also been featured in Southbound; I think it’s still there). It’s beside Aggy’s bakeshop near Starbucks and near the mall’s covered and open parking spaces. I discovered this place a few months back while looking for an alternative place to kill time. What caught my attention were their cheaply priced subway sandwiches advertised on the door. 99 pesos for TWO sandwiches? That’s a very good deal in my book, and here’s a short and quick review.

I entered and checked the place out—it’s a small place, to be sure: just the kitchen and two bar-type tables inside. Outside there were more tables for dine-in customers (or those waiting for their sundo). One thing I noticed about their menu is that it’s dominated by mostly Mexican food like tacos, nachos, quesadillas, and chimichangas (like the one near the cinema). What makes this place different is the sandwiches (they used to have a Subway franchise here, so I guess they dropped the brand and kept the sandwiches). To add to the confusion, they also have some pasta, though the posters are usually marked not available. Never mind. Aside from the bargain sandwiches, everything is relatively cheap here. I didn’t see any offerings above 99 bucks.

I got myself some Chili Rice and Nachos. The service was fast, around 10-15 minutes. The food was served in a low square paper box / bowl thingy. The rice was fresh and hot and so was the chili on top—basically this is a simple rice topping meal, with a modest amount of chili (how much depends on the server’s mood) and soft rice, but the flavor is there, and it’s a good hot meal, both in temperature and taste. It’s cheap too, at only P55 (which was a surprise since the rice meal price on the menu was at P69—the chili rice was cheaper since it was simpler, I suppose).

The nachos (P45) were enough for two to three people (though my second visit yielded a smaller serving). There were generous servings of cheese, ground beef, and tomatoes. Perfect for lunch, with the grand total coming out to a hundred bucks. I can say that this is real value-for-money food.

Of course I didn’t stop there—some three hours later (my office is really near), I came back to Southern Flavors for a mid-afternoon snack. Their sandwiches are now regular lunch fare for me. The sandwiches are assembled in front of you and you can wait for your order at the counter. You can sneak a look inside the ingredient bins to check if the ingredients are fresh (I was satisfied). They have a lot of sandwich variants to choose from, but I always order the Chili Beef and Roast Beef and Cheese. The sandwiches are about 6 inches long with generous servings of the ingredients. And since this is like a little franchise of Subway, the taste doesn’t disappoint.

Fast service and great value for money. Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean skimping on taste and quality, as Southern Flavors proves.

55AZ Southern Flavors
1^st Level, Festival Mall (outside mall, near Starbucks)
No phone (outgoing calls only)
Operating hours: 10AM - 11PM daily
Southbound Directory entry

Tags: 55az southern flavors, festival mall, filinvest, mexican food, muntinlupa, sandwiches

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