50-50 on District 50

A Groupon voucher for District 50 has been sitting in my mailbox for months and it was time to redeem it (before it expires!). Friends' calendars blocked, reservation made. Day came and when the waitress checked the voucher, she said it has been used. What?! How could that happen? After an hour of talking to the supervisor, thanks to my friend and her negotiating skills, we were allowed to order (albeit not sure yet if they will honor the voucher or not).

 

This restaurant's theme is the 50s. A jukebox-looking maitre d' stand welcomes you at the entrance. The restaurant's interiors are in red and white, of course, and you step onto black and white checkered flooring. I wish they had a real jukebox though that played songs from the 50s (not that I know many songs from that era, just thought it would be nice).

Though Herbie didn't come about 'til the late 60s, he makes a permanent appearance in this diner, as numero cincuenta (50).  If it's just you and a date, you can dine in this little bug.

District 50 offers soups, salads, burgers, pasta, pork/beef/chicken/fish dishes that come with rice, and desserts.

Their broccoli soup is creamy and flavorful. An order is good for 4-5 persons.

Their version of puttanesca is called Chanesca. From the small bites I swiped from my friend's plate, I think this one is sardine-y, salty, spicy. How puttanesca should taste like, I guess.

Pork Paprikash according to their menu is "sauteed strips of pork tenderloin marinated in paprika, finished with creamy yogurt." It is indeed paprika laden. Expect this to be spicy. If you do not like paprika and/or spicy food, skip this.

The Beef Stroganoff was cooked medium rare and my friend couldn't bring herself to finish this. I have had better stroganoff myself.

My Chicken Parmesan made me think of pizza: tomato-ey, a bit sweet, a bit sour. The chicken meat's tender. Of the dishes we ordered, I like this and the broccoli soup.

Their food is served in large dishes, it makes the serving look small. (Plus taken from the wrong angle, I made it look even smaller.) Do not let this fool you. The serving size is actually good enough to fill one hungry tummy.

For dessert we chose Jen's Smore Brownie to share. A brownie topped with six crisp marshmallows and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. The best thing about this dessert? The crisp mallows. The rest was just so-so.

I am a water drinker and it kinda ticks me off when you ask if they have service water and they say their service water is from the tap and then you spot a water dispenser quietly sitting in a corner. The dispenser is probably connected to the tap then. Hahaha.

 

 Hello there water dispenser!

In the end, the owner was able to verify that the voucher indeed hadn't been used. There was a mistake in their list (which is a printed list of voucher numbers and ticked off when redeemed). Why did it take so long to verify? Oh just one of the inconveniences of not having an internet connection.

District 50

J Centre Mall, AS Fortuna, Mandaue City, Cebu

(032) 520 6562

10AM - 9PM Daily

How feeding four hungry mouths to lunch bore a hole thru Mustachio's pocket:

Broccoli soup Php 125

Chanesca Php 180

Pork Paprikash Php 160

Beef Stroganoff Php 230

Chicken Parmesan Php 180

Jen's Smore Brownies Php 100

Bottled water Php 35

How much did it really cost Mustachio?

Php 400 for Php 1000 worth of food. Thanks to Groupon. Plus Php 10 for the excess (total bill was Php 1010).