Steak It Off: A "Rap's Steaks and Cakes" Review

If you’ve been reading my previous foodie blog posts you probably already know by now that I’m a carnivore. I love eating meat – and what better dish to serve a carnivorous person than steak? These delicious, juicy slabs of protein are one of my weaknesses that I don’t remember declining an invitation to have one.

My foodie buddy, who admittedly was also a steak-lover, introduced me to Rap’s Steak and Cakes. I’ve heard about their Taft branch before where their dishes are favorites among the college studes but I haven’t had the opportunity to visit. Lucky for us, they’ve opened a new branch at Ortigas Home Depot last May. This is just a few minutes from where I stay, so we finally got the chance to try their specialties.

I wasn’t sure if our timing was good or bad when we came over. Good because there weren’t a lot of people around when we came so we more or less had the place just to ourselves, or bad because more than a few of the dishes we requested weren’t available. The red wine sauce for example was not available and only a few desserts were on display. Good thing the best-sellers were available so we just decided to work on what we can get.

Their Ortigas branch was small, with just four tables inside on the first floor and just several more upstairs. We didn’t mind since there were only a few people when we visited, but it isn’t hard to imagine the place getting overcrowded on peak hours. The area was enclosed and intimate that you can easily hear the conversations of those from the other tables.

There's booze served at zero!

We ordered their best sellers: A large Porterhouse Steak with Fries, A large T-Bone Steak, and a 330g Rib-Eye Angus Beef – just for the two of us (Hey, no judging!).

The Porterhouse Steak and T-Bone Steak were relatively cheaper because these are local meats. The Rib-Eye Angus Beef is a bit more pricey since it’s US meat,  but the extra cost is worth it as it’s the best tasting among the three. You can choose among garlic rice, plain rice, or French fries for your side dishes. We tried each one, of course.

 Porterhouse Steak with Fries

T-Bone Steak

Rib-Eye Angus Beef

Rap’s Steaks Prices

LOCAL MEATS

Porterhouse (L) 330g – Php 199.00

Porterhouse (R) 240g – Php 185.00

T-Bone (L) 330g – Php 189.00

T-Bone (R) 240g – Php 170.00

US MEATS: CERTIFIED ANGUS

Rib Eye 330g – Php 699.00

Rib Eye 660g – Php 1,398.00

As you can see, the prices at Raps’ are actually more affordable compared to other steak houses, considering that they serve great steaks as well.

We had our steaks “medium well” so they’re cooked just right while still keeping their mouth-watering juices. All three dishes we tried had tender meats, although the T-bone was chewier than the other two. Of the three, my favourite was the Rib-eye.

However, what really makes Rap’s popular are their Must-Try Specialty Sauces. You can choose from Bordelaise (Marrow), Red Wine, and Cream Peppercorn to go with your steaks, all at Php 50.00 each (yeah, they’re served separately). As mentioned above, we would have wanted to try the Red Wine Sauce (because what comes better with steak than red wine?), but bummer it wasn’t available. We went for Bordelaise instead and after I’ve tried it, I don’t feel sorry about not having the Red Wine anymore.

The Bordelaise (Marrow) Sauce

Other than these specialty sauces, they also provide you with gravy and steak sauce to go with your meats. Try pouring some gravy on your steaks, then mix it with small amounts of steak sauce for the perfect add-on flavouring to your dish.

Gravy first...

...then the Steak Sauce

Now that we’re done with the Steaks, let’s move on to the Cakes part of Rap’s. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to write about it here. You would expect the cakes to be as special as the steaks but no, these are just boxed desserts displayed inside shelves on one corner. These goodies are by Joy San Gabriel’s Premium Desserts. 

I tried their bite-sized Brazo de Mercedes at Php 150.00 per box. It was a genius idea actually, as you just had to gobble up these goodies one by one instead of having to slice them up and making sure that you get a good share of each layer. They’re good too! But thing is, I was expecting more from the cakes side of Rap’s. What we encountered was some boxed desserts on a shelf that was not even full. There were very limited options. It’s Rap’s Steaks AND Cakes after all, not just Rap’s Steaks.

If you’re craving for steaks but you don’t have enough moolah to dine in those bigger steak houses, then Rap’s Steak and Cakes would be a great option. The steaks are good, but don’t expect much from their desserts, you’d be better off getting a cupcake or something somewhere else.

Rap’s Steak and Cakes Address and Contact Details

ORTIGAS BRANCH

Unit 103, Food Street, Ortigas Home Depot Complex, 

1 Julia Vargas Avenue, 1604 Pasig City

0917 578 2320

Mon - Thu: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 11:00 am - 1:00 am
Sun: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

TAFT / MALATE BRANCH

879 Dagonoy St., Malate
Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines

(+63 2) 525-5589

9:00am – 9:00pm every day