Sizzle Me Steakhouse

I like this place but at $ 81.00 ($ 95 with tip) for me, my wife, and my eight year old daughter it seemed expensive compared to Ihawan upstairs which has a much much larger and no frills seating area and I suspect can charge less due to the volume. The food really was delicious and the décor was very modern and well done. I will likely not be coming back since I can get cheaper delicious food around the corner at Ihawan. If you’re going out on a date and want to impress, this would be a good place. If you just want to eat cheap delicious food and don’t care too much about décor, go upstairs to Ihawan.

I went to this place to have dinner on 1÷16÷2015. There were tons of problems from the get go and I don’t know why we did not leave.
1. It was very cold inside. Everyone was wearing a Jacket. There was a draft and the owner was even there and did not care.
2. They seated us pretty fast BUT when they sat us, there were dirty dishes on both sides of our table and when we asked them to clean it, it took them 20 minutes.
3. Food was salty and you can tell it was pre cooked.
4. It was very loud and the people singing were friends of the owner so he did not care if they were loud and being inappropriate with songs and making it into something sexual. It was very uncomfortable.
5. Im never coming back. The only thing good was that at least they had wine.

Listen or Read Sarah C.‘s review here. She says it exactly as it is.
We were hesitant to let that review stop us from trying but unfortunately we should have took her advice.
It was a Friday at 7:30pm. We wondered why there weren’t much people dining. The main floor plan is just a straightforward railroad style sit where you want kind. The lighting was a little too bright and the table we chose was next to the band playing. Due to a possible loud music within minutes we were requested to move table elsewhere as alternative. That was sweet.
I was with Greek and Chinese friends and was anxious to show off for their first try of Pinoy dishes. I chose Pork Belly Sisig, KareKare, Lechon Kawali, Fried Chicken, Dinuguan, and Pancit which are mostly what I can think were distinctive enough yet familiar for them. Dinuguan was instead «to goed» since they realize what it was cooked with.
The Lechon Kawali was really fatty and bland in flavor. Feels undercooked or rushed.
Kare Kare was flavorful but it was on a Sizzling plate so the sauce dried out fast. The Bagoong was a teasespoonful.
Pancit was compared to Chinese LoMein. Not bad but nothing extraordinary about it.
Fried Chicken was good but way too cooked, too crispy, and very HOT (temperature wise).
I will end my review of the dishes there.
All in All, I will not say the restaurant is bad. But it is not very good either and I doubt I’d recommend it. I think they are way overpriced for the quality of what they served.
Just like what Sarah C. said, I would hope the staff could be more friendlier and pay a little attention to the guests. It could have been a nice experience in spite of the food, but Filipinos are a warm, receptive people. I would like and my friends to experience that. I am sure, it would compensate anything mediocre if only for such factor.
P. S. Kudos to the server (the one with a really short hair) who didn’t serve us. She was very nice and full of great smile to her table. And to that handsome (Caucasian?) guy that brings plates to the front etc., he was charming.
I would come back for them but perhaps Krystal’s would suffice.
ALSO. Do not expect a reply on your email via their website.

We are not Filipinos but we have Filipino friends and we enjoy Filipino food as well. We were invited to celebrate a (Filipino) friend’s birthday party in this place on January 3, 2015. We were seated after a 5 minute wait for a table. It was cold in the restaurant and thought it was the draft coming from the front door. But we learned that there was no heat, no hot water and even the air coming out from the hand dryer was cold. We were wearing our jackets and so as other tables/​guests while we ate dinner.
In regards to the staff, terrible! They looked like not too happy to be working. We didn’t see them smile at all while we were dining in and not even thank the guests on their way out the door. They were clearly under staff and need a real NY restaurant customer service training. Our Filipino friends felt so bad and embarrassed that we also felt very uncomfortable with the whole scenario. Our experience was so bad that we decided to write our concerns to the owner on their website on the same day, we feel almost obligated. However they don’t have an email address on their website (
). The «contact» link has limited space to type down our issues. So, we left our name and email so we can forward our issues returning to their email. As of today, January 11, 2015, they never replied back on our inquiry. That being said, don’t expect much from this place because it seems like they don’t care!
Needless to say, this experience was terrible! Will never return again so does our Filipino friends. FYI, our pinoy/​pinay friends have been here few times and mentioned that food was good before but seemed that they changed their chef as the menu had changed as well.
OVERALL: Mediocre food and extremely poor management and service. Owner should be aware on what goes on in their business. Hope this will be used as a constructive criticism.

When it comes to my food, I have a very clear ranking of order of importance. Number 1 is taste, and then… somewhere way after that is presentation and price.
Sizzle Me is appealing to the eye — much more so that any other Filipino restaurant in the area (unless you’re really into that feeling of sitting in your Tito or Tita’s kitchen, rather than a restaurant); in a way, this shouldn’t be surprising as the proprietor is also the entrepreneur behind Eyelusions directly across the street (read the front of the menu). People have mentioned the décor and the open kitchen, and yeah it is nice.
But going back to my main concern — get the food right! Sizzle Me would do well to pay a little more attention to the food. Some stuff is really good, others… not so much.
Garlic Fried Rice: I ate all of mine. And some of her’s. And they give you enough to feed a small family when you order the breakfast. So I ate enough for a medium-​sized family. I kinda like this rice, methinks.
Pork Tocino /​Chicken Longganisa: These are the two breakfasts we tried. Not sure why they don’t just go with the Tocilog /​Longgsilog format we’re used to, but whatever. This is about food, not semantics. In any case, both are solid options and I’d come back for more. They fried my egg just the way I like it — enough that the white has crisped and turned brown at the edges. Their breakfast is a bit pricier than other locations, but it tastes good.
Sizzling Sisig: Why was another table’s sizzling plate sizzling, and ours was not? And what’s up with all the green and red stuff in my sisig? My first introduction to sisig was in the Philippines, in a dive bar and I loved it. The closer your sisig can get to making me feel I’m just a butterfly knife shanking away from meeting my end, the better. And that joint definitely didn’t have a bunch of peppers and such overpowering the flavor of the sisig.
Bulalo: Looked great, tasted… well, kinda flavorless.
I’m going to map out my preferred meal around 69^th street at some point, and I’ll definitelty include the garlic fried rice on that.
Oh, and some other random tips for you:
1. If you do pick up to-​go from different spots to cobble together a meal, put your order for the rice in here first. Our last time in, it took over 20 minutes to served, and the place wasn’t busy.
2. Staff is cold. And not in the unfriendly way — they’re actually very nice. But in the winter, it is COLD. Bring your jackets and hats, and don’t be afraid to use them.

Great ambiance! Maybe you’ll find yourself being serenaded by a live artist. I personally enjoy it :) I highly recommend their fresh lumpia and sizzling sisig! #onpoint
Service is not so bad. The servers are welcoming and considerate.

I’m a huge fan of Filipino cuisine, and this restaurant is pretty nice, I had very high expectations for it. When we went on a Friday night, we tried to order several popular items from the menu, and those items weren’t available. Perhaps they need to re-​evaluate their pantry and anticipate what items are in high demand so that their kitchen will always be well stocked and prepared for diners. Nevertheless, we had a pretty great meal of lumpia shanghai, pancit noodles, and short ribs. I really loved the egg rolls and the noodles, they were light and so flavorful and simply delicious. The noodles were served in a very large portion, and slightly a bit salty, but I really enjoyed it a lot. The short ribs weren’t that great because there was not enough meat on the bones, and it was a bit too oily for my liking. We enjoyed our meal in the backdrop of live singing. I thought that was a nice touch, and the woman’s vocals were soft and pretty. They did a bunch of contemporary love songs, and I think I heard maybe one tagalog song. My fiancée got really annoyed at the singing after about 2 songs because he felt it was a bit dated and wanted instead, to hear her do songs off M.I.A.‘s, Arular. Next time, hopefully they will have the steaks that were sold out, and maybe this singer will cover M.I.A. to make the finance happy. Overall, this restaurant is cozy and a really nice choice for a date or family get-​together. Service, by the way, is very friendly!
3.5 stars

On another chilly fall night, one of my best gf’s and I met up for dinner at Sizzle Me. She swears by this place as one of the best Filipino restaurants in the area.
Sizzle Me is fairly new in the scene. Most Filipino restaurants in this area has a very homey feeling. They do not. They do however have a nice open kitchen. The way the tables are arranged looked like they have some kind of party on weekends. All the tables were against the wall on each side and the mid section is very spacious. Maybe used as a dance area or something? The front has a small refrigerated glass stand like most Filipino restaurants in the area that sells baked goods. They supposedly carry Goldilocks products. If you’re Filipino who grew up in the Philippines, this would somewhat excite you.
For $ 70 something we got two garlic rice, fried calamari served with sweet and sour sauce, sizzling Bulalo, Sizzling sisig and Lechon Kawali. All meat. No signs of vegetables anywhere. Sizzle Me’s menu consists mostly of food in sizzling plates. Yes, we have this in the Philippines. We do have restaurants that specializes in everything sizzling. And just like those restaurant in the Philippines that does this, Sizzle Me didn’t really wow me.
They tried to put a twist in the regular sisig by putting chopped bell peppers in it. I’m not a fan of it. I ate it but it was just ok. The bulalo (beef shank) was served on the sizzling plate with mushroom gravy. I couldn’t help but compare this to a place in the Philippines that serves the same and it’s pretty fair. The Lechon Kawali was deep fried fatty pork belly served with liver sauce. Yes, liver. Don’t hate. Try that sauce and you will have a profound acceptance of liver. Lol. But that belly was all fat tho. Crispy skin. Very oily.
We stayed there for two hours chatting and we were never made to feel that we needed to go. Service is friendly and quick. 5 stars for that.
Three stars for the food and the price. Pricey for less tasty food. You’re prolly paying for the upgraded ambience. Still worth a try.

Ambiance is inviting and clean. Service is average. Food is somewhat below expectations. The Lomi turned out to be complicated from its simple flavor and look from the original. Simple broth and simple veggies would’ve been great. It had too much going on and the noodle used was of a very poor quality and served over cooked that it almost felt like it sat on the stove overnight.
The menu is bit pricey comparable to city prices but wasn’t able to deliver the city services and flavor that is expected of their prices.
Overall, it is for those who want to experience a city dining minus the authentic flavors of Filipino dish because of the too much infusion to modernize an already simple and perfect dish (not just Lomi).

Came in for a later dinner on a rainy weeknight, and the place is hoppin’. Loved the energy, the airy, woodsy space. I was worried that there might be a delay with service but our server was one of those rare aware birds who took our order right away.
It’s funny other reviewers call this joint fusion because it’s not – it’s a Filipino restaurant that also serves steak. The décor elevates the place beyond the typical Formica restaurant experience. And the open kitchen is a very nice touch.
Then the food came, rather quickly. Maybe too quickly? The sizzling sisig wasn’t sizzling. We swirled the meat a bit to try to get the raw egg to cook but to no avail. We looked jealously over at another table who received a true sizzling dish, complete with smoke and sound effect. The flavor was meh. Too many vegetables. Sisig should be a down and dirty pulutan meat dish, but this was practically a sautéed veggie dish. Renee’s sisig next door wins.
Our other entrée was bulalo. It’s very nicely presented, and lots more meat than other joints nearby. The broth was a tad too bland, leaving me blindly reaching for non-​existent patis. It also had a mild ginger flavor. Hmm. Again, the QA in the kitchen leaves a lot to be desired. No sizzling plate, and also not completely cooked meat. Another disappointment.
The highlight was the $ 6 scoop of garlic rice. Will kill vampires. I loved it.
Wanted to get the halo halo but they were out, so opted for taho for dessert. It came in a martini glass, nicely presented. That taho is not as silky as normal taho; it’s chewier and drier. It’s sauced up, very caramel-​y, making the dish less like taho and more like yema dessert. I liked it.
This was a pricey meal, too much for the quality of the cooking. But I do commend them for good ideas and creative intention, even if they unfortunately fail in the execution. I don’t know that I’ll come back here until I start seeing reviews about the food improve.

I was excited to try this place, but I was disappointed. They took 30 minutes to take my order. When my food arrived, it was just ok. Kinda middle of the road. The rice they gave me was very small. I had to order another, but for 3 $? This place was forgettable, over priced for the quality of food. I came here for the buffet, but I had to order alacarte because the food foe the buffet was less than enticing. Ambiance was okay. It was dimly lit with an open kitchen. Flowers on the table was wilted. The décor didn’t have a direction. Sadly disappointed. Oh well… I shouldn’t have strayed from Tito Rad’s. Dont waste your money here…

So amazing. My dad works here as a chef and they served us well. The atmosphere is comforting and cozy. I love it. Food is amazing !

My wife and I love to try new Filipino restaurants.
We love this place, we know it’s pretty new but I’ll give some suggestions
We went on a Saturday night (arrived at 7:30pm) was seated in 15 minutes. Ambiance was great, it has a live band!
We looked at the menu and we were surprised how expensive it was. So we still gave it a try. We got Sisig, Lechon, Liempo, and Sinigang na Hipon. After getting the first bite of each. Our money was worth. It is quality Filipino food! PERFECT! We ordered a few filipino beers as well and that was another plus! Service was great.
A side of rice is very expensive though. $ 3 which is the first time I’m seeing for a Filipino Restaurant.
When ordering beverage and you ask for no Ice they won’t fill the cup to full. Not sure why.
We’ll try this place again and might update my review

Sizzleme’s initial objective was to raise the bar for Filipino food. But only months after opening, they’ve lost the plot. They offer buffet food now and their a la cart is inconsistent and expensive. The only positive they have left is their friendly staff (but on a bad day forget your order –even if they are 4 tables occupied). If I may suggest, the owners should go back to basics and stick to what their good at, stop sticking Starbucks papers and bands schedules on walls and make sure the food tastes good.

Weekday lunch buffet for only $ 8.95! No tip needed since there was a 10% gratuity added on for 2 of us. For that price you can’t exactly argue with the choices and taste. $ 12.95 if you want access to the salad bar as well (but I’m not spending an extra $ 4 to watch my figure). At the back end of the restaurant sits 12 hot dishes for you to endlessly pick at.
–Fried Chicken — Nothing beats Filipino fried chicken. They don’t exactly fry your typical drumsticks and wings only, so it gets kinda confusing how to eat around the bones though.
–Garlic & White Rice
–Fried Tilapia — Couldn’t get enough of this crunchy item.
–Dinuguan
–Chicken Adobo — Bit bland, not too special tasting.
–Sinigang
–Squash & Veggies in Coconut Milk
–Several other pork based dishes I can’t remember.
2 Dessert choices: Fruit cocktail in condensed milk/​sweet cream and Tompouce (Napoleon like pastry).
I’m a bit disappointed though that Lumpia was not in their offerings that day, as I walked by Krystal’s Café that had a sign offering it. Perhaps I need to go there to satisfy my craving?
Overall the ambiance is a modernized Filipino restaurant. Burgers, steaks and fusion cuisine dominate the normal menu visually, but there are still traditional plates as well. Prices will be relatively higher than all the other surrounding Filipino spots.

I am always down for finding new great Filipino restaurants. This is not one of them.
Inside, the space is simple, but aesthetically pleasing. The seats are spacious and the stand alone chairs have arm rests — which is a relief compared to other restaurants!
I’ve been here 4 times, now, and every time I’ve gone, I’ve gotten more and more disappointed. Let’s just cut straight to the chase: the food is expensive here. Most dishes are $ 10 and up, and I don’t know why. The ONLY good thing about this place is the pinak bet. The dish itself is $ 12, but the portion is HUGE. And that’s it.
I’ve had the ramen here and it was really bad.
How do you mess up on ramen?!
And what is ramen doing in a Filipino restaurant?
Sure, you could be saying — hey, Cailin, you chose to order ramen at a Filipino restaurant so it’s your fault. But could you really fault me for trying to give a fairly new restaurant a chance?
And I had the weekend buffet for $ 14.95. Head’s up, the gratuity will already be included in your bill — which I guess is a little too convenient… The buffet was really mediocre. And I usually love buffets! The fish filet was really off, the spicy shrimp was really really soggy and just shouldn’t have been served the way it was, and the experience overall was such a nightmare. The buffet had the smallest stations that I had ever seen. I spent more time waiting for people to finish getting food just so I could get around them than eating, probably. It’s so tight, and having to wait for people just to get a plate, or a napkin, or a utensil slowly drove me nuts.
I have really, really, tried to like this place, but the service here is also kind of sad. No one served my table water — I had to go up and find a waiter to ask… Someone at my table ordered a cup of hot water, and the restaurant charged $ 1.65.
WHAT? WATER IS SUPPOSED TO BE FREE. Tea, yes, charge me for the tea bag, but you’re going to charge me for a cup of boiled water?
Cailin’s Recommendation:
— Pinak Bet ($ 12)

ALL YOU CAN EAT LUNCH BUFFET M — S $ 9.77 for buffet, soft drink (free refills), and includes tip. The deal seemed too good to be true, but it turns out it’s just TOO GOOD. Note extra $ for the salad bar. Must pay upfront and seating is open. Half price for children 3 ft. and under. No age limit.
The buffet consists of white rice, fried rice, beef with broccoli, chicken, beef with bones, mini eggs rolls, fried fish, fried calamari, and other miscellaneous Filipino dishes. The plates are noticeably smaller, the food is drenched in oil and spices, and not all too fresh, but then again it’s $ 9.77 for all you can eat. There is no limit to the amount of food you can stack on a plate or the number of plates you can take (4 was enough for me). It would be polite to take one plate at a time. Dessert was also available, a sponge cake of some sort.
A bargain on the price, but a sacrifice in quality. Perfect for the workout junkie or the short child.
Note there is another buffet on the same street– Krystals Café which I heard is worth checking out too!

This is the newest Filipino restaurant in Woodside me and my aunt went to eat at this place tonight for the first time the ambiance is nice but pricey, the service is some what terrible our orders was not followed as it was made clear twice to our server and was even repeated by the server and the food is horrible.
1^st we asked that our order of kare kare* be serve in palayok (small pot) instead it comes in the sizzling server and the desert «turon*** (read description below) with 1 scope of ice cream» on the side we both asked for strawberry since the other choice is vanilla they served us vanilla flavored ice cream instead. $ 7.00 each order
About the food
If not for the Japanese rice and the bagoong** the «kare kare» will not taste good because it’s watery and bland as if their chief do not know how to cook this favorite Filipino delicacies.
My aunt got 2 big (bone) cut of oxtail with more fat than meat, while I got small cuts and bones even the vegetables we got 5 – 6 pieces of string beans (3″ cuts) and no egg plants. Cost is $ 14.00 each order compare this to 5 other restaurants in the same block they only charges $ 8.00 tops they taste better and more meat and vegetables.
I am sorry but I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone.
* Kare Kare is a traditional Filipino stew complimented with a thick savory peanut sauce.
** Bagoong — a Philippine condiment made of partially or completely fermented fish or shrimp and salt.
*** Turon, also known as lumpiyang saging, is a Filipino snack made of thinly sliced bananas and a slice of jackfruit, dusted with brown sugar, rolled in a spring roll wrapper and fried.

I have eaten at all the Filipino restaurants in Queens. This one is one of the newest and most fancy looking ones. The décor is very hip and the place is very clean and modern looking. I shared several plates of food with friends family style. The food however was below average compared to the other Filipino places. The lumpia here were tasty but are smaller. The Chicken Adobo here I found to be more bland and less flavorful than normal. They definitely need to up the soy sauce and vinegar they put in the sauce. Their Sizzle Me Fried Chicken was okay and is prepared in a healthier manner — it is a lot lighter than typical fried chicken, and with fluffier skin.
It looks nice inside, but food-​wise, you get smaller portions of blander food at slightly higher prices.

Came here with my mom because she was craving Filipino food and her friend recommended we check this place out.
It wasn’t bad– service was very friendly and the place looks well designed– no remnants left of the previous establishment that used to occupy this space (a latin nightclub or strip club, not sure) and they have an open kitchen.
Food took long to come out– I attributed that to teething problems since they just opened when we came in last November. Taste was comparable to their competitors’. While it didn’t impress me that much, the food didn’t taste like the end of the world.
All in all, it’s not as bad as some of the reviews claim. I’ve definitely had worse in this area of Woodside.