When craving for some non-fast food while travelling via NLEX (going south bound), try stopping at The Shoppe in Pampanga. It’s near Landers so if you’re on an errand to buy something, this is the place to be.

There are alot of food establishments in the area from Inasal Chicken, Filipino Food, American, Grilled Meats, Korean, you name it and I bet there’s always a place for you there. We discovered this place after visiting Landers in Angeles Pampanga with cravings for Birria Tacos and Chicken Biriani for hubby.

We were lucky to come across a Tiktok Account that featured Wildspices Cafe Infinity and it happened to be within the vicinity. We ordered the Birria Tacos for just PhP 290. They served two pieces which is almost half the price of Army Navy – Beef Birria Taco is PhP405. The only difference is that Army Navy offers a picked jalapeno with loads of onions and a tasty diluted dipping sauce. For this version of Birria Tacos, they have this mild-spiced sauce with lemon on the side. It tasted good except it’s a bit oily. They could’ve placed it on an absorbent paper towel a bit longer before serving but overall, I liked it.

Next is the Chicken Biryani for hubby. The photo didn’t do justice with regard to the size of the actual chicken – it’s not this small and big neither. It’s on the medium size served with slices of cucumber and tomato plus the sauce that’s not too empowering. I love chicken biryani and have tried it from numerous restaurants within and outside Metro Manila so I can say that this can be one reason I’ll go back to this restaurant. The price + serving size + taste…thumbs up.

Aside from the two, we also tried their Kani Salad, Chicken Pesto Pasta, Chicken Tikka Masala, Porterhouse Steak, Blackened Salmon with Aligue Cream Sauce and Calamari Bites.

The Chicken Pesto we had is bland and the pasta is a bit soggy. It’s a small serving like 5 fork-full then it’s gone. This is the only order we didn’t quite like.

Their Chicken Tikka Masala is a dish that you would come back for many times. The saltiness and creaminess of the sauce goes well with the bread. It’s love at first bite for hubby. Like you can imagine the invisible hearts through his eyes when he tasted this.

For their Blackened Salmon with Aligue Cream Sauce, I was expecting a charcoaled-like salmon as in black but it’s not. We opt for the mushed potato instead of rice because we already have too much carbs on our orders. It was good for a few bites but after some time, it’s kind of “nakakaumay”. Maybe because of the Aligue Sauce – it’s on the salty side. This is just a small portion but wasn’t able to consume all. The price is okay for the serving size as Salmon is really an expensive dish on restaurants.

The Porterhouse Steak – the meat attached to the bone is somewhat hard to chew or cut although this is medium rare. The gravy sauce is good and so with the mushed potato on the side. If I have to choose between this or the Blackened Salmon, I’ll go with this one.

And last but definitely not the least is their Calamari Bites with potato chips. The calamari is well cooked – it’s texture is chewable and not rubbery. You know when a squid is overcooked, it tends to be rubbery and really difficult to munch. Also the garlic sauce ( I guess) is a good partner of both the calamari and potato chips. I even used the sauce on my Blackened Salmon to negate the saltiness of the Aligue Sauce.

Our overall experience with Wildspices Cafe Infinity is a good one. Aside from the food, the servers and owners were friendly. We’ll definitely come back for their Chicken Tikka Masala and maybe Chicken Biryani. Else, we’ll try other food establishments in the area.