The other day, we checked out Tasty Tucker Wholesome Cafe along Reliance / Pioneer in Mandaluyong. It is the restaurant / coffee shop that is located at HMR branches.
TASTY TUCKER AT HMR
It is a very casual restaurant, with picnic-style tables. The owners are Filipino-Australian – so this really started out as a place to serve their favorite Aussie pies. To cater to the market, they also added food items that their customers wanted – and that’s how they ended up including a lot of Filipino food items on the menu.
According to the manager, Ms. Beng, Tasty Tucker is owned by the same people who own HMR.
If you are not familiar with HMR, it is a surplus shop for various imported items. Some people have reported being able to score nice finds at HMR. It is really a warehouse type of store, and you really have to make an effort to dig in and look for treasure.
THE FOOD
But back to Tasty Tucker – the main product to try is really their Aussie pies. They started out with the original Beef Mince flavor, but have since expanded it to 10 flavors. The big pies are P150/pc, but if you buy more, you can get that down to P125/pc.
I actually like their “mini” Aussie pies better – it’s not so filling, so you can eat more and try different flavors without being too full. But they only make their mini pies for special orders. I hope they make it a regular on the menu. With that said, their meat pies actually have a lot of filling (meat) and sauce. I like this because I like a “wetter” pie than a pie with a drier filling.
Tasty Tucker also bakes all their own breads – you can check out their muffins and breads. They also bake their own cakes, and their cheesecakes are made using a lot cream cheese and no extenders.
Here are some of the other dishes we were able to try:
SUMMARY
The food was fairly standard, by my criteria. It’s as you would expect from a coffee shop. The food is okay – palatable and perfectly fine for a coffee shop – it just didn’t wow me. Easy-to-please diners will most likely find the food delicious. Judging it as a casual, diner-type place, I would consider the food good. Most of my table companions really liked the Chicken Wings – the breading did have something extra – an umami flavor I couldn’t quite place.
My companions who work near the area told me that they like going to Tasty Tucker for lunch.
Out of everything we got to try, my favorites are the sausage roll and the Aussie pies. I also liked their Revel Bar. Their Cafe Mocha is good – it is served warm, not piping hot. I didn’t mind because that meant I could drink it immediately 🙂 These are what I would order again should I find myself back at Tasty Tucker.
The breads / muffins are also worth checking out. The breads and pies are all made without any extenders or preservatives, so they need to be consumed quickly. If you want to buy them to take home, they can be frozen for months (packed appropriately) and then reheated with no problem.
They run promos – and as of this writing, they have a Buy 1 Take 1 on their pizzas daily. Please check the promo details with them first, they may change promos.
Parking is available in front. More parking is available at the HMR parking, but you need to have your ticket validated by the Tasty Tucker staff to get free parking.
Tasty Tucker
HMR Building, Reliance Corner Pioneer Street, Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tastytuckerwholesomecafe/
Hours: Mon-Sun, 9AM – 9PM
