Do you love peanut butter? My answer to that question is always, “it depends”. If the peanut butter is good, then yes, definitely, yes, I love peanut butter!
But after discovering the Peanut Butter Company years ago, I realized how much I love peanut butter in food! For me, I really prefer peanut butter in food so much better than in a peanut butter sandwich. I am the person who wants to put an entire jar of peanut butter in my kare-kare.
PEANUT BUTTER COMPANY
I chanced upon the very first Peanut Butter Company while walking along SM North Edsa a long, long time ago (circa 2009?). It was selling various flavors of peanut butter and had a few menu items where they incorporate peanut butter, but I was intrigued enough to try it (and yes, I still remembered it after all this time). At the time, my only experiences with peanut butter in food was in the Thai-style peanut noodles and in kare-kare, and discovering that so much more could be done with peanut butter was a revelation.
ALL NEW PBCO AT ESTANCIA MALL
Now fast forward to 2015 – the Peanut Butter Company already has several branches. It was time to update the brand to keep up with modern tastes and aesthetics – and that’s how we now have the new PBCo – modern, creative, fun, yet still relaxing and cozy.
The first PBCo branch is in Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons. Their tagline is “Everyday Happy Food” and trust me, their food will make you really happy 
I am so grateful to have been invited to try their new menu! For the new PBCo menu, owner Ms. Pam Chua created new dishes but also included customer favorites.
THE FOOD
We started our meal with a refreshing Basil Lemonade (P85.00), here’s a picture of it in a small glass:
I really liked this. Who knew basil would work so well with lemonade? I’ve had mint lemonade, but basil lemonade has a stronger flavor – you’ll love it if you like the taste of basil. It’s sweet, cold, refreshing, with the clean, strong taste of basil. 
Next, we had some of the Stuffed French Toasts – Crunchy Jamberry (P320), and Stuffed Monkey (P245). The Crunch Jamberry is 3/4″ slices of buttered white bread, spread with PBCo’s Jamberry cream and cinnamon-flavored peanut butter. The whole thing is then dipped in an egg-milk batter, coated in cereal mix, and pan-fried. The Stuffed Monkey is filled with vanilla cream cheese, fresh banana slices, dark chocolate peanut butter, dipped in egg-milk batter, and grilled.
The Marshmallow Dream (P185) is a simple sandwich filled with creamy peanut butter and marshmallow creme, then toasted on a griddle.
Next, we had the Cream Cheese Chowder (P168). It comes in its own bread bowl! You can’t even tell that there’s a bit of peanut butter in the soup – there just seems to be more depth and body to the flavor of the soup. This is good.
Here’s PBCo’s version of Cold Asian Noodles (P185) – this is a cold dish – cold spaghetti with creamy sesame peanut butter!
This is PBCo’s Mac and Three Cheese (P165). The peanut butter is actually mixed in with the crumb topping. It’s just a hint of roasted peanut when eating the cheesy macaroni.
Next, we got to try the Roast Beef N’ Gravy (P285) – thinly sliced sirloin, gravy sauce, with peanut butter mayonnaise, and cardamom-flavored peanut butter.
This is PBCo’s Classic Spaghetti (P165) – regular, classic spaghetti with the addition of sun-dried tomato-flavored peanut butter. The peanut butter just makes the spaghetti sauce flavors meld together better! This is so good, I am going to start adding peanut butter whenever I make spaghetti at home, too. Inspired! 
Next is PBCo’s Pulled Pork Burger (P285) – the pork is simmered in hickory sauce and creamy peanut butter – recommended if you like strong, barbecue sauce flavors. The buns are spread with peanut cucumber mayo.
I’m partial to this Fish Diablo Pasta (P220) – I just love spicy peanut butter, and that, in a nutshell, is why I like this It’s also delicious. It’s not too hot, though. It’s just mildly spicy. The peanut butter tones down the spiciness. It’s a tomato-based sauce mixed with chili peanut butter.
Next was the Sloppy Burger (P295) – this was one of my favorites that day. It has a quarter-pound burger patty, topped with chili peanut butter sloppy Joe! 
Creamy Curry Pasta (P220) – all my favorite flavors in one dish – curry, cream and peanut butter! The sauce is a Béchamel, added with PBCo’s curry peanut butter, topped with chicken fillet chunks and fresh basil.
Country Chicken Steak (P320) – my favorite dish of the day! The chicken breast fillet is well-seasoned, the breading is crispy. The chicken is actually marinated in chili peanut butter (but don’t worry, it’s not spicy at all). The crispy breading is made with saltine crackers! Served with milk gravy, chunky mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
Cajun Fish Fillet (P265) – fish fillet coated in Cajun spices, purposely blackened, and topped with mango-tomato salsa! Peanut butter sauce is on the side. I just love this! I love fish fillet. I love smoky spices. I love peanut butter. I love mango salsa. It’s a very nice mix of tastes, but doesn’t overwhelm the mild fish.
Hometown Fried Chicken (P330) – this uses the same marinate as the Country Chicken Steak. The chicken is breaded and fried, and glazed with a thick sweet soy garlic peanut sauce! It reminds me a little bit of Aristocrat’s chicken barbecue sauce. This is a great dish to order if you are addicted to soy garlic flavor Korean style fried chicken.
We also had some dessert, but this post is already way too long! One thing I liked was the White Cherry Choco Milkshake (P125) – white chocolate peanut butter blended with maraschino cherries and vanilla ice cream!
SUMMARY
When I am invited to a food tasting, it’s very rare for me to want to go back for almost everything! PBCo is one of those rare restaurants where I like almost everything – particularly the savory dishes. Maybe it’s because, to me, good, gooey peanut butter is like warm hugs. I love good peanut butter. The way that PBCo added peanut butter to their dishes enhances the flavors of the other ingredients and rounds them all out.
The dishes that I want to go back for are, in order: Country Chicken Steak, Sloppy Burger, Hometown Fried Chicken, Cajun Fish Fillet, Cream Cheese Chowder, Creamy Curry Pasta, Classic Spaghetti, Mac and Three Cheese, Fish Diablo Pasta, Cold Asian Noodles; and of course, the Basil Lemonade!
The prices at PBCo , especially for the main dishes, are also reasonable – around P165-P330. I never considered these dishes as comfort food, but they feel like comfort food to me. Maybe it’s the peanut butter, but it’s just simple, comforting, good food at a reasonable price.
If you love peanut butter, you have to check out PBCo! At the moment, only the Estancia Mall branch has the new menu and updated look. Even if you’re not a super peanut butter fan, give it a try. The food is still the same ones you are used to, only enhanced a little bit with the addition of peanut butter. The peanut butter flavor isn’t really that strong in the food – some people might not even notice it!
Note: everything here probably has peanut butter, soooo sorry if you have a peanut allergy, because the food is really good!
PBCo
Basement, Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Oranbo, Pasig City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peanutbuttercompany
Contact #: (02) 696-5375
