Restaurant Love: Passion by Gérard Dubois

Passion (or Passioni as how I first read it) by Gérard Dubois is now one of my favorite dessert places in Fort Bonifacio. Its beautiful interiors and mouthwatering display of pastries never fail to lure me inside the store whenever I pass by it.

Hello again, Passion!

After dinner, I headed to this Instagram friendly store for some pastries to go. I was looking around when the server told me about their Buy 2, Get 1 Free (where the free item is the one with the lowest price) promo which starts at 9 p.m. daily. Woohoo! A deal!

I circled around and looked for pastries with the same prices and spotted some fruit tarts all priced at PHP108. I went for Strawberry Danish, Mixed Fruit Danish and Mixed Fruit Tunnel. 

I had the pastries to go but was worried that its beauty will be squished. I told the server my concern and he assured me that they pack it well. 

I headed home and hurriedly unpacked some of the pastries and… it was slightly squished but still quite good looking. 

First Bite: Izakaya Sensu

I have been waiting for Izakaya Sensu to open for months! Ever since I saw its board up last May, I counted the days, weeks and months that passed. It was no exaggeration at all as I was confident that this restaurant will deliver given that it is under the Raintree group of restaurants. And finally, after confirming that Izakaya Sensu will open on July 9, I cleared my weekend plans just to visit this place. Sadly, the place was not open to the public just yet. July 9 and 10 were exclusive to media and friends of the owners. With a broken heart, I had dinner elsewhere and messaged one of the owners (who used to be a former colleague of mine) how sad I was for not getting my uni sashimi fix. She sure knows how to mend broken hearts though as she asked me to head back if I was still around and that it'll be their treat! Unfortunately, I already had a huge bento for dinner and told her I'll drop by Monday instead. And I did yesterday.

Hello, Izakaya Sensu! 

We were greeted by a well-lit Japanese restaurant with high ceiling adorned with wooden lighting fixtures. 

We sat at the brightest spot best for food shots and ordered the following: SENSU Kawari Kusi 5 (PHP195), Butabara Aspara (PHP60), Butabara Enoki (PHP70), Uni Isobe Age (PHP495), Dragon Roll, Soft Shell Crab Roll and Ebi Tempura Roll (I was so giddy to be finally here that I forgot to take note of the prices but these are within the PHP250-300 price range). 

While waiting, we had a wait snack made of salmon with tuna and veggies. It had a light flavor and was great to whet one's appetite. 

I also managed to have a quick chat with one of the owners, Andrej. He said that originally, the Japanese chef wanted to get all the ingredients abroad and most of the seafood from Tsukiji Market. But that would entail high costs and they would have to charge so much. Luckily, they found some local (and quality) suppliers for some ingredients like uni. But for others like salmon and hamachi, they have to get it elsewhere to ensure top quality dishes . He also told me that they are still testing the waters so Izakaya will be open just for dinner this week and will start to serve lunch meals next week. (Note: They close after lunch service and will resume operations for dinner service. So no Japanese afternoon breaks for now.)

First served was the huge plate with all the rolls. 

I sure had a hard time taking photo of this one so I used magic instead!

First Bite: Grind Bistro

As a sucker for trying out new places and dishes, I digitally dragged with me K and J to try this new restaurant called Grind Bistro. 

Hello, Grind Bistro! 

The place was pretty empty on its first day of operation. The only group there was... just my bosses and their friends. Yeah. That's how I roll. 

The dimly lit restaurant shouts sophisticated and a not so friendly price tag on its dishes. True enough, when I checked the menu, you could easily spend over a thousand by ordering a couple of dishes. The steaks alone range around PHP1,600 to PHP2,200. 

While waiting, I had a chat with Thea, the restaurant manager and she told me more about Grind Bistro and recommended some dishes. She mentioned that the name of the restaurant is called Grind because they grind their own beef for the burgers. Also, their chef, Mr. Carl Steven used to be the executive chef of Hyatt hence the impeccable dishes. That small talk made my expectations shoot up! 

K arrived a couple of minutes after my talk with Thea and we decided to order Poke Nachos (PHP495) while waiting for J who was having an intense battle with traffic.

The nachos were served after a short while and we did our best not to touch it till J arrives. And we succeeded. 

Complimentary bread was served a couple minutes before J arrived. Yes, it was served after our nachos. I guess they might have thought we were just there to sit and drink free water hence the reluctance to give us a wait snack. 

The nachos were delightful! The chips which were sweet potato, taro and wonton were all crisp and added texture to the pico de gallo, ahi tuna, local chevre and wasabi tobiko.