First Bite: Bake House Manila

I love hanging out at Shangri-La at the Fort. Aside from its amazing restaurants, I find its lounge the perfect place to have some work done. And I was beyond thrilled when I got word that it opened a new shop to showcase its pastries and desserts. 

Hello, Bake House Manila. 

Bake House is Shangri-La at the Fort's newest food concept. It is hard to miss as it's located at the main lobby of the hotel, just at the opposite side of High Street Cafe. 

When in Hong Kong: Café de Coral

The Hong Kong food scene is quite overwhelming with all the choices this not so small country could offer. This is the very reason why I didn’t really list down the restaurants I want to visit because I’m bound to find a good restaurant or two in every street. But one restaurant included in A’s recommended restaurants was Café de Coral, a popular quick service restaurant chain in Hong Kong and since we were hungry and were in front of the place, we gave it a try.

Hello, Café de Coral.

The place is very much a notch higher fast food chain. You order in front and head inside to line up again for your food.

R got the Soya National Farm Chicken and BBQ Pork with Rice (HK$42) while mine was Soya National Farm Chicken and Roasted Duck with Rice (HK$42). We also upgraded and got their newest hot beverages. Unfortunately, I forgot what these were called but mine was with ginger.

R’s chicken and pork barbeque dish was great! The tender chicken and pork were glazed with the lovely sweet sauce and it went well with the blanched veggies. The pork though was slightly dry.

My dish, which just had duck instead of pork, was pretty good too. The duck meat was tender and well flavored too and the chicken, just as delightful as the one on R’s plate. The only thing I didn’t like about mine was that the duck was quite bony making it a bit troublesome to eat.

The drinks we ordered were perfect as it was getting chilly that late afternoon and it was freezing cold in the restaurant. We had to dilute it a bit though as the drinks were a bit too sweet to be thirst-quenching.

Overall, it was a pleasant early dinner (though I thought it would be cheaper than the usual restaurants).

Café de Coral has several branches in Hong Kong. Click here for the list of branches.

Love at First Bite: Puñta Manila

I love Silly People’s Improv Theater (SPIT Manila)! I always tell my friends that I had one of the best nights of my life when I watched them last year. I never laughed so hard and I thought I would die from laughing. And so when I saw their post on Facebook that their first show in 2015 will be at Puñta along Shaw Boulevard, I began to spam my friends. Sadly, people were busy then. I was too. But I badly needed a laugh.

Hello, Puñta Manila!

Photo from Spot.ph

Please do not ask me to pronounce the name of the restaurant for you. It sounds like you’re cursing when you say the name but I guess this is a creative gimmick of the establishment’s owner, Paolo Bediones. People would love to keep saying the name as it’s something different. But Bediones claims that the name was derived from an expression of surprise or delight and not from a “bad word”. Anyway, I will still not say it. >.<

The place was packed that night so it was a good thing that I reserved seats. We were supposed to be a group of four but two had to back out. So I had an extra chair for my bag. Woohoo.

It was difficult to order since all of the dishes I wanted to try were unavailable that night. I think I tried to order over 7 dishes and yes, ALL WERE UNAVAILABLE. I’m not so sure if it was because business was super good or if they only keep limited supply to lessen throw away cost.

We ended up ordering the following: Pollo Tirada Tortillas (PHP285) and Quesos Quesadillas (PHP275). (I wanted to order more but it was difficult as almost everything I wanted were not available. *frustrating!* )

Service was slow. It took Puñta over 45 minutes to serve our food. The food was served a few minutes after the show started which was past 9 p.m. and we arrived around 8:15 p.m.! Good thing we weren’t that hungry.

Dinner for a Cause...

The owner of Mango Tree Bistro invited our editor-in-chief to attend the newly founded organization named Chefs and Food Service Community of the Philippines. The organization aims to gather food suppliers, manufacturers and restaurateurs to promote the local food industry and to support its projects such as soup kitchen and several other outreaches.

Anyway, the fourth dinner (our first was the third leg) was held at The Loop, operated by the Institute of Culinary Arts and Food Service of Far Eastern University. I was quite thrilled since I’ve never been there. This time, I went with some other colleagues. The dishes I will show in this blog are not from the restaurant though.

The first dish that was served to us was toasted bread with cream cheese from S & L Fine Foods, Inc. (I heard that they have a store at Yakal and their line is similar to Santi’s Deli but cheaper. Tempting!)

The cream cheese was not overpowering. Quite pleasant and simple dish for an appetizer.

After finishing our plate of bread, they served some blood sausage. It was my first time to eat blood sausage so I don’t really know what to expect. There was a bit of white sauce over the sausages that tasted like cream garlic. The sausages on the other hand were extremely dry. Hope they placed more of that white sauce.

The next dish served was made by one of the chefs during the dinner. First dish served was Dinakdakan with Dilis and Adobo Salad.

The Dinakdakan was quite very flavorful and crunchy but it was a bit too heavy for me. I left like I was consuming a 1000 calorie dish and it was just a 4 tablespoon serving. The Adobo Salad had bits of adobo but it was a bit too hard. The Dilis Salad on the other hand tasted like laing but I enjoyed it the most.

I was starting to feel full (since I had a heavy lunch at New World Hotel and snack at Blue Leaf… yes, it was one eating galore day) when they served the Soft Shell Crab in Sinigang Soup. It was my first time to try soft shelled crab and I LOVED IT. It was quite chewy because of the shell but it was not hard at all.

The soup made it a bit tangy but I love sour dishes so it made me smile. I was not very fond of the breading being soaked though. (I was never a fan of soaked cereal and this is a similar case.)

To cap the meal, they served halo-halo shots. It was not your typical halo-halo served with shaved ice. Instead, it was just some beans, coconut (nata), and sweetened milk. It was served with a thin peanut brittle.

Surprisingly, despite the small serving, I find it still too much. It was really flavorful… and too sweet. Half of the shot was more than enough.

Aside from these, there was also a buffet that includes kare-kare, steamed fish, and some pastries (chocolates from Bakersfield).

Since we wanted to have something else to drink, we ordered margarita. I had one of The Loop’s bestsellers… Loop Margarita (PHP180). It was a bit icy thus less alcohol (I think). Nonetheless, it was pretty good.

I love attending this monthly dinner because I get to meet great chefs and food store owners and discover great dishes. Just last month I got the chance to try Pampanga’s Best bacon ice cream!

Raising the bar… Barcino

I was lucky enough to be part of the press launch of Barcino in Rockwell. At first I got lost since I hardly dine in the restaurants beside the entrance of Rockwell. But all the guards know where Barcino is so it wasn’t hard to find it. J

I thought that I was late since the invite mentioned 7pm (I arrived 7:45pm from a trade check). Good thing though that they were still waiting for the other guests. While waiting, I was offered some chips and wine. To be honest, I am not really a wine person, and as a person starving, I felt that my stomach rejected the wine. >.<

The event started around 9:30pm (and I am really famished).  They first served an appetizer fondly called as “Smooth Appetizer” which was a fried battered prawn dipped in a squash gazpacho accompanied by Estrella Calacia beer (which can only be bought at Barcino).  Smooth appetizer tasted like calamares but I assure you that the shrimp used was big and fresh. Also, I think that it goes well with the beer.

                                   

The next meal was a Mi-cuit with spicy bread paired with Cava Vilarnau from Gonzalez Byass. I first noticed that the toasted bread was topped with pepper and I got worried since I cannot tolerate spicy food. But it was not that spicy at all. Also, when you eat it with the sweet spread, it is actually very delicious. The wine on the other hand is like a sparkling wine... a strong sparkling wine (with 12% alcohol content).

The third meal was scallop with caramelized onion, ginger, and tomato sauce paired with Vallformosa Claudia. The scallop is quite bland so you have to make sure that you cover it with the sauce (which is on the bottom of the bowl). The wine was also a bit too strong for me. >.<

The fourth meal was sea bass with concasse tomato made with vanilla, spinach, and mushroom plus clouds of rice noodles paired with Martin Codax Albarino. This one is the best for me since I love sea bass. It was a bit bland as well but I love bland food for I do not get tired of eating it.

The spinach was a surprise for it added flavor to the dish. The wine was also favored by the press with me since it goes really well with the seafood. The sour kick of the wine brought out the rich flavor of each of the ingredients of the dish.

The next dish for the night was lengua with mashed potato matched with La Miranda De Se Castilla from Vinas del Vero. The lengua was a bit salty and it really has to be eaten with the mashed potato to lower the saltiness.

Last dish (before the dessert) was lamb chop with apple compote with fresh rosemary and turned vegetables paired with Fontal Crianza from Bodenas Fontana. The lamb chop was a bit dry at first but as I cut through the center, it becomes more and more savory. It Is not a seasoning heavy dish that you will get tired of easily. Too bad though that they served this late since we were all too full to finish the dish.

Finally, the dessert was pineapple bomba with crema catalane with fruit pincho paired with Nectar Px. The dessert on a pineapple shell was quite interesting. There were pineapple tidbits with kiwi and strawberry on top of melted sugar. The pudding was too sweet for me though.

As I finished my dessert, I left Barcino with a full tummy yet very eager to go back to try their other meals. But, I will definitely order the sea bass again for it is love.

Café Ilang-Ilang, the place where you won’t get “ilang”

First off, I would like to apologize about the lame title for I feel that this place deserves a classier name… but I just can’t help it. (For those who are not that familiar with the Filipino language, ilang means to be uneasy.) Moving on…

I was so glad that my boss tagged me along to the launch of the all-new Café Ilang-Ilang. At first, I didn’t know that it was a buffet restaurant thus I had a heavy breakfast. When I got in, I felt remorse over not skipping breakfast. And who wouldn’t when one is faced with NINE COOKING STATIONS?

               

               

The host of the launch was Issa Litton and she felt that we were all drooling and eager to visit all nine stations. The stations were: Pan-Asian (Chinese, Korean, Malaysian, and Filipino dishes), Churrasco (Western), Japanese, Italian, Spa (healthy food station) and Dessert. After the short talk of the president of Manila Hotel (yes, Café Ilang-Ilang is inside the Manila Hotel), people from the press all “charged” to the different stations.

              

              

              
              
              

              

              

              

Being a frustrated Japanese that I am, I went to the Japanese station first. It was sushi, sashimi, and maki galore! I took a lot of salmon sashimi which is my ultimate love. I also took some other tuna sashimi, eel sushi, and this interesting pomelo with shrimp salad in a martini glass. All I can say was, it was LOVE! The seafood was fresh. The salmon was so soft and the shrimp is still firm and not the powdery type some restaurants serve. The dish that has several colors (I can’t remember the name), was also good. :)

Next stop was the Chinese, Filipino and Korean Stations. For the Filipino station, I took some grilled pork (and I forgot to get some sauce, no wonder it was so dry), steamed fish, and of course, lechon! For the Chinese station, I took some dumplings (pork, chicken and shark’s fin). Lastly, for the Korean station, I got chapche, kimbap and my favorite, bulgogi. 

The lechon’s best part is the skin and I was really excited to munch on it but I guess that was the one dish you have to try first. My lechon’s skin was no longer crispy. :( The steamed fish on the other hand was your typical steamed fish. A bit on the bland side but that was cooked just the way I love it!

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before taking a bite. IT WAS THE LECHON!

The Chinese dumplings were also not that great to rave about but it was still quite good. But, the Korean dishes were a disappointment to me. I was actually quite excited because I was hoping that (at the very least) the bulgogi will be good, especially since the chef handling that station is a Korean. Unfortunately, the dishes were quite dry and bland. True, Korean dishes are not very rich in terms of flavor but I had better bulgogi, kimbap, and chapche in other restaurants here and in Korea.

Since I was already full and my tummy was already asking for mercy, I decided to skip all other stations, EXCEPT the desserts station. I left that I was in Willy Wonka’s factory when I visited the desserts station. There were lots of pastries, chocolates, fruits, ice cream, and much much more. I had a hard time choosing which ones to try. Just staring at the chocolate fountain brings tears to my eyes. 

Anyway, enough being so sentimental over desserts, I had marshmallow covered with chocolate, tiramisu, chocolate brownie, strawberry pudding, and that heavenly chocolate pudding (which I forgot to take picture of—was too excited). The tiramisu was a bit bland and same goes for the chocolate brownie and strawberry pudding (though it was not the pudding’s fault since I got it from the sugar-free section). BUT the chocolate on the marshmallow was so good. In fact, I savored every drop left on my plate (and no, I did not lick my plate clean. I was still aware that I was in a hotel and that I have to act properly.)  

Verdict: A must visit place!

Ambiance:  The place was quite cozy. At first, I thought that the place was small; but after checking all 9 stations, I realized that the interior designer was witty to segment the place in such a way that all kinds of people, from couples to families to colleagues will all feel at home. Also, they were witty at placing the desserts station near the entrance. As mentioned by Issa, it was purposely done so as to remind people to “make room for dessert” since there are 8 other stations.

Price: Given that it is in a hotel, expect that it will be pricey. The range goes as low as P1372.77 (net) and as high as P1647.32 (net).