La Girolle

Had a quick lunch today at La Girolle, the new restaurant of Chef Ian Padilla located at the Fort near Burgos circle. The menu changes weekly, so whatever was featured here may not be in the menu anymore by next week.

For starters, of course I had to order Beef Tartare. This was was very creamy texture more like mashed potatoes. Not sure if it was really meat to be like this. Taste was good very tangy although I would have wanted a bit more heat. I liked the bits of cucumber which gave it the crunchy texture.




For main, Sous vide pork belly. Not sure how long this was cooked but probably over 20 hours. Very tender pork with crackling crispy skin. This came with mashed potatoes a la Robuchon (very creamy and lots of butter).




Over all a good meal. Will have to go back to try other dishes since it changes weekly.

The restaurant is quite small (but very cozy) so if you plan to go, you need to reserve in advance.

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Antonios Tagaytay

Had lunch yesterday after a long time. I forgot how good the food is.

The best Steak Tartare I've had (and I've had many) is this one.

The Duck Leg Confit, the best I've had in the Philippines.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

I was lucky to have been able to reserve a table at this restaurant. It takes months to get one and you are at the mercy of the time they tell you and how many people can be with you (you book thru the open table website, so everything is automated)

For starters, we had 2 starters: Meat Fruit and Roast Scallops. The meat fruit was a tangerine covered chicken liver parfait. This was delicious. The tangy taste of tangerine was in perfect harmony with the liver. I could have had this all by myself. The scallops, perfectly cooked, had the cucumber ketchup which was quite unique.








For main course I had the black Foot Pork Chop, pointy cabbage and Robert sauce. It also has some sort of crunchy thing on top, pork cracklings maybe very tender and juicy chop. They must use a special kind of Blackfoot pig maybe similar to the pata negra of Spain, which gives it the deep rich flavour.





For dessert we shared a tipsy cake. Spit roasted Pineapple with a sponge cake drowned in liquor. This was interesting as the cake was very rich and the pineapple had the right acidity to it.





Overall a good experience ad service was excellent Don't expect the fancy dishes from the Fat Duck. This place is more a traditional/typical English food bistro. Over great value for money. It takes a whole to get a reservation but I believe it's worth it.

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Healthy Eating

Still on a diet so all healthy eating for now like this dish I had in La Tienda last week. Lapu Lapu a la plancha with shrimp and green salad. After my diet I'll be back with a vengeance.....or not...

New blog

I have a new blog!!!

www.miguelvecin.wordpress.com

I'll be using this new blog for shorter entries, on a daily basis, while this blog will be more for longer restaurant posts.

Hope you enjoy my new blog and hope it makes you hungry!


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Birthday Lunch at Champetre part 2

More of my birthday celebrations...as many people know I'm a creature of habit and once I like something, I can get quite obsessive (specially with food). So for another birthday lunch, I decided on Champetre again, to have more of the Algerian Couscous. I figured this was more a dish for lunch rather tan dinner (since its quite heavy) so off we went again. This time, no more Domaine Tempier Bandol, so I passed by Terry's for some Otoñal Rosado to pair with the Escargot and Couscous. Oh..this time also much better pictures, since I brought my Panasonic GF1.

For starters, Escargot, mixed cheese and deli platter and Marc's Terrine. Needless to say, everything was up to par (even if Marc was not there, Chef Andreas was in the kitchen) so I was not worried.

For main, of course I had to have again the Algerian Couscous. This is such a great dish...it has Lamb Chops, Merguez Sausage, Couscous and a stew, made of Broth, Chick Peas, more Lamb, Chicken, Beef, etc.. oh and to for some heat, Harissa sauce. This goes perfectly well with a refreshing Rosé wine to help cut the heat from the Harissa.




We also had other dishes, all of them perfect in execution: Black Angus Steak(2 orders), Veal Cheeks and Scallops. The steak and the veal cheeks were excellent (was not able to try the Scallops).




One of the waiters apparently heard us toasting (for my birthday) and right after our main course, brought out a small dessert with a candle. I did not even tell them it was my birthday (since its been a week) but well that's what you get when you go to a place that has great service.

It was a nice lunch with my siblings and my Dad (my wife who is in China could not make it) and without our kids for once, so we had lots of time to chat and not worry about them running around the place. I had a great time. Cheers!

Birthday dinner at Champetre

I decided not to have a big party for my 40th birthday this year. Instead, I choose to just have several smaller celebrations. This one was an intimate dinner with my wife. I had a great time and food was excellent. Below, a photo of the wine I had brought for the night. I have to thank Noel for letting me drink one of his bottles of Domaine Bandol Rose. This was just perfect for the food I had. I was really craving for this.




For starters, Salmon salad with cheese. The salmon was very fresh and great combination of the cheese, Salmon and arugula.




Next, Escargot Bourguignone. I love this, specially if paired with a Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose. This is a classic pairing and the wine, probably the best Rose wine in the world in my opinion.




For the main course, we had Marc's Algerian Couscous (good for 2). I've been looking forward to having this for quite some time now. With the Rose wine, it's a magical pairing. The dish is basically 2 plates. First the Couscous with lamb and merguez sausages..



Then a stew with chick peas, beef, chicken, and many other goodies. Another important factor is the Harissa, a spicy chilli paste.




One of my favourite dishes in Champetre. Chef Marc really does this well. It a perfect dish for a typical Sunday lunch, served with Rose wine. Delicious.

I had a great time. Thank you to my wonderful wife!!

More birthday celebrations to come!

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