Food and Wine of the World

La Girolle

2011-12-28T02:11:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-11T18:24:00.001-08:00

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

2011-10-18T22:57:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-17T17:10:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-07T21:28:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-29T03:51:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-27T00:11:00.001-07:00

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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Latteria San Marco, Milan

2011-08-14T09:34:00.001-07:00

This is probably one of my favourite restaurants in Milan. Small neighbourhood restaurant. Literally sits just around 25 people max. You have to come early if not you will have to wait a while.

Started with some Culatello di Zibello and some ravioli stuffed with mozzarella and a butter sauce. Delicious!

For main, we had risso venere with julienne vegetables. This is some kind of black long grain wild rice served with vegetables and a little truffle oil. So simple yet so good.. And seemed to be healthy.

My dish: Egg, Butter, Bottarga in a silver pan (Uova al burro con Bottarga de Muggine in argento)

Look at that beauty! Such a simple no nonsense dish. 3 ingredients a voila! I could have easily had one more of this.

Definitely San Marco is a place I will always return, in fact I wanted to return the next day but unfortunately, that was their last day since they were going on summer vacation.

I'll be back there soon.

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Asador Donostiarra, Madrid

2011-08-14T01:48:00.001-07:00

I've been wanting to eat at this restaurant for quite some time now. I jut never found the right time. It's one of those classic restaurants in Madrid that ha e been there for ages. Apparently t us also the favourite hang out of Real Madrid players and many celebrities.

For starters, I had some sherry with some chorizo and olives which is a standard starter for Asadores. We also had a platter of Jamon Iberico. We just had this to start, since we knew the Chuleton was coming next and it was going to be huge. We had this with the wine I chose also for the steak, a 2007 Muga Reservation from Rioja.

Then came the main attraction: 1 Kilo of dry aged beef which they call 'Chuleton'. Normally around 2 inches thick or even more, this is slightly seared, sliced them served. A hot plate is provided to cook it more of you like. I just put it in the hot plate for around 10 seconds to warm it up. The Steak is still rare which is how I like it. Here some pictures of the Chuleton:

The meat was one of the better ones I've tried lately. The dry ageing really gives it more flavour and taste, buttery and nutty. Served rare and with good wine, this is one of the finer things in life.

We managed to finish the steak and had no more room for anything else. We did have room though for some 'chupitos' of Pacharan and Licor de Hierbas. This is a typical digestif served in many Spanish restaurants.

This is one of the better restaurants I've been to in Madrid. Very highly recommended.

Hasta la Proxima!

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Frankfurt, Germany

2011-08-07T02:47:00.001-07:00

I was in Frankfurt for a couple of days for business. Did not have much time to go around, but was able to try a few typical dishes and sone local beers...

For lunch, Herring. I think this is more a Dutch speciality but this one was excellent. Very buttery texture.

Typical platter: sausage, sauerkraut, meat loaf, haxe (pork knuckles), etc... With lots of Kartoffen (potatoes)

All this washed down with a couple of glasses of applewein (German cider)

Some curiosities, a german mobile bratwurst vendor:

Many stalls selling chips and pretzels(very popular around here) and for some reason, popcorn too is quite popular.

Hefeweizen beer...had a few of these ...

That's all the time I had here. Til my next trip...Auf wiedersehen!! Prost!

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Spontini Pizza in Milan

2011-08-04T06:30:00.001-07:00

My favourite pizzeria in Milan. This one though is thick pizza, topped with a ton of Mozzarella. This is the only thing they serve in this place.

YouTube Video

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Salumeria Roscioli, Rome

2011-08-04T04:33:00.001-07:00

Lunch today was at Salumeria Roscioli in Rome. This was recommended to me by blogger KatieParla, who knows where all the good food in Rome is. I suggest you check out her blog if you will be travelling by that area.

It's not the first time though I try try this place. I was there a few months ago, but unfortunately did not try their Carbonara. What a huge mistake!! As some of you may know, I'm obsessed with carbonara. Making my own, trying it all over, I've even made my own Guanciale (there will be a separate post on this) and soon I'll probably make my own pasta.

Hands down for me at least, the carbonara in Roscioli is the BEST I've had. Before we get into the pasta, some pics of the other food we had...

First photo, some cheese, olives and sun dried cherry tomatoes. I must say the tomatoes are delicious. I think they make them in house. We also had a plate of mixed salumi: Parma ham, Mortadella with truffle, salami and others. All were delicious. I had this with a glass of their house red, which was a Chianti.

Now for the main attraction, the Carbonara. The menu says Spaghetti Carbonara, Guanciale, Pecorino and Paolo Parisi organic eggs. These eggs come from goats milk fed hens from Livorno. They're quite famous in Italy and I think that's what males this dish.

Anyway I order it and it comes after 5-10 minutes:

Hands down the best Carbonara I've tried. It's hard to explain, since many may think that Carbonara is such a simple dish, but this was perfection. The pasta was coated with egg yolk probably mixed with some cheese (since it was quite thick) and small cubes of crunchy Guanciale (as on really crunchy, but still soft and tasty). The Gianciale really adds the another dimension to this dish. I know this could also be do be done with pancetta, but it does not have that deep, earthy strong flavour that Guanciale has. The Pecorino Cheese, sharp and saltier than Reggiano is also a winner.

This is another shot of the Carbonara half way through:

Look at that creamy golden yolk!! Needless to say I wiped out the whole plate, egg yolk included. So far this is the best I've had, but I'll continue my quest on finding better ones if they exist around here.

Ciao! More posts from Italy coming soon.

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Home made Bacon

2011-07-05T06:32:00.001-07:00

I've been quite obsessed lately with bacon. A few weeks ago, I did my first batch of home made Guanciale (still no results since this has to be cured 45 days). Since the Guanciale takes so long, I decided to try making regular bacon (thank you to my friend Charlie for the tips).

I'm not going to go step by step on how I made it since this is not really that type of blog, so I'll just go over generally on what I did.

For starters, I got a good piece of pork from Santis. Basically I mixed salt, peppercorns, rosemary and garlic and massaged that piece of pork for about 30 minutes. I put the it in a zip lock bag and kept it in my refrigerator for 3 days. After 3 days, the bag was full of liquid (from the pork) so I discarded the liquid. This is how it looked after 3 days:

I then added maple syrup (real maple syrup) not the flavored syrup they sell in the groceries. I kept the meat one more day in the zip lock bag.

The next day I removed it from the bag and let it rest on a elevated plate to let all the excess water drip out and kept it for 2 more days like this.

After 2 days, it was time to rinse the rub out. I rinsed the pork really well for about 15 minutes under running water. Then I let it dry for an hour or so.

The pork after days of curing had a much firmer consistency and a much darker color almost like a Jamon Serrano. The next step was to smoke it but I did not have the proper equipment so I decided to turbo it for about 30 minutes a la baño Maria.

What I did was pour a whole bottle of English Stout beer, put the turbo on high until the beer started boiling then set the turbo to the minimum temperature and added the pork. The pork was in for around 40 minutes (until internal temperature was 150 degrees)

Once done, I let the pork rest for 2 hours, wrapped it and left in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, it was time to slice this baby. It was quite easy since it was very firm and easy to cut. this is the result after slicing:

And last, the final test was to cook this, after almost one week, I really was dying to try it.

And the final result:

How did it taste? Well it was a bit salty since I think I put too much salt in my rub, but honestly this is much better than any commercial bacon around and the bonus is there are no preservatives, additives, etc...

The Stout beer gave the bacon a hint of smoky, creamy, coffee taste and without having to smoke it. It was also a bit salty but at the end both flavors complemented each other very well.

The kids and I had it for Saturday breakfast and we all loved it. I will definitely try and experiment with other recipes soon. Will post them here once I have results.

Next though is the Guanciale. It's been curing for almost 25 days already in the chiller. I'm excited about this one. Will keep you all posted.

Russian River @ The Tasting Room

2011-06-25T18:53:00.001-07:00

We were lucky to be part of a small group of beer lovers to try some Russian River brews. Considered to be one of the best beers in the world, they are very hard to find. Thanks to Jim for bring this in for us to try them out.

We started out with a Rogue Juniper Pale Ale, quite light but we want to condition our palate for the RR beers.

As the rest arrived, Jim started pouring the first one, with millimetrical precision. We only had 3 bottles of each and we were 9 so the pouring was serious stuff. (look how serious Jim looks as he opens the first batch )

The first one we tried was the Temptation. A wild ale aged in Chardonnay barrels. This was very fruity, acidic but quite refreshing. It was more like a bubbly wine to me. The third bottle was one year aged, which made the wine less acidic and easier to drink.

Next was Consecration, another Ale but this was aged in Oak Barrels with Currants. Much darker in color, this w as also quite acidic, with hints of sweetness coming from the currants. This to me tasted more like a Lambic. Not really my type, but this was an educational tasting.

Last of the RR beers was Pliny the Elder. This is a double IPA and considered to be one of the best in the world. This is really my type of beer: tons of hops, very fresh (this was bottled less than 2 months ago) and lots of mango, peach and many other fruits. This is beat taken fresh so if you have any of this, drink up right away.

After the RR tasting, Jim opened one last bottle, a sort of a pre release: Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout. I loved this stout, lots of chocolate and coffee notes, not as powerful and full bodied though as other stouts I've tried. Thanks Jim I will definitely stock up on this.

Many other beers were then opened. I left quite early so I was only able to catch the first 2, one of which I had already tried.

This was a great tasting. Thanks Jim for bringing the RR beers in and for the rest of the stuff.

Til the next one!!

And the pasta obsession continues...

2011-06-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

After obsessing about authentic Carbonara, having brought back authentic Guanciale and Pecorino, my obsession with traditional simple pasta continues. A few days ago I decided to try to make my own Guanciale at home (in 45 days I will let you know how it came out).

Today was the turn for another simple traditional Roman style pasta: Pasta alla Gricia. It's a basic Carbonara (without the egg) with pasta water used to make a semi thick sauce that holds the whole dish together.

The Guanciale:

The pasta:

The Guanciale in the pan. You font want to overcook this or make it crispy, just very low heat until it's brown, fat has rendered and us transparent.

When it's halfway cooked, add a couple of tablespoons of pasta water. Keep on adding while you ate cooking the pasta to maintain the pork moist and a little saucy.

As soon as the pasta is 'al dente', save some pasta water, drain the pasta and dump the pasta in the pan with the Guanciale. Kepp moving the pan.. You have to hear that popping sound then add more pasta water. The pasta water is the key ingredient for this dish. The combination of the starch, water, oil and fat will render a nice, creamy super tasty coating to the pasta.

Give it a couple of minutes, put the pasta in the plate. Sprinkle with some pecorino cheese (don't get tempted to put too much) as it would definitely overpower the dish. Add some pepper and salt to taste.

The finished product. Had it with a Stone Pale Ale. The beet was a good match with the pasta.

For me, this is what Italian cooking is all about. Simplicity and top notch ingredients.

Ciao!!

Gustavus Steak House

2011-06-02T09:51:00.001-07:00

Lunch this week was at Gustavus in Makati. I've heard about this place before, but never had the chance to go. Noel then invited us and since he had eaten there 4 times in the span of one month, I figured this had to be a great place.

It's quite a small but very cozy restaurant and with a very friendly Manager/Partner, Mike Gayoso. We started off with a couple of platters of fresh oysters. With that I brought a bottle of GBEX's Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale. The beer was quite strong for the oysters but I still enjoyed it. The Oysters were great, very fresh. Although it comes with 3 different sauces, I just had my plain with a dash of Tabasco.

As the others arrived, we proceeded to order the mains. While waiting though, we still had some Oysters with my favorite Italian white wine, Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis. We also ordered their special burger, which we all shared as an appetizer(no picture though..).

For main I had The Gustavus Cut Ribeye, rare. The steak was perfectly cooked, and rare as I had ordered. As per Noel this is one of the best things this place has. They are quite consistent in serving the meat the way you order it, wether rare or medium rare.

For sides, I had gnocchi. This was delicious. Slightly crusty on the outside but buttery soft inside.

For wine, we had 2 bottles of red. A 1981 Viña Bosconia which Noel brought back from his last trip to HK, and a 94 Montelena from Rene. The Napa held up really well with the steak, and I enjoyed the Rioja with the gnocchi.

Dessert was sinful and deadly. Chocnut Ice cream with bits of brownies and topped with Chocnut. I said I did not want any dessert but I simply could not resist this one.

After lunch, a quick stop at the tasting room to wash down all the food we had. I had a Stone IPA. Perfect way to end the afternoon.

Antico Forno Roscioli, Rome

2011-05-08T16:40:00.001-07:00

On my last trip, based on one of the recommendations of Katie Parla, a fellow blogger who knows everything about Rome restaurants, I decided to try Roscioli. It's a salumeria, bakery and restaurant in Rome.

The place is very small and narrow with a display of all kinds of Italian meats and cold cuts on the left, while the right side us packed floor to ceiling with canned goods and wine. I went there for a quick lunch and we were lucky to get a table after a 20 minute wait. It was packed with mostly local people so of course, that's always a good sign.

For starters they gave us some mozzarella with green and red pesto. Italy was celebrating is 150 years of unity that day, so I guess they felt extra patriotic that day. We also had a plate of prosciutto (no picture) with a glass of Pinot Grigio house wine.

Then I had one of their most popular dishes and one I've been wanting to try for a while (I know Lusso serves this but it's always out of stock) which was Burrata. It's basically a cheese made with mozzarella, butter and cream. This was served with the best sun dried cherry tomatoes I've had ever. It was very creamy and the sun dried cherry tomatoes so sweet and tasty. I was gonna rake home a Bottle when I found out that each small bottle cost 30 euros. I guess I'll have to go back there again for lunch to be able to try this again.

I also had Pasta Amatriciana, made with Bombolotto (like a short macaroni) with tomato sauce and Guanciale. This is also one of my favorite tomato based pasta when I'm in Italy.

I do hope to come back here and try this again soon, since there were so many dishes that I wanted to try.

La Tienda lunch

2011-04-26T07:46:00.001-07:00

It's been a while that I haven't eaten at La Tienda with the Usuals, so when Richard suggested a Spanish wine lunch, I immediately offered to organize it in La Tienda.

We had the usual starters: Boquerones, Gambas a la plancha, Chistorra, Escalivada and a plate of clams al ajillo.

With all the tapas, we enjoyed several wines: a refreshing cava from Noel, Freixenet Reserva Real, a Itsas Mendi Txakoli upon special request of Jojo, a Manzanilla Pasada sherry from Jay and again from Jay, a 98 Viña Tondonia Rosé.

A shot of Noel serving the Txakoli like it's done in San Sebastian.

Then our mains started coming: Besugo al Horno, Paella de Verduras and the main dish: Chuleton!!

Needless to say, everything was delicious as usual. I enjoyed the fish with the Txakoli and also the Rosé of Jay.

For the wines we had for reds and all from Spain. Numanthia from Rene, a III C Beronia from Richard, a 92 Maetines Bujanda from Jojo and Alenzo also from Jojo.

For dessert, Chef Javi had prepared us one of our favorite combinations: Leche Frita, Torrijas and home made Ice Cream. All of us wiped out our plates, except Rene I think.

Another excellent lunch at La Tienda. Thank you Javi!!

Paris

2011-04-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a trip to Europe a few weeks ago and was in Paris for 3 days. Had the chance to eat in a couple of good Bistros and a Morrocan restaurant. Was also lucky enough to meet up with some good friends who took me to some great places...so here are some pics of my 3 days in Paris... My first meal there was at a place called Chez Dumonet. This was recommended by a fiend who lives there who took me around while I was there. This is a typical french Bistro, specializing in Duck Confit and many other french comfort foods. For starters, I had smoked salmon. Very simple and fresh smoked salmon, some lemon and a little creme fraiche...I had this with their house white wine, a Pouilly Fume.

For my main, I had to have the Duck leg confit. This as I read was one of the specialties of the restaurant. I know this is quite simple and readily available to order even here in Manila but believe me it's hard to find the same level Duck confit in Manila if you compare to this one I had. For starters this leg was HUGE, super crispy on th outside but still so soft, tender and juicy on the inside. Accompanied by some potatoes and a salad, this was really great.

My friend had Steak tartare. Tartare lover that I am, I was glad she ordered it since I was dying to taste it. Its made in front of you with very minimal, basic ingredients (mustard, capers, onions, Tabasco, etc..) This one was super creamy (unlike some I've tried that are too dry) and slightly spicy but not too spicy, this was just right. One of the better ones I've tried..

I will cut this short here and have a part on Paris, since I am back here as I write this and will have more to write about soon.

Hermanos Taco Shop, Gilmore st.

2011-04-18T02:44:00.001-07:00

So what's up with the Mexican craze in Manila nowadays?? Mexican eateries seem to be sprouting out all over the place. I like Mexican food and the only one I really liked was the one in Boracay (Manana) which was good. Like I mentioned to someone, I'm no Mexican food expert but I can definitely appreciate authentic Mexican food. I asked my brother in law C to take me to a place that many have been talking about, Hermanos Taco Shop, in a Gas station by Gilmore street. The owner is Mexican and I've heard it's the most authentic place around, so I decided to try them out. For Starters, we had Horchata. I guess this is the typical drink in Mexico. The Horchata I'm used to is the Spanish one, made with Almonds. This one is made from rice and mixed with Cinnamon and Sugar. Its quite good but a bit too sweet for me.

Our first order arrived, which was Shrimp Quesadillas. This was great, with tiny little shrimp inside, melted cheese and the tortilla just a bit crunchy. I liked the fact that it had some Guacamole and cream on top. The salsa was quite good but not hot enough so I asked for their hot sauce.

Next on the list was the Tamales. Tamales is sort of a filling made with Masa and pork, which is then cooked wrapped in the corn husk. Ours was filled with Beef, with lots of cheese and cream. This was very good and as per the server, one of their best sellers.

Then we had to kinds of Tacos: Carnitas and Fish Tacos. I loved this ones, soft, Juicy, tasty and with a little crunch...this was delicioso! The carnitas, tiny bits of different cuts of Beef and the Fish, deep fried Sole with a very light batter.

Last, we had the Rolled Tacos (Chicken). They mentioned to us this was one of their best sellers also, these are crunchy rolled tacos with Chicken filling. I'm assuming they roll this first then deep fry them. Also very good and crunchy, a good break since all the tacos we had were soft ones.

I had the intention of doing a Mexican eating marathon by going to Ristras after to try their food, but I was just too full to eat anything else. Over all, I think this is quite good. Like I said, I'm no Mexican food expert, but this seemed pretty authentic to me. I will definitely come back here if I am by the area.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara - the real deal

2011-04-14T22:53:00.001-07:00

As many of my friends would know, I can get quite obsessive when it comes to food and wine and once a certain dish gets in my mind, I can't get it off until I've had it several times over. This time its Carbonara. I travel quite of then to Italy and I'm lucky enough to get to try the best pasta dishes while I'm there. My favorites are the 'simple' ones, like Carbonara, Bottarga, Cacio e Pepe, etc...I dont like creamy pastas and neither the tomato based ones, with some exceptions like the Bucatini All 'Amatriciana and a few others.

My disappointment comes when I've been to several Italian Restaurants in Manila and none of them serve authentic Carbonara (egg based and not cream based). So I decided to just make my own. I took it one step further by ordering the base ingredients from Italy. The basic and original Carbonara is made with Spaghetti, Pecorino Romano Cheese and Guanciale (cured Pork Jowl) and Egg. Basically, you cook the bacon, toss the pasta in the pan. Once warm, you toss the pasta in a big bowl of raw egg (ideally one whole egg and one extra yolk) mixed with the cheese, salt and pepper. Give it a couple of quick turns and voila! Carbonara!!

What you have is the most delicious, creamy tasting pasta, mixed with the strong nutty flavors of the Pecorino Cheese and Bacon fat. Really, I could eat this everyday and not get tired of it. I wanted to pair this with wine or Beer but since it was a quick lunch at home while I was alone, I decided not to. Will try this next time with a Pinot Grigio maybe or a light Ale.

Steak with an Aged Imperial Russian Stout

2011-04-08T23:31:00.001-07:00

I Had lunch at Mamou yesterday with the usuals. Aside from all the wine we had with the steak, the Beertender (Jim) brought a bottle of an 2008 Rogue Imperial Russian Stout. This is not sold locally as this is from his personal collection.

This beer was quite robust/full bodied with lots of chocolate and coffee notes. With the steak, I found it at first quite overpowering, but as it warmed up and stayed longer in the glass, it sort of opened up and was actually a good pairing. As Noel mentioned it was perfect for the steak slightly charred.

I liked this pairing and will definitely experiment more with steak and beer. Maybe a lighter stout or a non aged one. Or maybe decanting it will work? Can you really decant beer like it were wine? I will keep all of you posted.

Cabrales Cheese with Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout

2011-04-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try this pairing actually for months now...this was supposed to be done with the Sam Smith Imperial Russian Stout I have, but I'm saving to open those with the Beertender. Cabrales, for those of you who might not know, is a Spanish type of Blue cheese. It is very strong and spicy, made with unpasteurized cow's milk, then aged in Caves for about 5 months at temperatures between 7 to 14 degrees C. This ageing gives the cheese the very strong smell/taste it has. Its quite spicy as well, which comes from the ageing in the caves. Cabrales paired with the Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout, is a perfect match. I don't think any other drink will stand up to this cheese, unless it's a very sweet dessert wine, like a PX. Both the Beer and the Cheese are very potent, so be ready to grow some hair on your chest!

Indian food with an IPA

2011-04-03T01:17:00.001-07:00

A very relaxing Sunday lunch today since we were quite tired from the weekend. I decided to cook Biryani Rice and Rogan Josh for lunch, served with some cucumber and Yogurt. I paired this with beer. A Southern Tier India Pale Ale. Pairing was great this beer is quite light and refreshing contrasting the spiciness of the Rogan Josh and the spices of the Biryani.

I need to stock up on more IPA's at home...

Tickets Bar, by Ferran Adria

2011-04-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Adria's latest concept: Tickets bar, a melting pot of many different kinds of tapas, some new and some from the famed El Bulli. It's not quite as hard to get a table as EL Bulli, but you will need at least a month or 2 in advance to get the desired date, time and number of people for the reservation.

We were lucky to get a table on a Friday night, though we had to settle with a 7:30 PM reservation. This is very very early by Spanish standards, but we had no other choice. As we got there and they verified we had a reservation, we were escorted by the maitre to our table. They are very friendly here. Its quite alive and has like circus feel to it.

They give attention to the most minimal details, from the plates, glasses, service, etc..

The menu is quite extensive and divided into 7 categories, from the Ibericos, to the Oysters, Picoteo, Xuxis (bite sized tapas) and desserts. Of course, at this point when you see the menu, you would want to try everything, which would be virtually impossible and very bad for your wallet (although mind you the prices are quite reasonable). So this is what we had:

First, the famous Olive Spheres that were served at El Bulli. This are spheres made with gelatin. Once you bite, the explosion of flavors in your mouth is like a roller coaster ride. This is made with 5 different flavor variants of olives.

Even if this is not a real olive, it sure tastes like a real olive, with a more intense flavor than any olive I've tried before. Below, Jamon de Toro, this is Tuna Belly Carpaccio, 'painted' with the fat of the Jamon Iberico. One of my favorites of the night. I could have had 3 orders of this probably.

Next, Pescaito Frito con polvo de Algas Gallegas. Fried fish with Galician Seaweed powder..I think this could have been his version of fish and chips sans the chips.

Food was coming quite fast so we had to keep up the pace. Our next was Spiced Tomato Tartare with crunchy bread. This was quite interesting the Tartare of Tomato actually tasted like regular Steak Tartare.

Next was Tuna Belly with Sea Urchin and crunchy Green Apple Toast. This was a very nice combination. The Green Apple Toast gave this dish another dimension..

Still on the Sea food, we had Coca de Bacalao with Tomato Nectar and powder of Black Olive.

Next was the Artichoke with crunchy cured Jamon Powder.

Followed by the Liquid Ravioli...

We had a nice refreshing salad to cleanse the palate before the mains arrived, an Orange Salad with Gordal Olive, Cumin and Mint.

We had 3 more dishes before dessert: First was the Torta de Queso Canajeral con Trufa Negra (Soft warm cheese with black Truffle)

Pulpo Picante con Patato Mallorqui (Spicy Octopus with Potatoes from Mallorca)

And our last and another one of my favorites, Pipas de Conejo con Espuma de All i Oli. (Baby Rabbit ribs with All i Oli Foam). See how tiny those are...

Then came dessert...we had several desserts to try from. First up was the Cotton Candy Tree..

Hot Chocolate Fritters

We also had Ice cream, which I failed to take a picture of..I must have been dizzy with all the food we had. We had a couple of bottles of wine, a young Luis Canas Reserva from Rioja.

After dinner, we moved to the Cocktail bar they have (hidden behind the kitchen). They serve classic cocktails prepared to perfection. It takes almost 15 minutes to make on Cocktail, from Manually Cracking the Ice, airing the glass with mint leaf, etc...You can just imagine how they prepare these, of course using the best ingredients.

I had a Dry Martini, of course served with another Olive Sphere. This was a classic dry martini very well made.

Over all a good experience. This is not a place I'd go back very often, but a place I'd like to go back once in a while. I still have to try the other half of the menu, so definitely I will be back.

The Sportsman @ Seasalter

2011-03-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ok Ok I know it's been a while since I've last blogged. It has been a combination of work, travel, and some computer problems I've had, but I'm back and I hope to be updating this more often. The Sportsman is a place I've been wanting to go to for a while now. It's location (about 1.5 hours from London) and it's constantly being fully booked though are the reason I have not gone here sooner. Well this time I made it. After the long drive, this is the view you get a few steps from the parking lot..

The place itself is a Pub, nothing really that fancy...

But go there without a reservation any days of the week, and this is what you will see:

Anyway, we did have a reservation although failed to remind them that we wanted the degustation menu, which has to be pre-ordered. So we settled for the menu of what they had fresh that day, which was an excellent choice.

First, some bread served with olives and home made butter. Once I tasted this, I knew this was going to be a great meal.

After second orders of bread and a couple of beers, we proceeded with the starters.

Rye Bay Scallops, Black Pudding and Green Apple. As you can see, this was perfectly cooked. Sublime. That's all I can say...

Mushroom Carpaccio and Chicken Liver Pate. Another near perfect dish. As you can see very simple names and dishes but perfectly done. The pate was very light, like an Ice cream practically in texture.

The last of our appetizers, Poached Rock Oysters, Pickled Cucumber and Avruga Caviar. These are native oyster grown very near the restaurant I think. Very fresh. Fantastic.

For main, I had Roast Leg of Mokshill Farm Lamb with Mint Sauce. Very tender lam, sliced and served quite rare. I normally don't like my lamb rare but this was perfectly done. It had some Potatoes and crispy skin under, which was highly appreciated. Mint sauce was home made.

We also had: Braised Brill Fillet with a Crab Bisque Sauce. I just got to try a bite of this one, but the Brill was fresh and cooked just right. The Lobster bisque was very powerful in taste, which was a perfect match to this type of fish.

And for Dessert, Warm Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel and Mik Sorbet. Slight warm Chocolate with salt flakes at the bottom. Nice contrast with the sweet/bitter flavors of the Chocolate. This could easily be one of my favorite restaurants in London. Location is an issue but I am always willing to go the extra mile for good food. Next time, I will have the degustation menu. They serve a home made Jamon Serrano and that I have to try.

Latteria San Marco revisited

2011-03-14T16:44:00.001-07:00

I've been to this place 2 more times since my first time here a year ago. Second time was last October 2010 and my last visit today for lunch.

The place is tiny (only seats around 20 people) and they don't tale reservations nor credit cards so if you do come here come very early or get ready to wait. It's quite packed with mostly local people from the neighborhood so that is always a good sign.

Last October, we had:

Bottarga con Sancino e Pomodori (Bottarga with greens and Tomato). Simply wonderful and look at the quantity of Bottarga thinly sliced !!

Home made Bresaola (air dried Beef)

Rigatoni- this was delicious.

Farro con Mozzarella di Bufala e Pomodorini (wheat grain with mozzarella and cherry Tomatoes). Very healthy but still with lots of flavors from the olive oil used.

Last was my Spaghetti Carbonara. Nothing can beat a well made traditional Carbonara for me. This was perfection. The egg yolk was beneath the pasta, just the right temperature to mix them. Also lots of flavor from the smoked Pancetta.

Today, I was back for lunch and we had the following:

Spaghetti Bottarga - this time grated, was delicious. See again how generous portions of Bottarga.

Nodino di Vitello arrosto (Roasted veal loin)

My dish, Carciofi crudi con Grana. Raw artichokes with Grana Padano. Such simplicity some tines baffles me but this dish really worked. The Artichoke was crunchy, lots of slices of Grana, loads of olive oil and a splash of Lemon. I've noticed Italian cooking is really simple and straight forward. Why do some restaurants want to complicate it so much? This is not a fancy place at all in fact rey don't even have a wine list. Instead they automatically just give you a carraf of house red wine.

This restaurant is a must for me every time I visit Milan!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Brass Rail Salt Beef Sandwhich - London

2011-03-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post from my last trip to London before I start updating with new posts. Salt Beef is very typical in London. This one is one of the better known places for good Salt beef, the Brass Rail is a small shop located inside Selfridges department store on Oxford street in London.

Think of fresh corned beef, but boiled much longer and with salty/herb infused water. The result is a super soft (almost buttery) beef, salty. Its served with Rye bread slathered with English mustard and a giant pickle.

As you line up, the Beef is cut fresh. On the right, they also have Cows Tongue, cooked the same way with Salt and herbs, but I was there for the regular beef, although I will try the tongue soon.

After its cut, its weighed. If you look at the scale, its almost 500 grams, but that was for 2 sandwhiches...

You have a choice of Mayonnaise, Mustard, etc... but the best is to have this with English Mustard. You have to be careful though, since its quite strong and can do major damage to your tongue and nose (think wasabi).

And voila, this is the finished product. I loved the saltiness off the beef, with the rye bread and English Mustard. The pickle is served sliced already, and you normally take one piece for every bite. It gives ita a nice crunchiness. Such a great combination and so simple. I will definitely return to this place hwenever I'm back in London (which is now).

Tantanmen @ Ukkokei

2011-02-23T06:32:00.001-08:00

Had a chance to finally taste the famous 'Tantanmen' ren of Ukkokei. This is only served at 6 PM and only a limited number of bowls per day. 10 bowls is the maximum.

This is different from the others ones I've tried. Sort of creamy, oily, nutty with lots of sesame seeds and probably sesame oil. It's a little spicy but bearable.

This is definitely my favorite ramen of all time. I have to go back. This ya the type of food that you can easily get addicted to. Highly recommended.

The Tasting Room

2011-02-06T01:42:00.001-08:00

Had the chance to pass by The Tasting Room. It was not yet officially opened but Jim was there setting up so we passed by for a taste of some beer.

The concept is simple: this is an art gallery sort of converted into the tasting room of craft beer. No commercial mass beers here like SMB or even the Belgian beers. Just pure craft beer and sipirit made from the same suppliers that Glibal Beer Exchange carries: Rogue, Sputhern Tier, Gordon Biersch, Stone, etc...

They were on soft opening so Jim, the 'Beertender' or 'Truth Commisionet' as they call him was training his people the proper way to pour beer.

We started off with a Gordon Biersch Hefeweisen fr my friend, a very light Belgian type beer. I had a Southern Tier IPA, something a bit stronger with lost of hops and bitterness. I've tried a few IPA's before so this was not a surprise for me. Still medium intensity for mr with hops and a mid lever bitterness.

The next one we had was one of their top beers in terms of alcohol content, hops and IBU (bitter units?). Anyway this beer was the Stone Ruination. This I an Imperial/Double IPA with 7.7% alcohol It's called Ruination because this apparently 'ruins' your palate. Lots of hops here and a very intense bitter flavor. This is the type of beer that will grow hair on your chest but this is my type.

For our last beer we had to take it down a few notches since with Ruination was almost at the top of the list of strengh. Jim recommended the John John Hazelnut Ale, aged in spiced Rum Barrels. You can definitely smell and taste a bit of the Rum in this one. This was a medium strength ale but still very enjoyable.

This is a great place to just hangout and learn about craft beer, very well located in Prince Plaza building just right in front of Greenbelt 5. I assure you if you taste some of the beers, it will change how you look at SMB light forever.

Borough Market, London

2011-01-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

I spent the morning in Borough Market today, with 2 objectives: Buy some craft Beer and try a couple of 'popular' sandwiches that are sold there. It was quite cold (approx 3 C), but we braved the cold and the rain to get to this place.

First objective: Accomplished! There is a stall called Utobeer, a shop that specializes in craft beer (mostly UK but there is also a good selection of American and Belgian Beers)

My stash: Samuel Smith Russian Imperial Stout and HardKnott aged barley wine Beer. These are very hard to find around here or anywhere actually, since they are actually produced in very limited batches. The Imperial Stout, as per the label, is a type of beer originally brewed to withstand the abuses of shipping in foul weather to Imperial Russia, hence the name.

After a quick walk to the car to drop off the beer, on we went walking around the market. Every stall has their own specialty, and very unique vendors, who are very creative to attract customers, by singing, shouting, dancing, and even teasing the customers.

Above, Mulled wine, as I learned is very typical here during the winter time. It's red wine, boiled or kept warm with a variety of spices (cinamon, Ginger, etc...) I did not try this but I will make sure to try this next time I'm here.

A huge Paellera serving Green Curry with rice.

My first stop was at Kapacasein, one of the most popular stalls in Borough Market. They are known for their Toasted Cheese Sandwich, made with Sourdough Bread, Montgomery Cheddar Cheese, Onion leaks and garlic.

This was truly delicious, super toasted bread, very crunchy and melted cheddar cheese inside. I suggest you do not leaved Borough market without trying this..

Next stop was at Brindisa, a Spanish Tapas bar that has a stall selling Chorizo rolls. a small roll with 4 ingredients: Rocket, Olive Oil, Chorizo and Pimientos. It's as simple as this but this roll is so good. Normally they have long lines, but we were lucky to have gotten ours fast.

Last stop was the Duck Confit stall...I just could not resist not having this sandwich: Crispy Duck Confit, a roll, Rocket and a bit of Mustard. Again, the key here is simplicity. It can't get any simpler than that, but one of the better sandwiches I've had in a while.

Had a great time but was only there for 2 hours, so I am determined to come back here another time, when the weather is a bit better, to try all the other goodies available. If you have not been here, this is highly recommendable.

Bar Boulud, London

2011-01-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge fan of Daniel Boulud, so as soon as I found out that he opened his signature Bar Boulud in London, I knew I had to try it out. This is a casual restaurant located at the ground floor or the Mandarin Oriental on Brompton Road, just in from Harrods. I was really there to try their signature Burgers, but the menu is quite extensive, with House made Terrines, Patés, Hams and Sausages...definitely I will have to come back to try the rest of the menu.

For starters, Moules a la Basquaise (Mussels steamed in white wine, Chorizo roasted Peppers, White Beans, grilled ciabatta). The sauce was very creamy and the Mussels very fresh. I chose this since this is a light dish, in preparation for the Burger to come.

We did not drink wine, but had beer instead. I had a Brew Dog Punk IPA, a locally manufacture beer in the UK. I found this very light, delicate and even a bit fruity. Not hoppy at all and medium bodied. Not what I was expecting but it paired well with the burger.

Then, our burgers arrived. There are 3 types of NY Burgers on the menu: The Yankee Burger (with Cheddar Cheese), Frenchie Burger (with Confit Pork Belly) and the Piggie Burger (with BBQ pulled pork). It was a hard choice but I ordered the Frenchie Burger.

Grilled Beef with confit pork belly, rocket tomato-onion compote, Morbier cheese, Peppered brioche bun and pommes frite. It was served Medium rare as I had asked. It was very juicy, so rich and definitely oozing with the Pork Belly fat and flavors. The frites were thrice fried, so you can imagine how those tasted. The ketchup was home made, so this was a nice surprise.

Definitely a place I would want to return, maybe while I am still here in London, to try the other Burgers. This is one though is one of the best Burgers I have tried. Not that I am a burger expert but this one is at the top of my list.

Asador Ansorena, Madrid

2011-01-14T13:26:00.001-08:00

I was in Madrid for a couple of days and took advantage in going to this Asador, which I've heard is one of the better Basque Asadores in town. They specialize in Chuleton, which is th reason I chose this place, since I was craving for a good piece of meat. The meat used is Galician Beef, which according to Rafael, the owner of the restaurant, has the best beef in Spain.

As soon as we sat down, we were served a huge piece of bread and a few pieces of Chistorra, typical Chorizo from the North of Spain.

We then ordered our Starters: Cogollos de Tudela

A delicious plate of Pimientos....

Alcachofas Fritas (Fried Artichokes)

All this washed down with some light and refreshing Sidra...

Now on to the serious stuff...the meat here being grilled. Look at all that salt!!

But before the main attraction, we still had some space for Bacalao al Pil-Pil, another specialty of the Basque region. This was very well prepared and the Pil-Pil, cook to perfection.

Back to the Beef...before serving, I had a chance to talk to Rafael, the owner. He found out we were from the Philippines, he became so nice to us. Apparently he has some 'Pelotari' friends in Manila (Jai-Alai) and had visited them some time ago.

At last, the Meat is served!! a huge piece of meat (I'd say approx 1.3 kilos). This was charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside. I would have preferred this to be a bit more rare, but in any case, the flavors were spot on.

It was full of flavor, intense, a but nutty..this was just one hell of a piece of meat. I felt like I was in the olden days, when the barbarians would eat huge chunks of meat with their bare hands. Delicious!

If I did have to complain, it would have to be the very limited wine list. I initially asked for the 2001 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, which was not on stock, so we ended up with a 2004 Cune Imperial Reserva. Not the wine I would have wanted to eat with this meat but it was good enough.

Definitely this is one of the better places I've had Chuleton, although I still prefer the ones in San Sebastian, which are dry aged, which gives them more flavors. If you are in Madrid though, this place is highly recommendable.

Happy Three Kings

2011-01-06T20:44:00.001-08:00

I just got to Barcelona a day ago just in time for Three kings celebration. Unlike the Philippines where it's it's not celebrated at all, here is Spain it is even more important than Christmas.

As a tradition in our family, we gave always celebrated in my aunt's house. There is only one dish served that day: Canelones.

Made with her special recipe ( which she refuses to give me), we look forward to this every year, since we would have this only once a year. When I was younger, we used to have competitions as to who could eat more, my record being at around 16 to 18 pieces. My uncle was the champion, having eaten 32 pieces one year.

This year I was only able to eat 10. It's just too filling, but still delicious. It was a fun lunch ( and long, since we finished lunch at 8 pm) a d significant since it was my first time back for this holiday since I left Spain 12 years ago.

Happy Three Kings to all!!!

Wee Nam Kee

2011-01-01T18:28:00.001-08:00

There's been a lot of hype about this place. Be ready for long lines if you plan to eat here (they do not accept reservations)This is a franchise of the popular one in Singapore, which specializes in Hainanese chicken. I have not been to the one in Singapore, so I am not one to compare.

It took us a while to get a table but we finally settled down. We were a big group so it was not easy getting a table. I left the ordering to my sister and brother in law, since they had eaten there before.

We had both kinds of Hainanese chicken: The traditional one and roasted. Both were very good but I'd say the chicken was over done. I prefer the traditional boiled one.

As you can see, this was my station. All prepared with the chicken rice and the dips: chilli sauce, Ginger and sweet soy sauce. We also had other dishes like pork, pork asado and cereal Prawns. The rice was the best, kinda oily but with a lot of flavor.

Aside from the Hainanese chicken nothing really else stood out of what we had. The cereals prawns were just too dry and over cooked. The Pork was good although it just had too much fat.

I'm not really convinced about this place. I have to go back though just to give it another chance. It just opened a few weeks ago and thy are still on dry run.

Arzak, San Sebastian

2010-12-31T01:02:00.000-08:00

This was one of the special meals we had during our trip to San Sebastian. I enjoyed very much the pintxos, tapas, steak but this meal i was also looking forward to. Had heard so many thing about Arzak, one of the pioneers in Spanish cooking. Many have followed his footsteps after...

My Aunt helped us make a reservation, which we had to do at least one month in advance,. It's not as hard here to get a table compared to El Bulli or Fat Duck or Noma, but you will at least need a few weeks or even a month.

We got there on time, at 9 Pm and were greeted by the Maitre. They were very nice and accommodating. As we sat down, they offed us some bread and I had a glass of Sherry. As soon as we were settled, they gave us the menu. I had no doubt that I was going to get the proper degustation, although my wife was not so sure, since she would not be able to finish everything. As I said, they were very accommodating and offered my wife a half degustation, almost the same plates I had but much less servings. She happily agreed.

For starters, Puding de Kabrarroka con Fideos Fritos

Arroz Crujiente con Hongos

Maiz, Morcilla e Higos and caldo de Alubia Blanca

Jamon con Tomate

I'm not sure what this dish was called but I think it was the Cromlech de Cebolla con Te y Cafe (This had pan seared Foie Gras inside and was delicious)

The first Seafood dish, Patata, Bogavante y Copaiba (Bogavante is a type of Lobster)

Huevo con temblor de Tierra (Egg with 'Earth'quake translated literally). Fantastic dish.

This was Rape marea Baja (Monkfish on low tide) as the play of words, the fish is served and as in low tide, you can see shells, starfish, etc made with the Jelly and using fish broth.

Ossobuco de Cordero. The lamb was excellently done and the bone was made of potato, filled with Bone marrow. Everything was edible. To die for.

Then, desserts came, and they were many. This one was called 'Jugando a las canicas de Chocolate' - Playing with chocolate marbles.

Sopa y Chocolate 'entre viñedos' - Soup and Chocolate between vineyards.

Hidromiel y Fractual Fluido

Dulce Lunatico - Sweet Lunatic - this was meant to me lunar rocks..

This was our Petits Fours that came with our coffee. Everything was edible, including the Jelly bottle covers which were cola flavored.

Since Ria did not drink, I had a 500 ml. bottle of Marques de Caceres Reserva. I should have ordered a full bottle, as I ended up nursing my last few glasses since I was enjoying so much.

After coffee and paying the bill, we had our picture with Elena Arzak and Juan Mari Arzak, the father and Daughter team behind the restaurant. I want to point out how friendly and down to earth this team is. This made our meal so much more memorable, since it was a very relaxed dining atmosphere.

It was a great dining experience. I do hope some day I can return again.

Various 2010

2010-12-30T23:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I did not have any time to post a lot of good meals and wine i had in 2010, so I decided to join them all in one post, just a snapshot of many places, people and wine I've had the chance to be with/drink/eat. They are in nor particular order, so I will just post away....

Venison Seekh Kebab in Amaya Restaurant in London.

Steak at Antonio's for my wife's birthday.

Steak Tartare at Antonio's also for my wife's birthday.

Spicy Tuna Sashimi at Toki.

Salmon Sashimi at Toki.

Wagyu at Toki.

Still one of my favorites, Eggs Benedict at the Goose Station.

24 hour cooked Steak at the Goose Station

A treat from the Doc at Cicou.

Wines we had at the Cicou Port Dinner (Thanks Noel, Jojo and Bernie)

A 1966 Quinta do Noval which we had with some Stilton Cheese

Keiichi, Jojo, Greg, Aaron and Rene 'happy' at Jojo's 'cage'

Part of Jojo's impressive wine collection at the 'cage'

After tasting like 12 bottles at the 'Over the hill' wine tasting..

Wines we had at Rene and Aimee's house one dinner...the 78 Murrieta was superb and drinking very well for a 32 year old wine. The Clos Mogador was also my type of wine...loved this with the short ribs.

A pasta dish we had that same night...love this pasta dish, lemon, Orange and Caviar with cheese.

Chicken Biryani rice, prepared by Miggy's mother in law for me when I was in London. This was the bomb!!

I forgot was this was called but this was also prepared for the Indian food dinner we had in Miggy's house in London.

Tapas bar I went to with Paco one of my trips to Madrid

Simple down to earth tapas....

Classic in Spain..this with some Rioja...wow!!

One of the many Chuletones we had at la Tienda..this was our Dinner with Chinkee and Matt

Wines we had during that dinner.

A business lunch we had with Aaron..loved the Terreus with the Chuleton and Pimientos

Steak which Chef Javi hand carried from San Sebastian and cooked in my house...one of the best I've had. i had this with a Faustino Reserva.

Cutting the Chuleton...

A Steak and Madeira pairing at Masseto..thanks Jojo!!

Chipirones (baby Squid) at Harley Davidson Bar in Barcelona

Navajas from the same place.

I believe this wine Keiichi brought his first trip back to Manila from Tokyo..this was a lunch in JSG.

Anchoas del Cantabrico in a tapas bar called Estado Puro in Madrid

Arroz Caldoso in the same place...this was superb.

A different take on the classic Fabada, at El Rus restaurant in Barcelona

Steak Tartare at El Rus. This was very good.

Kitchen at CRU Steak Restaurant at the Marriott.

Steak at CRU..dry aged..this was superb.

Pork Binagoonan at Cafe Juanita...I love Bagoong!!

Lumpia at Bistro Laudico..probably my favorite dish there.

Well that's all for now...I do have more but I just can't find the pictures, so maybe they are not worth posting here.

Cheers to all and Happy New Year!!

Christmas lunch at Mamou

2010-12-30T01:50:00.000-08:00

I've grown to like the steaks at Mamou, even if the first time I went I had a bad experience with a mix up with the reservations. That's all in the past now and Mamou could easily be in the top 5-10 of my favorite restaurants in Manila.

We were 4 in total, so we started with some Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rose NV courtesy of Noel. At approximately 2,800 pesos, this is steal. Very refreshing, light champagne which is perfect to start a meal.

For Starters, we had 2 orders of Spaghetti Bottarga. Bottarga (dried Tuna Roe) is a delicacy in Italy and normally served on Pasta, Pizza or even salads. This one is a very simple pasta dish, with Olive oil and grated Bottarga.

We then opened 2 bottles of wine, care of Rene: a 79 Pichon given as a gift to him by Noel, and a 98 Araujo Cab Sav from California. We decided to have the steak with the California, since the Pichon, which was quite old, we though would be over powered by the steak.

The main dish, 2 orders of Dry-Aged US Prime Grade Bone-In Rib-Eye. We asked this to be served rare, and I must say they did a good job. I love this oily steak, specially with the red steak rice.

As if the steak was not enough, we had to order a side order of Bacon which was delicious.

What a great meal...food was great, wine was superb and company even better. We should have meals like this more often.

(This photo c/o Noel)

Jamie Oliver's in London

2010-12-30T01:34:00.000-08:00

I'm still cramming and trying desperately to update my blog before the year ends..not sure if I will be successful.

A few months back during one of my trips to London, we happened to see Jamie Oliver's restaurant, in Kingston and we decided to give it a try. Its a very simple down to earth place, serving homey Italian Fare: Pastas, Pizza and other basic dishes. At the entrance, you see a huge old pasta making machine (which they actually use)..

For starters, Italian Nachos (Crispy fried four Cheese ravioli with angry arrabiata sauce)

Scallop with Squid Ink Angel Hair pasta..this was actually very good, so light but very creamy. Small capers included to give it some acidity.

Carpaccio with Arrugula Salad. You cant really make a lousy Carpaccio, unless you don't use quality meat. This dish was correct.

For main, I had salmon with Sweet Potato and mushrooms. Simple grilled Salmon, with a lemon vinaigrette. This was very straight forward dish which I enjoyed. I had this with a glass of Pinot Grigio.

Over all this place was worth going to and I would definitely return. Its a place to have a quick, healthy meal. Prices are very reasonable and for that, 2 thumbs up for Jamie Oliver. He was not clouded by his fame as Celebrity Chef to take advantage and make a killing out of his customers.

Last dinner at Gourmand

2010-12-26T07:19:00.001-08:00

Unless my schedule opens up this coming days, this would have probably my last one in Je Suis Gourmand, since they will be closing this coming December 31 after 7 years.

This 'farewell' dinner was organized by Noel for regulars and friends who wanted to pay tribute to Marcs cooking one last time It was to be a set menu, with JSG's classic dishes AA the main focus. We were all told we could bring our special wines for this occasion, so we happily obliged.

For staters we had the classic Duck Foie Gras Terrine and Escargot Bourguignonne, 2 of the classic appetizers that are 'must' orders when we are there.

We had this with 2 magnums of Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose one of my favorite no brainer pairings at JSG. The 2 magnums were courtesy of Noel.

Next, I ordered a special dish that Noel ask Marc specifically for this dinner: Moules de Bouchot Mariniere (Brittany Mussels specially flown in for the occasion). This is one of my favorite dishes when Marc has this on the menu. This was paired again with another bottle from Noel: 2009 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis. I love this dry white Italian wine, and this was a lovely pairing with the Mussels.

For main, I had the Trio of Lamb with Couscous (sorry no picture) which I paired again with the Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose. This is a perfect pairing since the refreshing rose cuts through the heat and spiciness of the lamb.

I also brought a red, my trusty 1991 Viña tondonia Gran Reserva.

We had many other wines, like a Krug NV Champagne from Aaron, a 2007 Protos Crianza from JC and many others.

It was a fun filled night with lots of good friends who appreciate good food and wine. We will miss Gourmand, but we were told that Marc would be opening another restaurant in the same location in the next 3-4 months. This is something to look forward to.

Thank you Marc for preparing so many wonderful meals for us. We will see you soon in your new restaurant!!

Wine Tasting at Terrys

2010-12-25T20:52:00.001-08:00

We were invited some time ago to taste some wines from a boutique winery in Tasmania, which were meant to be included in the wine list of a resort in Palawan. The wine was sugarloaf and we tested 4 bottles: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. None of them stood out really except for the Sauvignon Blanc, which was correct, so we moved on to taste other wines that JC had served us together with some food:

A platter of Joselito Iberico meats (Jamon, Salchichon, Chorizo, Lomo) and a cheese platter.

Highlight though was Terry's Chuletin Vasco. Served rare with roasted garlic and pimientos.

It's served in a wooden cutting board and sliced in front of you, so you can salivate why you are waiting to eat it....

Fantastic meal and good wines (highlight for me was a wine called Placet, a wine made with viura grapes from Rioja). Winery is an Alvaro Palacios so you are sure that this is a very good wine.

Thank you JC for the wonderful treat. We enjoyed everything.

Beer tasting with the Beermaster

2010-12-25T19:19:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to plan this beer tasting for quite some time now. My travelling and other obligations did not make this possible but finally, we were able to set this up just a few days before Christmas.

The beermaster, Jim Araneta, owns and manages Global Beer Exchange, the only company in the Philippines distributing American craft beer. Beer in many ways is like wine, some needing ageing in the bottle. Tasting is done the same way, although with beer tpu gulp it rather then swirl it arpund your mouth like wine American beer is still considered new world wine, just like American wine like Napa, etc...old world beer would be Belgian and German.

Anyway, on we go with the tasting. We held this at Elbert's Steak Room (many thanks Elbert and Adrian Cuenca). Jim brought a total of 7 different beers which he called bombers (650 ml.) from light to very heavy stronger beer for the end.

The first 3 bottles we had were: Rogue John John Juniper Ale, Stone Vertical Epic 10.10.10 and a Brother Davids triple. These were the lighter beers, closer to wheat Beers that I am more used to. The vertical Epic, a limited edition that's release every year, is meant to be aged for 2 years. It is blended with muscat, Sauvignon blanc and Gewürztraminer. Very interesting to see how this will age.

After a short break and a salad, 2 more beers were opened: Rogue Yellow Snow IPA (India Pale Ale) and Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale. Now we are talking Beers, this ones will grow hair on your chest!! This ones were hoppier and with more bitter finish than the rest. Not everyones type of beer but once you get to try several, it grows on you. Also to mention the beers have very high alcohol content, like 12-13%, so they are almost like wine.

Another break and the special Chefs burgers we ordered arrive. I was not able to take a picture, but if you have a chance you must try this. Hand chopped tenderloin, mixed with bone marrow, grilled rare with twice fried fries: Heaven! We also shared a cheese steak, mixed with Gorgonzola and cheddar cheese. With the food, we had 2 bites of wine: 2005 Mauro Sebaste Barolo and a Silver Oak California. I enjoyed my burger more with the Barolo, a more full bodied wine.

The last 2 beers were dessert beer: Mokah Imperial Stout and a Stone Old Guardian Barley wine.

These 2 were probably my favorite wines. The Stout was what I was expecting with strong aroma and even feel of powdered chocolate. I can easily have this with churros, instead of the hot chocolate. The barley wine was not as sweet but toward the end it opened up and I could smell/taste molasses, honey and even some apricot.

We ended this long lunch with some McCallan single malt and am espresso. Many thanks to Jim for bringing all the beers and to Elbert. We should do this again soon.

Mobile blogging

2010-12-25T17:36:00.001-08:00

I've been so busy and have not had much time to blog lately, so I'm trying this app that allows me to blog from my phone.

I'm testing this out so please bear with me. I'll be uploading pictures directly from my phone. For now, here are a few from the holidays. Merry Christmas to you all!

This is the ham we had for Christmas eve, plus other goodies of course. Below, a cochinillo we had for another Christmas dinner in a friends house. One of the better ones I've tried.

Will try another post soon, let's just see if this works.

Posted using BlogPress

Trattoria Da Sostanza, Florence

2010-12-22T04:36:00.001-08:00

Back to the trip I did a few weeks back to Spain and Italy, this post is about Florence. There was only one thing I had in mind for Florence: Bistecca alla Fiorentina. After doing some research, I zeroed in one restaurant which I heard was one of the better place serving Bistecca: Trattoria Da Sostanza. It happened to be right beside my Hotel so this was perfect.

This is a no frills Trattoria, where you share table with strangers. They do not accept credit cards, and have very very friendly staff. We were sharing our table with 2 Americans, and an Englishman who was born in Italy and lived all his life in London. We ended up sharing stories with them, which was quite interesting.

For starters we had a plate of Prosciutto, washed down with some house wine (Chianti of course)

This was followed by a salad, very simple as you can see, but so fresh (seemed like they had just harvested it a few minutes before serving, with just some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a dash of red wine vinegar, salt and Pepper. So simple yet so delicious.

Our first main was Torta de Carcciofi (Artichoke omelet). This can look so simple and boring but wow, this was crunchy, and inside, moist and loaded with fresh Artichokes. This is so straight forward cooking, food can't get any better than this.

Next, we could not leave without ordering Peti di Pollo al Burro (Butter Chicken Breast). Again, this can sound very simple and even boring, but this is the best Chicken Breast I've tried...again very crisp on the outside but so moist and tender on the inside. Of course this is probably cooked with a kilo of butter, but who cares?? One bite, and you will forget about everything.

While waiting for our main course, I decide to go to the men's room, which is through the kitchen. There I see one cook, all by himself, preparing the Bistecca. As you can see the kitchen is simple, in fact it looked more like a home kitchen than a restaurant kitchen. All he had was some charcoal, a grill that looks like it was home made and a hole where a simple electric fan would blow air to keep the temperature high. I knew I was in for a treat.

When I got back to my my table, the meat was immediately served. There it was, grilled to perfection. it was served rare as I ordered it. For siding, we had Spinach and Beans. I ate this while sipping the house wine (Chianti), which was not bad at all. It complemented very well the steak.

This is how I like the steak, seared on the outside and rare inside.

Our sidings, Fagiolo e Spinaci (Beans and Spinach), again nothing fancy but loved every single dish in this restaurant.

This was easily one of my best meals during the Italy trip. I will definitely come back for more of the Steak, and the other dishes of course. More posts to come...

Rene's Birthday treats...

2010-12-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

Again, its been a while I have not been able to update. I've been quite busy at work, so this has left me again with a lot of backlog on my blogging. I still have several posts on my Europe trip, which hopefully I will be able to update during the holidays.

This post will be about 2 meals: Rene's Dinner treat for his birthday, and again, Rene's Lunch treat for his birthday. Both were held, as every year, in Manila's best Private table, Tita B's house. We so look forward to this every year, that it has been sort of a ritual for us to wait for the invitation to come. It's the only chance we get to try Tita B's French/continental cooking.

First was the dinner, some 2 weeks ago. I had just returned from my trip and was really looking forward to this. For starters, and while waiting for the rest to arrive, some 98 Dom Perignon, as is traditionally what Rene always serves during his birthday treats..very nice, easy to drink. I drank quite a lot of this, since many only drank one glass each.

As usual. the presentation/table setting was impeccable, up to the last details is carefully prepared..

For starters:

Mango-Melon Soup with Prosciutto & Apple-Mushroom Dumpling Bisque. A unique way in presenting the popular melon-Prosciutto dish. The combination of the Dumpling and Bisque was very creative and tasty. Obviously I had more servings of this.

Next, we had Grilled Goose Liver on a Bed of Caviar with Potato Sticks & Pepper Sauce. Foie is a staple for Rene and is always present in his special dinners. This was particularly good, the caviar giving it that kick and distinct taste. Both dishes we had with Donhoff Riesling which Noel and Rene brought.

We were then served Deep-Fried Bacon & Eggs, Onion Broth. One of my favorite dishes, this was a deep fried egg with little bacon bits, with a crispy crust. I loved this dish, so of course when Tita B asked who wanted more, I happily got another serving.

The first main was: Prawns, Scallops, Squid, Bottarga & Garlic Oil. This dish is simplicity at it's best. Seafood cooked to perfection, with a bit of Bottarga and Olive Oil...wonderful!

The last of the dishes was Lamb Chops with Apricot Glaze, Gorgonzola Cream Angel Hair Pasta & sauteed Mushrooms. Another fantastic creation. I loved the Pasta, very light but still with a slight kick of Gorgonzola. Note that the lamb was brought in by Tita B herself from one of her trips to Australia

For dessert, Pineapple, Rum & Raisin Tortilla Stack with Vanilla Ice Cream. At this point I was really stuffed but happily ate away the dessert as well. We did also have a fair amount of wines, although not as much as usual since many did not drink red wines. Rene though opened a bottle of a Magnum of 2000 Chateau Siran, a wine we are quite familiar with since we have drank a few times (other vintages as well)

Rene's next birthday treat was a round 2 weeks after this one, with the usuals (our lunch group). Food was to be prepared again by Tita B, this time Chinese food.

So here we are again..for starters some Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut NV. We had this bright fresh NV Champagne while waiting fro the rest who were caught up in some traffic. The menu, as usual, carefully prepared, looked very promising.

Rene Making sure that all wines were chilled properly...we had many whites that day, obviously since food was Chinese.

For starters, Two way Dumplings: Pan Fried and Steamed. Perfectly well done, the steamed was my favorite of both. I had of course several more serving after...I had this with Noels Leon Beyer Riesling.

Next, Hot and Sour soup with Black Vinegar. I'm not really a soup person but there are some times I just love it. This is one of those times...this was just the right amount of sourness, and the black Vinegar tied this dish together very well.

This was one my favorites: Deep fried Shrimp balls with Sweet and Sour sauce. So light, not oily at all, this dish was easily one of my favorites. The sweet sour and the 5 spice dip was a perfect combination.

Next, Noodles with Glazed Pork Belly and Shitake Mushrooms. I love noodles and this was not an exception. I had this and the Shrimp balls with a La Rosee de Pavin, a heftier, more full bodied Rose then what I normally am used to drinking. This was very good.

The fish, Fish Fillet with Spicy Sauce with Pearls of the Orient. The sauce was like a spicy black vinegar with a little hint of spiciness. The hot steamy rice was perfect for this dish. This was very good.

Last, Basked Rib-Eye in Chinese Marinade. I loved this, so well done. It was baked but the meat just perfectly medium rare. The Chinese marinade was very subtle and did not at all over power the meat nor the wines.

Dessert was Almond Jelly, Mango Puree and Sago. Very light and refreshing, this was the perfect way to end such a massive meal....

And here, some of the wines we had that day. My favorites being The Sociando and Latour, although they could still do with more time in the bottle, say another 10 years easily or even more.

Thank you Rene for such fantastic meals, 2 at that. This year we were very lucky to have this 2 meals in such a short span of time. I can't wait for the next one to come. And thank you Tita B, for preparing this and putting up with all of us invading your house.

San Sebastian, second time around

2010-11-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

I know it's been quite a while since I have updated my blog. A series of travelling, work and personal stuff is the cause of why I have not been able to update, but I'm back and hopefully I can post the tons of backlog I have.

I have recently returned from Spain and Italy, where I was able to do some work and a little of r&r with my better half, Ria. We decided to hit Barcelona, San Sebastian, Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan. This first post is obviously about San Sebastian. I really love this classy city in the north of Spain. The food is absolutely the best and the people are so nice. This post will be mostly pictures and quite long, since I compressed all the food in one post, except our Dinner in Arzak, which deserves a separate post.

To start, this was our ride to SS. We took an Alvia train from Barcelona. it took us 6 hours to get there but it was so worth it.

Some scenery from the train ride...

We finally arrive, and during the short walk from the train station to our Hotel, we stop for this picture of the river that divides SS.

Our Hotel...with great views to the river and the beach

After freshening up, we go straight to lunch. The place i choose, Gandarias. It was quite full so they told me we had to wait around 30 minutes. We wait in the bar of the same restaurant, and I have my first pintxos with Txakoli.

Look at those pieces of meat...heaven...

The first pintxos we have in the restaurant while waiting for our table.

We get to our table, and of course I had my eye (or stomach!!) on the Chuleton, dry aged beef....so we get a 1 kilo cut which they bring to our table before cooking..

In the mean time, we get a green salad, which turned out for Ria as one of the best she has ever had...so refreshing, crispy, and just the right mix of Olive Oil and Vinegar, Salt and pepper. (Sorry no picture)

After the salad, we had a Revuelto de Hongos y Setas (Egg with different kinds of Mushrooms)

Then the star of the meal...this lovely piece of meat...

Look at that color...

The meat was just so well done, just the right cooking, simply fantastic. The dry aged beef had that nuttiness/Blue cheese taste to it..With the steak, I had a half bottle of Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva. At that point, I was in Steak heaven.

After that huge meal, we had to walk it off, so we wandered around SS, to the famous Playa de la Concha..

The Port where all the fishing boats are docked..

After walking around the City, we got back to our hotel, a bit of rest, then off we were again for a night of Pintxos dinner.

Fresh anchovies with Txakoli of course

Pochas beans with Morcilla..

Kokotxas de Bacalao (fatty part of the neck of the fish)

and a pintxo de Bacalao con pimientos..at this point we were stuffed and just had to head back to the hotel...the next day was going to be another eating marathon.

After a good night sleep, we start the day with a good breakfast: Tortilla de Patatas, a cortado (espresso machiato) and a croissant, which is not in the picture.

The whole morning we spent walking around, doing some shopping and sight seeing.

This is the old part of town, where all the Bars are..

One of my favorite streets, where many of my favorite bars are..

Lunch, was again on one my favorite places, LA CUCHARA DE SAN TELMO.

The sign says basically that the customers cooperation and understanding is key for them to be able to offer the best dishes from their kitchen, in conditions that are not always optimal. The place is tiny and you have to eat standing up, but ohh it's worth all the troubles. The Menu is quite short, around 10 dishes. I ordered all of them, except for the Foie dish, which I had before.

Pulpo (Octopus)

Pig's ears...charred, very tasty, lovely.

Kokotxas de Bacalao Rebozadas (deep fried Kokotxas)

More Pulpo...

Squid Ink Rissotto....the rice was so light, cooked to perfection.

Scallop wrapped in Iberian Bacon

Goat cheese deep fried, wrapped in Jamon Serrano fat, in a base of Pear compote

Cochinillo cooked for 8 hours...melt in your mouth

That's how tender this was...

Canelones..one of the best we've had (we had 2 orders of this)

Satisfied after a long grueling lunch....as you can see the place is tiny. It was packed when we arrived, but people normally don't stay long. They have one plate and they leave. We, on the other had, tried everything on the menu, so even the waiter was shocked.

Approved!!

Dinner that night was in Arzak, one of the first restaurants in Spain to receive 3 Michelin Stars. Juan Mari, the Chef, is a legend in the cooking world so there was no way on earth I was not going to his restaurant. I will though, as mentioned, have a separate post on Arzak.

Our last day in SS, I was finally able to drop by Txepetxa, another one of my favorite bars, introduced to me by Javi Lekumberri. What's so special about this place? The specialize in Fresh anchovies, topped with delicious stuff...needless to say that was my last day, and I had to take advantage, so again, I ordered all the varieties of Anchovies they had on their menu.

I started though with some more Txakoli and a Gilda

From right to left, Lobster cream, Olive paste and Sea Urchin.

More lobster cream, with Pimientos and Salmon Roe

With Foie and one with Blueberry sauce.

The bar, which is very simple and small

This was Txangurro, a Basque specialty, which is Crab mixed with other ingredients, some times baked or sometimes served like this

and last, Pimento relleno of brandada de bacalao, deep fried!

And that is the end of our San Sebastian trip. It was 2 nights/3 days of intense eating and drinking. Something that should not be tried at home unless you have had proper training...kidding aside, I promised myself that I will try to come back to this city at least once a year...I cant get enough of this place.

Ukkokei Ramen Ron = Ramen Heaven

2010-09-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

I had been craving for noodles (Ramen/Udon, etc...) this past few days so decided to go back to Ramen Ron. I've eaten there a couple of times, upon Keiichi's recommendation (he is Japanese and swears by this place).

I ordered the a plate of Gyoza (nothing really great but it's something to have while you are waiting for the ramen) and a Bowl of Basic Shio Ramen (with Pork)...can't really remember the name but this was as the girl told me, one of the best sellers.

All I can say was...that I was in Ramen Heaven! Delicious, tasty, hearty broth, slices of pork, lots of noodles. I am normally not a soup person, but this time, I practically finished all the broth I had this with some Chili power and Chili Oil, to give it a good kick. This is really comfort food, something that I could easily have once a week...

Next on my list is to try their special, off the menu: Tantammen. Its a spicy Miso Ramen with Ground Pork (if I'm not mistaken). They only make 10 orders a day and only served after 6 PM...and don't ask me why....but if you want to try it, you will have to be there by 6 PM....

Restaurant Cicou, Makati

2010-09-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Dinner last week was at Cicou. This dinner was organized by Noel for a fellow forum mate of his at Wineberserkers, Clem Nieto and his wife, who were here visiting family. Noel advised me a few days before and I obviously will not say no to an invitation like this. It's always nice to meet new people who share the same passion as you. I had also been wanting to go back to Cicou, as I had not been there in a while.

We started the night with some Bubbly Rose (Rene's bottle) of 1998 Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Rose. Very nice bubble, initially a bit closed, but opened up as it spent some time in the glass. Nice way to start our dinner, together with the amuse bouche, the Prawn Croqutte.

Noel had ordered a special dish for that night, one he had tried recently in one of his dinners. I was not going to have this at first since I was sort of on a diet, but I could just not say no to this dish: Marbled Terrine de Foie Gras, Unagi, Teriyaki sauce, Lemon Confit and Red Cabbage Salad. Fantastic, Marbled Foie, glazed with just the right amount of Teriyaki Sauce, The lemon Confit, just the right amount of sweetness with a little sour note, perfect for the Foie.

We had this with Noel's bottle of 1997 Rolly Gassmann Gewurztraminer Oberer Weingarten de Rorschwihr Selection de Grains Nobles I had to copy this name from Noel's blog). Lovely pairing. I'd say this type of wine was the best for this dish. Lots of Lychee notes and not overly sweet.

Then, the line up of the reds:

We had some power house wines, such as the 66 Latour and 93 Mouton (very generously shared by Clem), Noel's 64 Faustino, Rene's 95 Pichon and my 2000 Grand Puy Lacoste, which was spared that night. My WOTN being of course the 66 Latour, probably only the 3rd time I try a Latour. For a wine 44 year old wine, it still had the color and strengh of a young wine. No brick color at all and a lovely nose. Thank you Clem for sharing this wine with us. My second favorite, Rene's 95 Pichon. Very elegant and open. Still has lots of potential to age much much more.

For my main, I had Boudin Noir, which is basically a French Blood Sausage (like the Spanish Morcilla). This was flown in by Chef Cyrille from his home town in France. I love Blood Sausages and this was not an exemption. This sausage was very creamy, full of meat and not as much fat, which was good.

For dessert, a cheese platter to go the 2000 Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos. A very nice Tokaji, very sweet but very light as well.

Noel also had a Kouing Aman Cake, a typical dessert from Brittany. Translated, it means butter cake. This was delkicious (thanks Noel for sharing some of it with me), topped with home made caramel Ice Cream

(Photo care of Noel)

Last, some Petit Fours courtesy of Chef Cyrille. Lovely Macaroons..some say one of the better ones in Manila. I would probably agree to that.

Lovely dinner over all and great food. I was impressed with the food and wine. Cyrille took time to explain to us many of the special dishes he as on the blackboard. You can see he is very passionate about what he does. I will be back there soon!

KOYA - Japanese Udon in London

2010-09-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

I love noodles, and lately, have been eating a lot of them. Any chance I can get, I order Soba, Udon or Ramen...or even just plain old pancit. During my last trip to London, my cousin told me we had to try this new place of her friend..called Koya. I asked her what they specialized in and she said Udon! How can I say no?

Koya is located in Soho area of London (the trendy restaurants, Pubs and shops are all located there). We were lucky to get a table quick, as they do not accept reservations and are packed most of the time the whole day. For starters, I had a small bowl of Onsen Tamago (Poached Egg), a cold Dashi soup, served with a small poached egg (Quail Egg I presume). This dish was great, very refreshing.

We then ordered 2 small dishes before hitting the noodles: Fish and Chips (Cod Tempura with Lotus root Chips) and Kakuni (Braised Pork Belly in Cider). The Fish and Chips were excellent small cuts of cod, perfectly cooked tempura style with Lotus Chips. The Lotus chips were very addicting!. The Porke Belly, very ultra soft, stringy pork, with a slightly sweetish sauce. It was served with a little English Mustard, which gave it a little extra heat.

After these excellent dishes, we had the specialty of the house: UDON. Basically they are thicky sticky noodles. All of the noodles are made fresh that day in their underground facilities, with most if not all raw ingredients flown in from Japan.

We ordered 2 dishes: Atsu-Atsu (hot udon on hot broth) and Hiya-Hiya (Zaru Udon - cold noodles on cold broth to dip). Both excellent, although at that time I was in the mood for cold Udon, this was excellent fresh noodles, a very clear broth full of flavor. The broth for the Zaru was cold, with chopped onion leaks, sesame seeds and Ginger

Hot Udon

Cold Udon

I had the chance to meet the owner, who was not Japanese (as I would have expected) but Irish. He traveled to japan to learn how this was made and decided on this restaurant, that really specializes in just noodles. One of my new favorite places to go when I'm in London. I will be back soon... (actually, the same day I had lunch there, I returned for dinner and ordered exactly the same food...go figure)

Taka Kaiseki Lunch

2010-08-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

Another one of my Birthday week celebrations, this time with R and E. I had been wanting to try this restaurant for a while since I heard it was one of the best Japanese. Its a very small restaurant (3 private rooms and a bar that fits 6 people) located in Pasay Road, Makati.

They specialize in Kaiseki (Traditional Multi Course Japanese Dinner). Reservation at this restaurant must be made in advance and even the food has to be ordered ahead. We opted for the "TAKA COURSE" which was the most complete (and expensive) of the menu.

While waiting, we had already popped a bottle of MOET CHANDON BRUT IMPERIAL, to pair with the Sashimi and other seafood dishes we thought we would have.

First was the appetizer: NIGIMA SUMISO - Chicken Breast with Scallions in a vinegar-Mustard-Miso dressing. This was quite tasty, the chicken being very tender and perfectly cooked.

SASHIMI - Tuna and Shrimp Sashimi was what we were served., Honestly, I was a bit dissapointed with the Tuna, as I found it very ordinary and mid level quality. The Shrimp (Ama Ebi) was another story. So fresh, juicy and sweet, as you bite it, you feel a rush of creaminess in your mouth. I have never tried Shrimp Sashimi like this before..very good.

Next was the YAKIMONO (Grilled dish) - Don't get fooled by the picture. This was a tiny portions of (probably 50 grams) of IZU Beef, although this was very good, almost like butter. I wish they had give us more of this...

NIMUNO (Boiled Dish) - I think this was Duck meat with seasonal Vegetables, Shitake Mushrooms and some sort of seaweed I think. Again this dish was ok, although I really did not find anything special with it. The Broth though was very tasty and complemented very well the Duck.

Next was the SUNUMUNO (Sour Dish) - This dish was called YUBA (or Tofu Skin) which is a sort of dried Bean Curd. It was wrapped and deep fried, served with a little Calamansi and one Shrimp cracker (Kropek). Another ordinary dish, to me at least. It was tasteless if not for the Calamansi that was given to us.

Next, ZUWAI GANI (Boiled Snow Crab) - Very nice presentation on this dish. Crab was very fresh, with a very softy shell.

Last dish was the NIGIRI SUSHI - 5 pieces of Sushi, the highlight of which was the O-TORO and the Scallop.

For dessert, they served us Japanese Melon (no picture) which was very very sweet. We liked this so much that we ordered 2 more.

We had 2 red wines: 1995 Campillo Gran Reserva and a 2005 Chateau Pouget from Margaux. Both very easy to drink wines, although I would have wanted so more meat to have with them.

Over all, I was expecting a bit more from this restaurant (after all the hype that has been going on about it) and I think this was way overpriced (I do not normally talk about prices in my blogs, but this was I found very expensive).

Birthday Lunch at La Tienda

2010-08-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

The first of my birthday week celebrations was at La Tienda. I asked Javi to prepare some Pintxos (some old and some new) and a Chuleton. I wanted this to be an all Spanish Wine and food lunch, and that is what it turned out to be. Had as lot of fun, good food and great wines.

For starters, Aaron brought a 2004 Freixenet Cava Cuvee DS Gran Reserva , which we had with some Chistorra and Gambas a la Plancha. I love the pairing of Cava and Chorizo for some reason.

As soon as the Other arrived, the Pintxos started coming and we opened the wines. First was my bottle of Txacoli: 2008 Txomin Etxaniz. I've mentioned this type of wine many times before. Great pairing with the shrimp, very dry wine, not as fruity/floral as the Itsas Mendi no. 7, since this is more traditional Txacoli.

(Photo Courtesy of Noel)

The following were the reds we opened: 1989 CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva, 2001 Campillo Finca Cuesta Claro "Raro" Rioja Reserva Magnum, 1998 Vega Sicilia Unico, 1995 Vega Sicilia Unico and a 1964 Faustino Gran Reserva. The CVNE, popped and poured, medium bodied, light/medium tannins. We all agreed that it might have been better to decant this for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour. A's Campillo, made of tempranillo peludo (hairy tempranillo), was a pleasure to drink (quoting Jojo) and seems to have [potential if aged a bit more. I will definitely order some when this wine is available in Manila.

As for the "Unicos", Rene's 98 was decanted for around 2 hours, while my 95 was decanted for about 45 minutes. Both excellent, I enjoyed them with the Chuleton and fries. Both were powerful wines, although the 95 seemed to be a bit more than the 98. Regardless, both wines were excellent. I was saving my Unico for a special occasion, so what better time than this to open it.

The last bottle was my 1964 Faustino Gran Reserva. A wine Noel, Aaron and I ordered from Spain a couple of months ago which they are thinking of selling locally. At first, based on the looks of the bottle, we had our doubts about this wine. Once opened, everything changed. Surprisingly youthful after 46 years, this does come from the 64 vintage of Rioja, who some people say was the best year ever for Rioja. I would definitely agree. Even the color was not of a 46 year old wine...fantastic!

You must be wondering by now, where is the food? Well, here is what we had: (some are Javi's 'usual' and some were things he made special for the lunch).

The 'usual' Escalivada...

Gambas con Datiles y Bacon sobre Tomate Confitado (Shrimp with dates wrapped in Bacon and Tomato Confit)

Tomate Asado Rellenos de Chipirones encebollados con Espuma de Almejas (Roasted Tomato with baby Squid and Clam Foam)

Pintxo de Brocheta de Solomillo y Bacon con Arroz Cremoso, Foie Gras y Salsa de Oporto (Beef, Pork Belly,Seared Foie Gras, rice and Port reduction)

And of course, Chuleton with fries and Javi's special Pimientos ( a recipe from his 'Abuela'). We also had a Paella de Verduras with Basmati Rice, but we just too full to to have any so I gladly took it home.

(Photo courtesy of Noel)

Thanks Guys for coming...really enjoyed the food, the wine and the company!

The Hinds Head Pub, Bray, London

2010-08-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was in London a few weeks ago and ended up in a town near Bray. I remembered that that was the home of the Fat Duck, Heston Blumenthal's Top Restaurant, and also remembered that he had a pub right across, Called The Hinds Head, so we decided to have lunch there. We were quite lucky to get a table since the place was quite full, we called a few minutes in advance and they gave us a table.

As we were seated, we proceeded to order our appetizers, typical English Pub food but with Heston's magic touch:

Scotch and Eggs: Crispy on the outside and moist almost soft boiled egg on the inside..lovely!

Pork Pie: Another classic, served with English Mustard.

Last, Devils on Horseback: Prune, stuffed with mango Chutney and wrapped in Bacon. It's baked so its not as oily as the fried version.

I enjoyed the 3, but the Scotch and Eggs were my favorite. After a quick break, we had our main courses:

Salad of Raw Scottish Beef with Raddicchio and Horseradish: Of course, anything raw always catches my attention. This was thinly sliced beef like Carpaccio, with a light salad. Very good.

Next, Oxtail and Kidney Pudding: This was my best dish of the meal(the picture does not do justice to how this dish tasted). Bread pudding stuffed with Oxtail and kidneys, with a thick gravy sauce. Genius!

Last, Aberdeenshire Rump Steak with Bone Marrow Sauce and Fries: This dish was just so-so but the fries were exceptionally good. Twice fried I think.

A quick walk after lunch led me to The Fat Duck Restaurant, just 50 meters away. a very simple place, although it's a place of worship for foodies worldwide. You need 2 months notice to eat there, so some time soon I'll get there.

Casa Jacinto, Barcelona

2010-08-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

I know its been quite a while since I've last posted..I've just been to busy lately and have had no time. Well now I'm back with a vengeance and hopefully will be able to start posting soon. I came for a 3 week trip to Europe, so I'll be posting some of the restaurants I tried while I was there.

Casa Jacinto is a classic seafood restaurant in Barcelona, located very near my house. Its been existing for years and I've eaten there a number of times..so here goes:

For starters, we decided on a simple plate of fresh Calamares a la Romana (this may sound boring but believe mew they were so fat, juicy and tasty that I dont regret ordering them. The other appetizer dish we had was Habitas con Jamon y Salsa Romescu (small beans, ham and ROmescu sauce). This was delicious and one of my favorite dishes...love the beans slightly sauteed, mixed with the Jamon Serrano (fat included) and Romescu sauce (Romescu is atypical Catalan sauce made with almonds, Pine Nuts, Garlic, Olive Oil and a sweet small red Pepper).

All of this washed down with some fresh Albarino de Fefinanes, which I have tried several times in the past. This goes very well with all seafood and also with the main dishes we had. Very fruity, it has all the great qualities an Albarino should have.

For main, I had Bacalao a la Llauna, a typical way preparing Bacalao on Catalunya (poached in olive oil with paprika and Peppers). This was delicious, really fresh Bacalao. It was not as salty but still perfectly prepared. We also had Bacalao al Pil-Pil, which is typical Basque way of preparing Bacalao (also poached in lots of olive oil and thing cuts of Garlic in a clay pot and shaken until it emulsifies. again another fantastic dish, using really fresh fish.

We ended the lunch with coffee and a shot of Pacharan...lovely lunch. a very recommendable place if you like fresh seafood and good service.

More pintxos and Spanish wine @ La Tienda

2010-06-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying too much Spanish wine and food lately, so any excuse to have them is good for me. This time it was dinner with Chinkee and Matt. I asked Chef Javi to prepare us some appetizers, and for main, Chuleton of course. All the wines were Spanish, from the Cava to the Albarino to all the reds.

We stared off with some Noel's Freixenet Elyssia Gran Cuvee Brut. Very light, refreshing and appropriate for some light appetizers (Chistorra and Boquerones which we had while waiting for the others) or simply just to start a meal. We had already finished our first Bottle when my wife and Chinkee and Matt arrived. We them moved on to the meal proper. We were to be served 6 dishes of different kinds of Pintxos made by the Chef:

Salmorejo (Southern Spain's version of Gazpacho)

Escalivada con Pate de Olivas

Bacalao al Ajoarriero con Gambas

Salmon Confitado con Pisto

Pist0 is a typical dish made of sauteed vegetables, typically eggplant, tomato, and anythig that is of season

Escalivada con Anchoas (we always have to have this when we eat in La Tienda)

Brocheta de Solomillo y Bacon con Arroz Cremoso, Foie Gras y Salsa de Oporto

Needless to say, ALL the dishes were great. I particularly liked the Brocheta and the Bacalao. Most of the seafood dishes we had with an 2008 Laxas Albarino that Chinkee brought, and Noels 1973 Berberana (Rioja) which was quite light and good for the some dishes as well.

We had to ask Javi to give us a 15-20 minute break before serving the Chuleton since we were all just stuffed. Matt even had to take some Alka Seltzer, since I think he had 'empacho' (I think you could translate this to over-eating)...

After that much needed break, they brought out the Chuleton. Perfectly cooked as always, with fries and a side dish of Pimientos, that Javi makes to perfection ( a recipe from his great Grand Mother).

We had the Chuleton with 2 other bottles of Rioja: 2001 Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva (Noel's Bottle) and my bottle of 2001 Bodegas Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial. I prefered the Muga with the steak, as it was a bit more firm, medium to full bodied, compared to the Ygay. Both wines were quite young, though I think the Prado Enea will age much better than the Ygay.

We also had some dessert (no picture) which was Torrijas with Helado de Arroz con Leche. Wonderful dessert which we have had several times before. This one was as good, with the Arroz con Leche Ice Cream which was delicious.

Great Dinner, thanks to Chef Javi and until the next one!!

Tapas at Barcino

2010-06-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

I heard from some people that Barcino had a new Chef, and that they seemed serious about improving their food, so I decided to give it a try. I had gone several times to Barcino (at Ortigas and Fort) but was never really convinced about the food. Seems they have gone a long way from when they started serving microwaved Paella and cold Croquetas. They even have a life size cut out poster of Jaume Vinyallonga, the Chef. As he told me, he has had experience working in the 3 star Michelin restaurant Akelarre in San Sebastian, then moved back to Girona to work with the Roca brothers, ownder and Chefs of Celler de Can Roca, another 3 star Restaurant.

We decided to try their new flagship branch, at Greenbelt 2. The place is nice, with lots of Spanish decor and memorabilia. I particularly like this frame, since it's a picture of Nou Camp..hmm the owners I know for a fact are Barcelona fans just like myself.

The Menu, posted on the blackboard, was mostly tapas and Wine. They have a more extensive menu a la carte.

We started out with the martin Codax Albarino and a bottle of Spanish beer called Estrella Galicia. Being from Spain, I wonder why they chose to bring in that beer, when there are much better ones like Mahou, Voll Damm, Cruzcampo, etc..This was quite ok and refreshing, specially since it was so hot outside.

I opted for the following tapas:

Surtido de Pintxos (Bacalao, Chistorra, Salmon and Morcilla with Shitake mushrooms)

Croquetas and Butifarra Blanca

Montadito de Morcilla y Huevo

Alcachofas con Jamon (Artichokes with Jamon Serrano)

Over all, I could say that the tapas are decent, They do have a wide selection of tapas and more sit down type of dishes (paella, solomillo, etc..) which I did not have the chance to try. I must say that the food has really improved with the Chef Jaume. I will definitely be back soon to try out more of the Tapas and Pintxos they have available.

All Spanish Wines and Tapas Dinner at Rene's House

2010-06-13T23:33:00.001-07:00

Dinner Saturday night was at Rene's house. I had spoken to him about another all tapas (since I had brought back some goodies from my last trip) and he offered his house, so we planned it accordingly. Theme was all tapas, all Spanish wines and as main course, Aimee (Rene's better half) would prepare a light pasta and some short ribs.

I arrived quite early, since I had to prepare some of the tapas/cold cuts, plus do some minor cooking. My wife would come about 30 minutes after me, since she had to do some last minute stuff at home.

As the others arrived, Rene already had opened my bottle of 2005 Gramona III Lustros Brut Nature Gran Reserva Cava, a bottle given to me by my Aunt. This was a vintage Cava, quite refreshing although as pointed our by Noel, this would be much better with a few more years in the bottle. As I was finishing the cooking, I was able to Join the rest (as Aaron arrived also) for the tapas proper, and another bottle of Cava, Aaron's 2005 Freixenet Meritum Gran Reserva Cava. A New line of Freixenet that Aaron was sampling for his company. This was also very easy to drink, fresh Cava, pairing well with many of the Tapas.

We then had the appetizers (Tapas) proper, served with the Cava, a bottle of Vionta Albarino of Aaron and Noel's 1987 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonia Blanco Reserva. The Tondonia was a wine that I had been wanting to try for the longest time. It was drinking very well for an 87 white, and I particularly enjoyed this with some of the tapas and the pasta dish the Aimee served later on. I will definitely stock up on this on my next trip.

The Tapas...

Salchichon Iberico

Lower right, Habitas salteadas con Jamon (baby beans with Jamon Serrano), Berberechos and Almejas en salsa Espinaler and Pate.

A closer look at the Almejas, Pate and the 3 different kinds of Colc cuts we had: Fuet, Chorizo Iberico and Fuet Iberico.

Burifarritas (small sausages) with Morcilla de Cebollas. One of my favorites of the night, together with the Habitas Salteadas.

As we moved to the table for dinner proper, all the wines were lined up, ready to be opened.

And food was served: a refreshingly and light Spaghettini with Lemon, Orange, Olive Oil and Caviar dressing and fork tender Beef Short Ribs, cooked for 24 hours.

I had double servings of both! Loved the light refreshing pasta and the fork tender Short Ribs with the Tick and hearty sauce. With the Beef, we had the Aaron's bottle of 2004 Clos Mogador Priorat. This waws decanted for almost 2.5 hours. On the nose, this wine had notes of bloody, raw meat, game...feral as Noel said. This was a very full bodied wine, with lots of peppery notes to my taste. I think this was a good paring with the Beef Short Ribs, which had a very rich sauce.

For dessert, a Strawberry Ice Cream Cake with Oreo. I normally dont eat too much dessert, but this was devoured over some good Nespresso coffee.

Our next 2 wines, which we both had at the dinner table: Rene's 1978 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial and Noel's 1995 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890. I am a big fan of these 2 wineries, so obviously I was excited to try both of them. The Murrieta, still surprisingly fresh and drinking very young, for a 32 year old wine. Could probably last another 3-5 years more in the bottle.

The Rioja Alta, on the other hand, was my wine of the night. Very elegant with lots of finesse and balance. Lots of Aromas, sweet ones like cherry and slight hints of coffee. Loved this wine.

Last was my bottle of 1991 Beronia Gran Reserva. One that had been spared already twice so we really had to open this one. Medium bodied, light, well balanced wine. We had this wine way after dinner, in the garden over more stories and some left over Jamon Serrano.

We ended past 1 AM. It was a great dinner, with good company and fantastic wines. Thanks Rene and Aimee for hosting!

Restaurante Manairo, Barcelona

2010-06-06T07:57:00.001-07:00

On my last trip to Barcelona, I was told by my Aunt that I had to try this place called Manairo. It has been existing for many years, and has been recently awarded with a Michelin Star. The Chef, Jordi Herrera bases his concept on the use of the highest quality ingredients, make use the of the Gastronomic culture of Catalunya. The Cuisine here is modern Catalan, not forgetting basic classic cooking techniques.

We start off with a glass of fino and some olives. After finishing off 2 glasses each, the show begins:

Amuse Bouche: Pate de Sardinas a la Brasa and Xoff the Pan con Tomate (Pate of Grilled Sardines and Pan con Tomate)

Next was Croqueta de Pollo asado con aceite de Picada, which I forgot to take a photo of. The Croquetas was like those home made ones, very crispy but very moist inside. In lieu of the photo of the Croqueta, here is a picture of the stand that holds their wine glasses...as you can see very creative. This was made of metal bars used for construction.

After a quick break, Pizza de Gorgonzola con tomate Trufado, very tasty, with a strong Truffle scent.

Then, Calamares de Huevos Fritos con Patata, the Calamares were actually outside the batter. Inside the batter was egg yolk. Quite tasty and creative.

Arroz de Cordero y Queso Manchego, another one of those very tasty dishes, What I like about this restaurant is it is creative, but they are actually tasty too.

Rape con Estofado de Sepia y "Cap i Pota". - Again I have no picture of this.I must have been on my third or fourth glass of wine already here...

Solomillo de Buey al Fackir Coock (Al Clavo Ardiente) Beef Tenderloin a la Fackir, a more middle Eastern taste in this dish which was quite good.

For the wine, the Sommelier recommended a 2004 Finca Allende, a medium bodied Rioja, bold fruity wine, which paired very well with the Beef Tenderloin. Wine service was very good, one of the best I've experienced in Spain. From the glasses, to the Sommelier was perfect.

For dessert, Kaipirina and Toriija de Helado de Queso and Petit Fours. Again no picture of the Kaipirina, but the Torrija was one of the best I've had, close to the one that Chef Javi makes for us in la Tienda.

Over all a great experience, great tasting food and value for money. I would definitely come back if I had the chance.

More to come soon..

De Tapas por Madrid

2010-06-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

I know it's been quite a while I have not posted anything on my blog. It's just been a very busy hectic month, with travelling involved so not much time for this. I'm back and I'm hoping I can update my blog in the next couple of weeks, so here goes...

I just came back from a 2 week hectic European trip and I will start this post with an afternoon of tapas in Madrid after a late night Dinner in L'Albufera, a well classic place serving authentic Paella Valeciana which I will blog about some other time.

We started the afternoon with a walk to Plaza Santa Ana, very near our Hotel. Plaza Sta. Ana is know to have many tapas bars in the main plaza and many old Restaurants/Bars on the side streets. We decided on one called Bar Santa Ana (there were like 20 to choose from ) so we ordered some wine, Beer, a platter of Pintxos and some chips.

Platter was a selection of their best sellers, including Jamon, Queso de Burgos, Lomo Iberico and Chorizo. Great way to start our afternoon (this was around 6:30 PM) and I must say, the Plaza was packed with locals just sipping wine and munching on Tapas...you really gotta love the Spanish way of living..

After about 1 hour, we decided to walk a bit (after quite a few glasses of wine) and ended up in Paseo Castellana (a bar recommended by my aunt) in a place called Terraza Bar Espejo. This place has been open for ages, right in one of the side streets of Paseo Castellana, one of the oldest and most important streets in Madrid. A nice open area (Terraza), with again lots of people having cocktails, listening to a pianist play..you gotta love this life of theirs...

Again, we ordered some wine and beers, and more Tapas....

Tosta de Sobrassada de Mallorca con Queso Fundido

Surtido de Tapas (Pintxos)

Chorizo a la Sidra.

We had other dishes which I failed to Photograph (maybe too much wine??)....but trust me all of them were exquisite.

More posts of my trip coming up soon.....

Special Pintxos dinner at La Tienda

2010-04-23T02:55:00.000-07:00

After I got back from San Sebastian, I have been obsessed by the food and the town of Donostia. The closest I will get to Donostia in Manila would be if I asked Chef Javi of La Tienda to prepare us some local dishes that he knows so well about. There was another excuse for this dinner though, (not that we need any) which was to try out some special wines, sent by Victor Quinson to Aaron(Thank you Victor). It turned out to be a special dinner, plus a mini vertical of Viña Tondonia, by Bodegas Lopez De Heredia, one of the few who still produce traditional classic Rioja wines.

With the impressive line up of wines, I asked Javi to prepare us some Pintxos as starters and a Chuleton for main. We started off though with some Cava courtesy of Aaron: NV Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut, a fresh and light Cava, which is always good for me before starting a meal.

Javi then came to see us and asked if we wanted to start, so we all agreed to start. They served us in this order:

Salmorejo - an Andalusian style Gazpacho, made with only Tomatoes. It came with a shrimp, which I think was cooked in Vinegar (a la Boquerones).

Pintxo de Anchoas con Crema de Centollo - Anchovy with Cream of Spider Crab - this was my special request, after I have tried this in bar Txepetxa in San Sebastian, upon recommendation of Javi.

Escalivada - No meal in La Tienda would be complete without Escalivada, This one is Javi's own version with Anchovies and Cheese.

Bacalao Encebollado - Bacalao with lots of Onions - Fantastic dish and perfect with the Txacoli.

Txangurro - a very typical Basque dish made out of Crab Meat, Onions, Peppers, Garlic, all baked and normally served on bread, although this one was served in a small bowl.

Pies de Cerdo con Foie - Pig's Trotters with Foie - incredibly rich and tasty. Loved this and one of my favorites of the night.

We paired the first with 2008 Itsas Mendi No. 7, a Txacoli that we have had many times, and is really a good pairing with seafood based dishes, specially the ones we had. It's normally served high at arms length, to 'activate' it and release the bubbles, so since we had a pourer which I had bought in from San Sebastian, I gave it a shot.

We also had Doc's bottle of 2005 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Schlossberg Cuvee Ste.-Catherine, a nice light Riesling with typical hints of Lychee that Riesling have, I enjoyed this with the Foie very much.

We moved on to the main (after break since we were quite full from all the Pintxos) not before opening all the wines to match with our Chuleton. Aside from the 2000 Reserva and the 81, 91 and 94 Gran Reserva of Tondonia, we also had my bottle of 1991 Beronia Gran Reserva and Rene's 1978 castillo Ygay Gran Reserva, the last 2 being spared, since we had too many wines on deck.

Javi came out and volunteered to help us open the Tondonias, which all had wax caps, so it took us quite some time to open them. We were happy to see that all the corks were in good condition.

My favorite of the night, the 1991 Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva. This was everybody's Wine of the night, some comparing it to Catherine Zeta Jones and others to Penelope Cruz. I'd personally go with Penelope Cruz. This wine was elegant, classy and with a long finish. I found the 81 to be too old, and quite tired, similar to the notes I had of my the 85, which we had at our Aged Rioja dinner last year.

Gerry also brought a mystery wine, already decanted when he arrived, which turned out to be a 98 Angelus from St. Emillion. Although a bit tight and still closed, it went will with our meat. We also had Noels 1987 Viña Tondonia Reserva which unfortunately was corked.

The Steak (Chuleton) was excellent, rare as I like it and tender. It also came with some special Peppers that I requested Javi to Make. These Piquillo Peppers go really well with a good steak and Rioja wine.

For dessert, we had a Gateau Basque with Doc's bottle of 2004 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume. I liked this very much with the Gateau, which had some strawberries to give it some acidity. The wine was quite sweet and apparently a Chenin Blanc. very nice.

Another fun dinner, great food, wines and friends. Thank you all for coming and thank you Javi for preparing the food...hasta la proxima!!

Spasso, Italian Tapas and Wine bar

2010-04-19T00:25:00.001-07:00

We were invited by Tita B some two months ago to try this restaurant. It had just opened and she had met the owner so we decided to try it out. Streets names are very confusing for me in the Fort area so this place is located just behind Je Suis Gourmand, near Net One Building.

The Restaurant is casual, quite big and has a large wine cellar. They do not bring in their own wines, so many are from the local distributors in Manila. They even have a private room, with view to the kitchen, for Private functions.

They immediately served us bread, with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar and Cheese. Bread was warm and Olive oil was good.

For our appetizers, we had Bruschetta of: Foie Gras with Caramelized Peach, Eggplant Parmiggiano and Wagyu Beef Tartare Lardo. Excellent Bruschetta, specially the Tartare..very tasty and lots of Olive oil.

We then had 2 platters of Cold Cuts: Prosciutto and Salami. Both are from the brand Citterio, which are ok but I prefer the less commercial, home made type of Cold cuts you will find it Italy in many gourmet stores.

For our main, we had the following: Rib Eye Rustica, OssoBuco and Lamb Risotto. The Steak and Rissoto were very good, the steak being very tender (although it was medium and not medium rare) and the Rice very creamy and full of flavor. The OssoBuco was 'ok'...nothing really special here.

Over all I was impressed with the food and the extensive menu they have in this restaurant. We said we would come back one day with the Usuals for one of our wine lunches.

Pre Easter lunch at Pepato

2010-04-18T06:25:00.001-07:00

I had just arrived from an 3 week trip in Europe (where I met up with Noel in Spain) and was craving for a wine lunch with the Usual Suspects. After a few text messages, we settled on a lunch on Wednesday of Holy week at Pepato. We were 4 only since mostly everybody was already on vacation.

I was the first to arrive and had a young wine, so I went there early to decant the wine. soon after, Aaron, Jay and Johnny arrived.

I brought 2 wines, purchased on one of trips: 2008 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis and 2007 Guidalberto Tenuta San Guido. Arneis is one of my favorite type of grape for Italian whites and Bruno Giacosa they say the best producer of Roero Arneis. This one was fresh, crisp and quite dry. It had some notes of lime and citrus. As for the Guidalberto, this is a Super Tuscan and the 2nd label of Sassicaia. Despite it's youth, I think it was drinking quite well after about 1.5 hours decanting.

To start, I had a order of Spaghetti Pepato, a simple pasta with Olive oil and Parmesan Cheese...such a simple pasta. I enjoyed this with my Roero Arneis.

For main, I had Steak, with Potato Wedges, Greens and Garlic. The meat was cooked just enough, leaving it rare on the inside. Wit the meat, the best pairing was Jay's bottle of Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura 2001. It was a good match with our steak,and improved as it spent more time in my glass.

We also had an order of Squash Flower Tempura and a Cheese Platter, since we still had wines left. The last bottle we opened was Aaron's 2004 Laurona Montsant . A winemaker that I have tried before. I was expecting Typical Priorat/Montsant full heavy wines but this was light, medium bodied and very good.

We stayed a while longer lingering, then decided to walk to Bacchus, since Johhny had to have his watch fixed and Aaron buy some wines. When we walked back to Pepato, we still had time to open the last bottle. The ever reliable Piper Heidsieck Brut NV of Jay.

What a great afternoon...

Ara Korean Restaurant, Makati

2010-04-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

This lunch was around 2 months ago,. Organized by Jojo, he had told us he discovered this Korean restaurant that served great food, good service and no corkage. So the Usual Suspects decided to give it a try. We were 6 in total and we were given a private room on the second floor, with our own small Zen garden.

For starters, we had the usual Appetizers...most vegetable, all very good. We also had Kimchi, with a bottle of Brut NV Clos Du Moulin, a nice refreshing Champagne that I had with the Kimchi.

We let Jojo do the ordering, so as soon as the appetizers arrived, all the other food just started arriving non stop..First, this sort of Chawan Mushi Korean style( i think though it was a very light Omelet)...interesting..

This was like a dumpling Soup. I am not really a big soup fan so I can't remember this dish so much.

Next, Beef Sashimi (basically Beef Tartare). This was very different from any Tartare I've tried, it was quite sweet, with a spiciness to it...this was quite good.

This was a dish of different kinds of fried vegetables and sort of omelets...this was also nice.

We then had 2 kinds of beef (Short Rib and Brisket if I'm not mistaken) served as DIY Lettuce wraps(I'm sure there is a Korean Term for this). I love Lettuce wraps. Thinly slices pieces of Beef that you wrap with crispy Lettuce then dip in Sesame Oil.

As for wines, we had 4 reds, aside from the Champagne and a Cloudy Bay if I remember correct.

Gregs 04 Clos du Marquis, Aarons's 00 La Fleur de Bouard, my Spanish 05 Pago de Carraovejas and Jojo's 86 Chateau Lascombes. My favorite of the day was the 86 Lascombes. I've tried a 2003 and also enjoyed it. We had most of the reds after the lunch though, since Korean food tends to be spicy and this will definitely clash with the wines.

I enjoyed this lunch...and would recommend this restaurant. Staff is very friendly, food is great, value for money, a good deal. They don't charge corkage but if you plan to go, bring your own wine glasses.

Agata e Romeo, Rome

2010-04-18T01:58:00.000-07:00

I Have lots of pending posts over the past 3-4 months...so I'm desperately trying to update my blog. This post was from my last trip, almost a month ago. Agata e Romeo, another husband and wife team (same as Aimo e Nadia, a similar caliber restaurant), execute perfectly Creative Italian Cuisine. The Restaurant from the outside seems very simple, but as soon as you walk in, you know you are in for a great meal.

For starters, they served us several kinds of bread, including a very interesting muffin, made with some Olive oil and Basil...then a small 'appetizer'..squash soup, which was quite sweet and with a bit of Bacon bits...I had this with a glass of Champagne.

For our starters, 2 Great dishes: Gnocchi di Patate con Vongole, Salsa Basilico e Pomodorini Canditi (Dumpling with Clams, Basil Sauce and Candied Tomatoes) and Budino de Pecorino di Fossa di Sogliano Salsa al Vino dolce, Gelato di Pere e Miele di Castagno (Flan of aged Pecorino Cheese from Sogliano, with Pear Sauce (Gelato) and Chestnut Honey. The Gnocchi was great, quite different since it's a Vongole Gnocchi, but this was perfectly executed. The Aged flan blew my mind..one of the best dishes I've had in my meals in Italy. Similar to a twice baked Cheese Souffle, this was so moist and you could taste the Aged Pecorino in every bite. The Pear and Gelato gave this dish a bit of sweetness, which was well in order. This was perfect!

Over all I really enjoyed this Restaurant. I was a bit unsure since I thought it would one of those ultra modern Restaurants. It had the right amount of creativity and excellent service.

For my Main, I had Cinque Modi di Cucinare Il Baccalà ( Salt Cod Medley in Five ways). Poached, fried, grilled, crispy skin, confit...another perfectly executed dish, simple and comfort food for me ( I love Bacalao). The Bacalao used was top notch and had just the right amount of saltiness...

Friday Liquid Lunch at Gourmand

2010-04-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since my last meal in Gourmand (some time December if my memory does not fail me) and honestly I was really craving for my comfort food. We were 4 that day for lunch and we had a great time.

For starters, Foie Gras Terrine, one of Marc's bets sellers in the restaurant. It is done perfectly and always a good way to start a meal.

For my first course, I had Special Escargots, which Marc makes for us upon special request. I had this the first time in Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas. Escargots with Chicken Oysters, Panceta, poached Egg and Salad. Lovely dish. We paired this with Rene's Bottle of 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose. Without doubt, this is the best Rose in the world for me. Such an elegant wine, of a pale salmon color. It also pairs very well with Escargots.

For main, Onglet with caramelized Onion and fries. We asked it rare and it came out Medium rare, which was already for me. Onglet is a cut that is near the kidney, so it is a a bit gamey but very tender and tasty if cooked well. Gourmand serves very good Onglet (Hanger Steak) in my opinion.

For the wine, we had 4 bottles of Red: Jojo's 1989 Tinto Pesquera Reserva, from Ribera del Duero, Noel's 1988 Chateau Talbot from St. Julien, Rene's 1999 Leoville Les Cases, also from St. Julien and my 1995 Dalmau Reserva from Rioja.

We enjoyed Pesquera (well at least Noel and myself) the most paired with our Steak. It had the body to stand up and pair well with the gaminess of the Onglet. The Chateau Talbot was very good also and could stand up a bit to the Steak, although I detected a bit of a funny(stinky) smell at first, which dissipated after a few minutes. The Les Cases was a very elegant wine, and was perfect for after the meal, with a cheese platter. My wine was opened last and we all agreed that it would have paired very well with with the Steak.

We lingered around until around 5:30 PM and headed home after .It was good to be back in Gourmand with good friends and good wine. I hope we can repeat this again soon!!

Another Fantastic dinner at manila's best Private Table

2010-04-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dinner was at Tita B's last night...our gracious host. I don't have enough adjectives in my vocabulary to say how our dinner was last night. It was so perfectly and carefully prepared, all the flavors jumping out of the plate. I enjoy so much this type of dinners, aside form the food being delicious, the company was great also.

We were 11 in total, including Tita B who also joined us for dinner. We started with some Moet Chandon Brut NV bubbly, while waiting for all the guests to arrive. As soon as they all arrived, the show began:

Fried Milk with Kani, Apricot Marmalade. So light, crunchy and soft smooth inside. The Apricot was a perfect side to this dish. One of my favorites.

With this dish, we had a glass of Billecarte-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs, a very crisp champagne, with notes of lemon and other citrus fruits.Very good pairing for me.

Then we had Boiling Sharksfin Soup, Shredded Crabmeat. Delicious and meaty. I added Chinese Vinegar as per the instructions of Tita B and it gave a good zing to the soup. I also had this with the Champagne.

Next, Spicy Beef on Chinese Spaghetti Noodles, Sliced Cucumber. Chinese noodles, topped with Spicy beef sauce. The Sliced Cucumbers acted out as the cheese. Gave it good texture. Lovely.

We paired this with Jays bottle of: 2004 Ravenswood Zinfandel from Sonoma Valley.

After a short break, we had: Roasted Peking Duck, Lotus Wrappers, Hoisin Sauce. As you will see, there is only one on my plate but the reality is I had 4 of these babies. Just to highlight that the skin was crispy and the meat was very tender. The wrappers are also made from scratch.

With the Duck, we had 2 Rieslings: 2003 Donhoff Riesling Auslese, which was a crowd pleaser among the women and a good match with the Duck, and a 2005 Joh.Jos.Prum Riesling Spatlese. This was quite Spritzy or bubbly, not as sweet as the Donhoff and my preferred of both Rielings.

Next, Steamed Crab Legs with Garlic, Vermicelli, Soya Dressing. A huge steamed crab Leg, perfectly steamed, a top a bed of fresh Vermicelli. This was spectacular, together with the Pearls of the Orient X.O. Sauce (Basically Rice with X.O.)

With this, we had Rene's bottle of 2008 Conundrum, a California white made with more than 5 different varietals.

Our last course, Crispy Pork Wedges, Glazed with Sweet Sour Sauce. This was also one of the highlights. I know it sounds ordinary (Sweet Sour) but this one was so think, super crispy.

For Dessert, Tikoy Surprise and Chilled Almond Jelly. At this point, I was so stuffed that I did not have any space for the Tikoy. I just had a little Almond Jelly, which was very light and refreshing.

We then had one last bottle of red, courtesy of Jojo, a 1990 Sociando Mallet from Haut Medoc. I've had many vintages of this wine, and I've really enjoyed all of them.

Yet again another masterpiece dinner by our gracious host Tita B. Thank you again and we hope to be back soon!

The Devonshire, London

2010-04-09T02:54:00.000-07:00

I've always been curious to try the so called Gastro Pubs in London. These are regular Pubs who have in a way upgraded their menu from the typical Pub food, to a bit more sophisticated dishes, still maintaining being traditional and straight forward food. On my last trip to London, I decided to try The Devonshire, Gordon Ramsey's Gastro-Pub. I know many people do not like him over there but in all honesty, I've been to 2 of his restaurants and I've always enjoyed the food there.

For starters, we had a beer by the bar while waiting for our table. Guiness Draught beer for me. Now on to the starters:

Cornish Sardines on Toast, Celeriac Coleslaw, Green Back Bacon. Fresh Sardines, slightly grilled. The bacon gave it a good smokey taste.

Beetroot, Bosworth Goat's Cheese Toasts, baked walnuts, Sherry Syrup. A Simple Goat's Cheese salad, with some toast. The Sherry syrup gave the dish the sweet contrast. Very good.

Crisp Pig's Trotters, Sauce Gribiche. The best of our starters. Crispy pig's Trotters. On the side was some kind of Tartare sauce. Very good. I could have had a bigger portion of this for my main course.

After a short break, we went on to the mains course:

Cod, Gem Lettuce, Shetland Mussel Broth. Pan Fried Cod, crispy skin, very flavorful broth..

Grilled Onglet Steak, Chips. The chips were awesome, twice or even thrice fried I think...so crunchy. The Steak, tender and rare as we requested, although I my opinion too much sauce.

Over all a good place, and good value for money.

Freixa Tradicio, Barcelona

2010-03-28T13:35:00.001-07:00

It's funny what's happening in the dining scene in Barcelona lately. Many have grown quite tired of all the fancy creative, molecular, cocina de autor type of food, and many are going back to basics, or back to their roots. One of Them is Freixa, who had a cutting edge restaurant in the 90's called Raco D'en Freixa. a modern, creative restaurant, then decided to convert it into a traditional Catalan Restaurant, with food

'de toda la vida' and typical Catalan Ingredients.

The place though is quite modern looking, but the food, basic traditional Catalan cooking. For starters, I had some Fino, which they served with some cold cuts: Fuet, Corizo Iberic, Butifarra Negra and Butifarra Blanca

For our starters, I decided on ordering tapas style, since I knew the main courses would be heavy dishes. We had Croquetas de Jamon, Bunuelos de Bacalao, Anchoas and Escalivada (of Pimientos only)

For main course, 2 very traditional Catalan Dishes: Bacalao amd Samfaina and Peus de Porc amb Datils i Pinons. Bacalao with Samfaina sauce, a tomato based sauce, with lots of garlic, Piquillo peppers and Eggplant. The Pork was Pig's feet, in a very thick semi sweetish sauce with dates and Pine nuts.

I had the Bacalao so with this and my meal. I had an Albarino Called Lusco, a very light and refreshing Albarino, perfect match for my Bacalao and Anchovies.

A good meal and a place to go if you are looking for home style cooking,

San Sebastian (Donostia) Day 2

2010-03-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

After my first day in San Sebastian, I was really excited to see what food I was going to get to try the next day. Our first stop was for lunch. I had chosen to try another classic Basque restaurant (Gandarias) but unfortunately it was closed 2 days for minor reservations. So we decide to try a new creative Pintxos restaurant: A Fuego Negro. They had several degustation choices, so we went for the medium one, with 8 different dishes.

For starters, Aceitunas Gordal with Vermouth Jello. A classic Spanish appetizer, with a twist. This was original and tasted good.

Next, Tomatito Cherry con Salmorejo y Migas Ibericas. Salmorejo is the Andalusian version of Gazpacho, much thicker because of the bread. In this case, it's a de constructed Salmorejo, with the Tomato, Cream inside and Migas Ibericas (Iberian Chicharron) on the outside. Very Creative.

Then we had a refreshing green Salad. Nothing really special about this one except the olive oil was so fragrant and the tomatoes were incredibly crispy and fresh. They then served us the Txiquihuerta con Ketchupa Casero y All i Oli. Basically this is mixed vegetables tempura with beer batter, home made Ketchup and All i Oli made with potatoes instead of Egg. The Home made Ketchup was really really good.

Next was our fish dish: Bacalao confitado en Aceite de Oliva Extra Virgen, patatas y Curry. The Bacalao was again incredibly fresh and perfectly cooked. I really wish we could source out Fresh Bacalao here..this was delicious.

After a quick break, they served us the first of our meat dishes: Papada de Basquecherri, Aire de Limon y Patata Avainillada (Pigs neck, Lemon Air and Mashed Potato with Vanilla). The Pork was so soft and tender I thought it was all fat, but looking closely, I saw that it was in fact meat. Basquecherri is a type of Iberian Pig (pata negra) that has a 350 square meter parcel of land all to himself to roam around freely, so that is what makes this Pig so Special.

Last, Mini Burger de Wagyu, Pan de Ketchup y Patata Macho de Ecuador. Wagyu Burger, Ketchup Bread and Potato which was quite sweet. This was ok but nothing really special. I must say though it was very well cooked, charred on the outside and rare inside.

Our dessert was their own version of Arroz Con Leche, but served Breakfast Style. It was good but again maybe i would have preferred something else.

This was a very creative way of serving Tapas/Pintxos but what I really enjoyed were the regular Pintxos I had the night before and what we had for dinner. At around 8 Pm, we started again in the same Bar we started the night before: Bar Txepetxa. I just can't get enough of this place and wanted to try his other specialties on Anchovies. We stopped by for a couple of Beers, Gildas and 2 Pintxos of Anchovy with Cream of Centollo, and new one made with Huevas de Merluza (Fish Roe). It seems so basic but believe me once you try this, you will be craving for more.

Our next stop was a place called La Cuchara de San Telmo. Quite popular in the old part of town, this is not really a traditional Pintxos Bar but more a bar serving small plates. They do not have a fixed menu and all they have is a blackboard with their daily specials and some best sellers. Look at the Prices!! incredible value for money!

This is what we ordered: Foie "Cuchara" con Compota de Manzana, Bacalao en Tempura a la Cerveza and Vieira Toro envuelta de Tocineta de Bellota.

As you can see, very simple no frills dishes, but top quality Ingredients. The Foie was huge seared with apple compote, fresh Bacalao with a light Tempura beer batter and a Huge Scallop wrapped with Iberian Bacon. These 3 dishes and 4 glasses of wine..15 euros..Incredibly cheap!

Our next stop, Bar Ganbara, a more traditional style Pintxos Bar, where it is normally quite full and all the food is exposed in the bar. You just get what you want to eat and eat it...when you ask for your bill, they asked you what you had. Honor system. I had a hard time remembering how many Txakolis I had and how many pintxos I had...and really they trust what you tell them. It;s quite a struggle to order and get your food, but it's fun and that's what makes this places so original

So this is what we had...of course now I remember after seeing the Photos...

Pulpo a la Vinagreta
Chistorra wrapped in a light, Criossant like dough
More anchovies....
Tartita de Txangurro (Crab Cake)

Sakchichon Iberico and Queso De Zamora.

We had much more than this(Salmon, Jamon Iberico, Olives, etc...) but they were not photographed since I was too excited to eat them. All of this of course washed down with some Txakoli and Rioja wine by the glass.

What an incredible food experience I had in San Sebastian. For me this is truly the mecca of food in Spain. I plan to return this year with my wife and try some 'starred' restaurants (incidentally I think San Sebastian is the City with most Michelin Stars in Spain) like Arzak, Mugaritz, Akelarre, etc....

Agur!! (this means good bye in Basque language)

San Sebastian (Donostia) Day 1

2010-03-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my 3 week long trip and finally have some time to post some of the great food I had while i was travelling. I have several updates and will just update randomly depending on what I remember most.

San Sebastian, for me, is the mecca of food in Spain. I have always wanted to go to San Sebastian and fortunately, I had some business to do in the North of Spain so it was perfect. I arrived at around 6 pm, after a 600 Km drive from Barcelona (stopping by Santander on our way).

After dropping the bags at the Hotel, a quick walk by the Playa de la Concha was the first thing I did. Concha means Shell and the reason it is called this way is because the beach has the form a Shell. It was a nice 3 kilometer walk just enough to open my appetite just in time for some Pintxos and dinner.

Donostia is known for their Pintxos (similar to tapas), small bite sized dishes or food on bread. We decided to have dinner in a traditional Basque restaurant the first night, and reserve the second night for the Pintxos. on our way to the restaurant though, I happen to pass by Bar Txepetxa, highly recommended by Chef Javi Lecumberri of La Tienda. They specialize in Pintxos de Anchoas(Anchovy), so a quick stop before dinner was in order. To start, Gildas (combination of pickled Guindillas(Peppers), Anchoas, and Aceitunas Gordal (Large Olives) and their 2 best sellers: Pintxo de Anchoa con Crema de Centollo (Cream of Spider Crab) and Pintxo de Anchoa con Erizos de Mar (Uni)

Toasted bread, Incredibly fresh Anchovies (Anchoas del Cantabrico), topped with Cream of Spider Crab, a very typical Crab from the region, was a perfect combo. The Anchovy was perfectly complemented by the creamy richness of the Crab. All this washed down with the typical white wine of the region (Txakoli). I loved this place so much that I returned the next day again....

Our next stop was Casa Urola, for our dinner proper. Casa Urola is a traditional Basques Restaurant, serving traditional food. It has been open for many years and also highly recommended by several locals that we asked. We were quite full from our pre-dinner pintxos and wines, so we only had 1 first plate and one main course for dinner (to be shared by 2 people)..

For starters, Txangurro au gratin, another very typical and I'd say probably the national dish of the Basque region. Basically it is Blue Crab, mixed with onions, Garlic and a little cream, then baked au gratin. Even if very simple, I love this dish so typical of the region. Again, I had this with a glass of Txakoli, a perfect combination.

Our main, of course had to be no other than: Chuletón selección “Luismi Premium” a la parrilla. This one was 1.2 kilos (with Bone) and perfect for 2 people. Simply grilled, rare, served with Maldon Sea Salt, fries and a a green salad. We had this with a medium bodied Rioja.

For dessert, a cheese platter, combination of Idiazabal, Roquefort, Torta del Casar and Cabrales with some Membrillo and Walnuts. With this, we had another typical liquor from the north: Pacaharan, a liquor made with Endrinas, a type of Sloe-Berry. This drink is more typical of the Navarra Region, but still drank widely all over Spain.

Will continue with my Day 2 in San Sebastian in another post, until then, Agur!!

Sushi Kappo Kobikicho

2010-03-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

Lunch this week was at Sushi Kappo, considered by many as the best Japanese restaurant in Manila. Be prepared though to pay Tokyo prices if you have dinner. They do have set lunches which is what we had.

I arrived the first so while waiting for the others, I had a chance to observe how the Chef (Shintaro Hino) meticulously prepared all the food, with such precision that it seemed like he was working for one of those Swiss watch companies. Not a single detail left out, from the millimetrical cuts of tuna, to the exact amounts of soy sauce, etc.. Incidentally all ingredients in this restaurant are flown in from Japan twice a week, from the Soy sauce, to the fresh wasabi and obviously the fresh fish, from the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.

The set of 'swords' they use to cut the fish...impressive

Preparing the fresh Wasabi, by rubbing in on dried Shark skin

Fresh Wasabi

Precision cutting by the chef of Squid, the first of our sushi dishes

Before I continue with the other types of Sushi we had, I would just like to say that as I said earlier, this is the best I have ever tried in Manila (Hopefully when I go to Tokyo in May I will try even better thank this) period.

We had the sushi menu, which consisted of an appetizer of Daiso (some sort of nut with a sweet sauce) and different kinds of Sushi prepare din front of you and served one by one. As we were in a traditional Japanese Restaurant, I decided to eat the way the Japanese eat their Sushi. The Sushi is held by hand, turned upside down and slowly dipped in soy sauce. The rice is never dipped in the soy sauce. I know this is hard to do since I love doing this, but I wanted to taste the freshness of the fish and not the taste of Soy sauce with Wasabi. Note that they do not give you any extra Wasabi for the sushi, since they already put some between the rice and the fish..

Cuttlefish

Red Snapper

O-Toro and Hamachi

Uni (note how bright orange this is) compared to other Uni I have tried in other restaurants

Toro Maki being rolled with onions...

Toro Maki and Tamago

Tempura

Maezawa Beef, a Wagyu steak from a champion breed line of Japan

Just a short note on the Tempura - again one of the best I've tried. Not oily at all, from the freshest Prawn and very light batter. This was lovely! The Wagyu was served slightly seared (medium rare) with a light sauce and with Mustard and Wasabi. Obviously I ate mine with Wasabi. Very tender, melt in your mouth good.

For wines, we had 2 different kinds of Sake, a bottle of Champagne, 3 reds and 2 whites.

Kubota Manju (Daigin-jo)

Kokuryu Tokusen Ginjo
Jojo's Champagne Comte Audoin de Dampierre Family Reserve Cuvée 2000, quite refreshing and still very vibrant, despite being a 2000. This Champagne was excellent, and a good paring with the sushi.

My Bottle of 2008 Laxas Albarino and Keiichi's 1999 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet Maltroie 1er Cru. My Albarino was a good pairing with the fish but Keiichi's Montrachet was not really for me a good paring with Sushi. I liked the wine though, and mentioned to Noel i could smell burnt Pop Corn. He said it was the smell of Toasted Oak.

Greg's 2000 Chateau Larcis Ducasse, a Saint Emillion Grand Cru. a medium bodied wine which went very well paired with our steak.

and last, Jojo's 2008 Red Car Pinot Noir. This was a sample he had which did not have a label yet. I liked this Pinot, very correct and also good with the Steak. Rene had also brought a 2000 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, which unfortunately was corked, so we did not drink it. This bottle he purchased in Vinfolio and after emailing them, it seems that they may replace the bottle. Let's see what happens...

Our usual suspects group shot, after all the great food and wine. We did not stay too long because we had no more wines to drink. A great lunch and great company. Food was excellent and service spot on. KAMPAI!!

Harrods Food Halls, London

2010-02-24T05:45:00.001-08:00

During my last trip to London, my last day was pretty open, so I decided to spend the morning in Harrods. I was to do some last minute shopping for gifts for my family. What was supposed to be a quick in and out turned out to be a 5 hour tour around the Harrods Food Halls. It was like I was in heaven...I could not imagine that there could any place/store that had what I had seen...

Food from practically anywhere in the world, prepared food, frozen food, fresh, you name it and they have it. Aside from all that food fro take home, there are several 'restaurants' where you can have a quick good meal: Chinese, Japanese, American, French, Spanish, Oyster Bar, etc...I spent almost 4 hours just walking around and looking at the variety of things they had...here are some of what they had...

Cheese...I was able to count more than 100 kinds.

Spanish deli, from Jamon Iberico de Bellota, Chorizo, Chistorra, Lomo Iberico, etc...

Italian Deli, from Culatello de Zibello, Mortadela, Prosciutto di Parma, etc...

All kinds of Ham, smoked ham, Farmers ham, Peppered Ham, etc...

Foie Heaven!! From Duck, to Goose, Smoked Duck, topped with Pepper, Apples compote, etc..

They even had Cured Ox Tongue in Jelly. I was tempted to buy one but look at the price!!

Next - Food for Take out:

More than 40 kinds of different Pies!!

Look at the size of those Asparagus!!

Tons of different types of Olives and take home food from all over the world!!

And now, on to the 'market' , selling fresh food:

Seafood and Birds Galore!!!...

So after all this walking and drooling about food, I was exhausted and had to rest my feet and have a quick bite, I decided to have a simple Salmon Roll with Caper Butter and a glass of Champagne!

What a day and what a place. Of course next time I'm in London, I will be back here for more.....

Hearty lunch at Cafe Caruso

2010-02-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

I love Italian food and ever since my recent trips to Italy for work, I have enjoyed it even more and more. I can't believe that I have never tried out Cafe Caruso, for me now once of my favorite of not the favorite Italian Restaurant in Manila. The interiors are almost the same to any of the Restaurants I've been to in Milan, white table cloth, simple wooden chairs, just the way I like it. The kitchen is open, and on display, the brick oven, where they make one of the best pizzas I've tried in Manila and a mean Focaccia bread, freshly baked as you order.

As soon as the group arrived, we opened our first bottle of wine, my La Villa Roero Arneis 2008. One of the bottles I brought from a recent trip and one of my favorite Italian grapes, Arneis, in the region of Roero in Piedmont.

Our first 2 reds were open, just in time for our Pizza Salsicha. A thin crust Pizza with Tomato and Cheese, Mushrooms and Italian Sausage. I love thin crust Pizzas but very few Restaurants in Manila can do it well, and this was done to perfection.

With this, we had 3 bottles open: Jojo's Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2000, Cordero di Montezemolo Barolo Bricco Gattera 1997 and my bottle of Mauro Sebaste Barolo Monvigliero 2005. My favorite was Jojo's Barolo, a 97 which I think was a good year for Barolo which I saved for my main course. This was slightly tannic but I thought it was drinking very well. My Barolo, which was decanted for almost 1 1/2 hours, was very light in color and still very tannic and young, so this would need major time in the bottle...maybe a 8-10 years more.

Next, Our main courses started arriving: Keiichi had as part of his main, Spaghetti Nero, pasta made with Squid ink. This was lovely and I regret now not ordering this...

For my main, I had Scallopini al Limone (veal with lemon) and served with a side of Spaghetti Aglio olio-Vongole, The Veal was perfectly executed and so soft, it was almost like eating butter. The lemon was not too overpowering and it did not at all clash with the wines we were having.

We had some more wines after our meal, together with a cheese platter. Greg's 1973 Berberana Gran Reserva (same as the one we had at my house a few before), Rene's 2003 Silvio Nardi Manachiara Brunello di Montalcino and Jojo's 1997 Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva. All great wines although I think still young and could use some more aging in the bottle.

For dessert, we also had a dessert wine from Jay, a 2006 Dr. Loosen Beerenauslese, a light sweet wine, very easy to drink.

It was great fun and I really enjoyed the food and the place. I can't believe I have not eaten here before. I will definitely be back soon and thank you Jojo for organizing the lunch. It was great fun.

Luini Panzerotti and Pizza Spontini, Milan

2010-02-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

I've been checking my files and realized that I have many posts that I still have not put up on my blog, so hopefully with more time, I can update all my "pending blog posts".

During my last trip to Milan (late 2009) I heard about 2 places that I said I had to check out. The first is a place called LUINI, very near the Galleria and Duomo in Milan. This tiny take out counter is an institution in Milan since 1948. People cue for at least 10-15 minutes before they can get their food. All sorts of people line up for a quick lunch, from Tourists to Milanese executives, students, construction workers, etc...

What's the secret of this place? I guess aside from a good location, they serve the best Panzerotto in town and fresh out of the oven. And what is Panzerotto? It's a pocket sized pizza made with a donut type of dough, very light and a slight sweetish flavor (but not overly sweet). Inside, all sorts of ingredients can be placed: Tomato, Ham, Tuna, etc...but always with a base of cheese. I had the classic Ham and cheese (their best seller I was told).

It is served fresh out of the oven, piping hot.....

First bite and not much filling inside, but the dough was "to die for"....

Second bite and hmmm...at last, the ham and Cheese. Very basic simple food but something I have never tried before. Don't make the mistake of comparing this to Calzone, which is made of Pizza dough. I will always make it a point to come here every time I am in Milan.

The next day, I was brought to Pizzeria Spuntino, another institution in Milan I was told, dating back since 1953. A classic Pizzeria, again very basic and simple. They only serve one kind of Pizza: Cheese Pizza.

While we ordered our take out Pizza, I observed how the kitchen worked. Everything synchronized, the Brick oven was spitting out huge, oily, bubbling cheese pizzas every 2-3 minutes, and waiters running around serving them non stop while shouting the orders to the top of their lungs. It was a bit of like an organized chaos going on there but it seemed like it was under control.

Finally, after a 15 minute wait, our pizza was served. For take out, the pizza is not even served in a box. The crust is so thick that it is just wrapped with a pink 'wrapping paper' and 2 strips of carton elevated so the cheese does not stick to the paper.

Once we got to our destination, we unwrapped it and voila, lovely thick Milanese style pizza, oozing with Cheese and Tomato. The Pizza was not so big in diameter (I'd say around 14-16 inches) but it was so thick, almost 3/4 inch thick.

Definitely my kind of Pizza, simple as can be (just a Pizza 'margarita') with Cheese and Tomato. I think the Tomato they used were very fresh ones, since I could not taste the bitterness of the canned Tomato sauce many pizzas use. The crust was very thick but still crunchy, which is how I like it.

Since we were celebrating the opening of our office in Milan, we had a Bottle of 1993 Dom Perignon to go with our Pizza. Weird as it may sound, I actually enjoyed it and I think the Champagne was a good pairing with my Pizza.

Ciao!

Geales, Notting Hill, London

2010-02-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

Being in London, I could just not leave there without having my fix of Fish & Chips...somewhat comfort food for me. I had a bad experience this trip, during the first day of my arrival in London. I went straight to a meeting from the Airport, somewhere near the Heathrow area. Our meeting was finished and since we were quite hungry, we decided to stop on the first Pub we saw. I ordered Fish & Chips and it was BAD...frozen breaded fish is what they served us..'nuff said' (as a friend of mine says) terrible. I was set on having another shot at this dish before the end of my trip.

A meeting that day brought us to the Notting Hill Area, so a quick visit to the Portobello Market was in order. Lots of street vendors and shops selling antiquities, souvenirs, novelty items, etc...Quite interesting and enough to open my appetite.

I then remembered that during one of my nights researching about food and restaurants around the world that there was place near Portobello Market that served good traditional Fish & Chips, so obviously we made our way there. The place is called Geales and it has been operationg since 1934, so I was assured of quality, traditional Fish and Chips.

As we got it, I noticed that the place was full, and full of locals, so of course this is a good sign in any place you go or in any country you are. We got the last table available fro two people. The menu was very simple, only 3 choices of fish (Pollock, Haddock or Cod) and a choice of a few sidings (Mushy Peas, Chips, Creamed Potatoes, Baby Spinach, etc..)

For starters though I asked for a Beer, London Pride. I have never heard of this since I am not really into beer but this Premium Ale is apparently Fuller's flagship wine (One of U.K.'s oldest Beer brands). It had a slight bitter taste but if i were to compares this to wine, I would say this is an Easy to drink medium bodied wine.

For my meal, I decided on Cod. I am not sure if Cod is traditionally the fish used for Fish and Chips but Cod is one of my favorite fish, so most of the times this is what I order. My colleague had Pollock, which is a commonly used fish in the U.K. Both had different Presentations, mine was more rounded looking like a Bell Pepper and the Pollock was longer and flatter.

Pollock

Cod

The Fish was delicious, perfectly cooked crispy batter, not oily at all. The fish inside was not overcooked (as many others I've tried), moist and tender as anything. I sprinkled it with Malt Vinegar, Tartar Sauce and an order of Mushy Peas. I got to try the chips ordered my my friend, which were thick cuts (not french Fries) of a type of sweetish Potato. Apparently, this is how real authentic fish and Chips should be.

One of the best Fish & Chips I've had. I look forward to coming back here on my next trip...BTW, you may notice the quality of my pictures is not the same - I was using a Sony-Ericsson Cellphone Camera that I use when I travel. I was actually very impressed with the quality as seen above. Not bad for a Cellphone camera.

Tom Aikens, London

2010-02-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

Still from my last trip in London (have been quite busy) is another one of those Michelin Star Restaurants Called Tom Aikens. Aikens, the youngest British chef to be awarded two Michelin stars while he was working at Pied a Terre, is a very creative type of Chef, with experience working with the master Joel Robuchon in Paris. His main restaurant was also awarded with 2 starts in 2008.

He has 2 other more casual restaurants, Tom's Kitchen and Tom's Place. The Restaurant I had the chance to have lunch in was his main restaurant: Tom Aikens. Located near Brompton road, a posh area in Central London near Knightsbridge, very close to Harrods. As expected, service was impeccable and the interiors were very simple yet very elegant.

For Starters, we had an amuse Bouche - Portobello Mushrooms with Basil and Cream cheese. I know the combination sounds weird but it was surprisingly good.

We had a 3 course degustation, so as my first I chose: Baked Scallops, garlis and Thyme - This was more like a soup, with a base of creamy broth, noodles and a Poached Egg. Very creative although I could hardly taste the scallop.

For my main, I had Roast Suckling Pig, Apple Shallot. This was actually very good. The Pig was of very high quality and very tender ( a la kurobota style). It was actually served 4 ways, one being a croquette, the other was the belly, beneath was ham and last one just plain roasted chop. Very interesting play of textures and flavors, with the Apple cutting through the richness of the Pork.

I did not have any wine with this dish, although for the meal we had a bottle of 2008 Isabel, Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I have had this wine several times. This is a light, refreshing, easy to drink white wine from NZ.

For dessert, a platter of cheese. There were so many to choose from so we just asked the waitress to make me a selection of soft cheese. My preferred cheese was the Stilton, since I love Blue Cheese

Over all a good experience although maybe next time I would like to try their dinner menu, a more complete degustation, to be able to sample all of Tom's creative dishes.

St. Johns @ Smithfield, London

2010-01-30T00:56:00.000-08:00

I finally had the chance to eat here, after failing the first time. During my first trip to London, I had asked a cousin of mine to reserve a table at St, Johns. It turned out to be the St. Johns @ Spitalfields, which is their second restaurant. The food was great and I really enjoyed, but I said i would return to try the original one, and so I did.

What's so great about this place? The decor of the restaurant is very simple. White rough walls, white floors, a very simple table setting. Yet, it seems to be a Mecca for Pork lovers, because of Fergus Henderson's 'Nose to Tail' philosophy, where all parts of the pig are used and nothing is wasted. St. Johns is also on the list of Best 50 Restaurants in the world, currently in 14th place.

So let's get on with the food. For starters we had 3 dishes: Brown Shrimp and White Cabbage, Ox Heart, Beetroot & Pickled Walnut and probably their best best selling starter: Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

As you can see, very simple presentation, but all the ingredients of the dishes just seem to marry so well...lost of flavors and contrasts. The white Cabbage was pickled, very crunchy. The Bone Marrow?? What can I say?? Pieces of Heart clogging marrow on bread, sea salt was delicious. The Parsley was a great side for this to cut through the richness of the fat.

For main, we ordered 2 dishes: Middlewhite and Prunes and Ox Tongue, Beetroot and Horseradish. Middlewhite is a rare type of Pig bred in Yorkshire. Simple slices of Pork with Prunes, another classic combination. Crispy pieces of skin gave the dish the texture/contrast. The Ox tongue? Great combination with the Beetroot and Horseradish. It was also quite crispy on the outside and tender inside.

We also had a side order of Welsh Rarebit, a savory sauce made of melted cheese, ale, Mustard, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce spread on bread. Delicious!

Over all one of the better dining experiences I've had in London. It's nice to see that they stuck to simple, down to earth cooking and not fallen in the modern, European fusion type of restaurants that are so abundant in London! Bravo to Fergus Henderson!