Shoot First Eat Later

Dinner at Je Suis Gourmand

Je Suis Gourmand is one of our favorite French restaurants in Manila. As you can see from the pictures below the place is very simple, homey and not pretentious. They’ve changed their menu over the years. I still miss their caesar salad and hamburger which is one of the best I’d ever had. I guess when a lot of guests started ordering the burger for dinner it became a concern. Who would think of a French restaurant specializing in burgers. Sacre Bleu!

It was bff roch’s birthday and her sweet hubby decided to treat all of us to dinner the night before they were going to Bicol and I to Hong Kong. They wanted to try Azuthai after reading my blog and how I raved about it. But they were closed on Monday, which was a holiday. So we went to our old standby, Je Suis Gourmand.

Guess who else was there?

positively imeldific!

This is the main if not the only reason we keep going back to Gourmand. This item is not even on the menu. But since Deb introduced it to me I got hooked. Their seared foie gras is definitely sinful and to die for. An order has 4 generous slices of thick foie gras. For a main course this is perfect. But since we wanted to eat something else we decided to split 2 orders into 4 appetizers. The first bite into the foie gras will make you close your eyes and groan. It’s that good. So if you have a hankering for foie gras don’t forget Gourmand is the only place to go to!

1/2 order pan seared foie gras w/ reduced honey balsamic sauce P880/order

I’m trying to eat healthy so I ordered the bouillabaise. But I really had my eye on the 3 cheese lasagna with assorted mushroom. Hmm doesn’t that sound divine? The bouillabaise wasn’t very good. The fish was dry but not tough, the 3 huge clams were as tough as my havaianas, the mussels were good, the broth was ok but not a tomato based broth that I expected. And I think a whole potato was in there. I gave all 3 of my companions a bowl of fish, potato wedge and broth to try and still had sooo many potato wedges left in my bowl. I finished it while imagining that each bite was lasagna.

bouillabaise P560

Gourmand-cream of tomato & shitake mushroom soup

War (R’s hubby) had the tomato shitake mushroom soup P200. He said it was too sour.

Roch & Chris split this order of fish. So the picture below is only half and order. They said the fish was just ok. I tried the risotto and it was yum-o!

roasted Chilean sea bass w/ saffron risotto
served w/ bone marrow and red wine butter sauce P880

War had this flank steak. I tried it and it was dry and overcooked. But the potatoes were out of this world. Imagine mashed potatoes rolled into balls then fried. Carb and fat heaven.

The cassis sorbet was very good. It was tart and sweet and had whole fruit in it.

cassis sorbet P150

charlotte cake P150

When our usual ‘suki’ waiter found out it was Roch’s birthday he gave us this cheesecake and the waiters sang happy birthday. This cheesecake tasted so much better than the charlotte cake.

Hmm most of the food we ate wasn’t up to par yet we still keep going back to Je Suis Gourmand. It’s only for the foie gras folks. It’s worth it. Next time we’ll just get an order of foie gras each and sorbet and call it a meal.

appetizer, salad, soup & pasta

main course & cold platterdessert

Je Suis Gourmand (now called Champetre) g/f Net1 Center Bldg.
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
telephone: 815-8801-02

Classic Savory Chicken

Established in 1950 in Escolta, this Chinese restaurant started out as a panciteria. They developed new products to add on to their menu. And it was their special recipe of fried chicken that became famous to the Chinese community in the Philippines. Now, after over fifty years, the third generation of the Ting family presents a new image and renames the restaurant as Classic Savory.

Their latest branch is in Greenhills Theatre Mall where Dulcinea used to be. First Dulcinea in Robinson’s Galleria disappears now the Greenhills branch too. I wonder why? Anyway back to Savory. I remember when I was a kid eating Savory chicken was a treat because you’d have to go all the way downtown to buy it. Now I’m glad they are bringing Savory to the malls.

Savory’s fried chicken is different from the regular breaded fried chicken of Jollibee or KFC. Their chicken is marinated in a secret sauce and spices and then fried. As a result the skin is soft and juicy. I was a bit disappointed with the chicken I bought. When you take a bite with the skin on it’s good and flavorful but when you eat just the meat it’s tasteless. It’s like the marinade didn’t reach in to the meat. It was moist and juicy though. And their famous gravy tasted more like the fastfood chicken gravy. It didn’t taste like the original gravy.

greenhills theatre mall by night

Of all the restaurants in Manila and Hong Kong that I’ve taken pictures of this is the first restaurant that told me that it was forbidden to take pictures. I was glad that I was done taking pictures by the they told me about their policy.

a picture of the original savory in Escolta

This picture is blurry because I just took the picture from a passing waiter who had a shaky grip on the tray.

combo A P275

I would skip the fried rice. It wasn’t bad but any fried rice you make at home would probably taste better.

savory fried rice P180

(click on the pics to the menu in full size )

Classic Savory
Level 2 Greenhills Theatre Mall
Greenhills Shopping Center
San Juan, Metro Manila
telephone: 584-2736

Shawarma

In the 90s Manila was swept by the shawarma craze. Virtually every street corner had a shawarma stand. They all offered the same chips of grilled beef, chopped tomatoes, onions and cabbage and the ubiquitous garlic sauce on a heated flat bread. As with all the food fads in Manila, it’s usually the first or the best that is left standing.
I remember Food Channel as a small kiosk on the ground floor Virra Mall in Greenhills selling all sorts of snacks and drinks. Shawarma became their bestseller. Now Food Channel sells only shawarma and is located all over town. When I’m really hungry in the afternoon after a day of shopping for my store I go for shawarma. I justify it by thinking it’s grilled beef a good source of protein on thin flat bread (not too much carbs). I always buy the all beef for P95. The beef is a hit or miss. Sometimes you get all soft, flavorful charred beef sometimes a few tough pieces of ligaments get in the way. Overall it’s a good meal. Their garlic sauce is so thick, garlicky and so yummy. I don’t know if cheese is standard for shawarmas in the middle east but here they offer cheese for an additional P5.

I recently discovered Fireshack Shawarma in the food court of Robinson’s galleria. It’s a good alternative when Food Channel is not around. Their all beef shawarma costs only P60 but has less filling but is just right for me.

This is chicken shawarma from Heat restaurant’s Sunday buffet. They have this gorgeous display but they dole out tiny rolls of ready made shawarma with a tiny piece of chicken. I asked for a wrapper and made my own. It was so so delicious.

tomatoes, onions, cucumber and garlic hummus sauce

my overstuffed shawarma

Dinner at Lorenzo’s Way

Thanks to the Sy family for treating me to Sunday dinner at the LJC group’s newest restaurant located at Greenbelt 5. This restaurant is a tribute to Larry Cruz, the founder of the LJC group who passed away last year.Since we were all fans of Abe and Fely J we wanted to try what Lorenzo’s Way had to offer. And we were not disappointed. The restaurant lived up to what you’d expect from the LJC group. The food was good, everything was spiced perfectly. We kept commenting on how every dish tasted mellow. There wasn’t any- too hot, too salty, too sour. Everything was just right. And we have to commend the staff. Service was excellent!

We ordered 3 appetizers. Thankfully they were all small in size. Squid tactics is an LJC favorite from the old Ang Hang restaurant and is available in most of their new restaurants. The squid was so tender and coated with a very light batter and served with a sweet chili sauce.

squid tactics P225

Binacalao uses local dried salted fish slow cooked with tomatoes, chickpeas, potatoes and olives. It came with bread but I ate it with the Paella. It was a perfect match. This would make a good pasta sauce too.

binacalao P225

This is a yummy dip. It was served with toasted strips of french bread. There wasn’t enough bread though. We asked for some but they forgot to bring it. But that was ok because by then the main course dishes started to arrive.

Lorenzo's Way- cheesy spinach & banana blossom dip

baked cheezy spinach & banana blossom dip P225

The costillas de tenera guisada or braised beef short ribs is slow cooked in red wine to give it a rich tasting gravy. This would go great with plain white rice.

costillas de ternera guisada P595

We were shocked when we saw this picture of the bangus (milkfish). We didn’t know there were huge chunks of butter on it. Because by the time we ate the bangus all the butter had melted. The bangus just tasted like plain fried bangus. It was nice and crisp though. But I didn’t taste the butter. I think they should change the fried glass noodles to sauteed ones instead. It was very oily and didn’t suit the dish at all. This dish is a mish mash of 3 ingredients that didn’t blend well. The kangkong lacked shrimp paste. This is the only dish I wouldn’t order again.

bangus belly with kang kong blachan P350

Now this is a paella! It has plenty of rice in a big pan with the right amount of meat and seafood. Unlike the other paella I had recently. There was plenty of socarrat (burnt rice) on the bottom of the pan. I scraped it so hard the pan almost flew out of my hands. Good thing there was an attentive waiter standing beside me ready to catch it. This paella served 3 adults and 2 young boys well. You must order this!

paella valenciana P495

We were worried that the paella wouldn’t be enough so we ordered this bamboo rice, a specialty of Abe restaurant. This is fried rice with bamboo shoots, wood ear, shrimp, chicken and mushroom and served on split bamboo. It reminded me of Chinese kiampung. It was good too. But I was already stuffed from the paella. Zander loved it and he usually is picky about the kind of rice he eats. Zander is 4 years old. Zak loved everything from beginning to end. He’s a gourmand in the making.

bamboo rice P240

This is a cheesecake dressed up to look like a porcupine. It’s not my favorite cheesecake but it’s a nice end to an excellent dinner.

porcupine pie P150

A lesson learnt in the bathroom. When life throws you a lemon, make a new sign.

Click on the links to see the menu:
appetizers, soups & salad, main course 1, main course 2, veggies & rice, desserts

Lorenzo’s Way
G/F, Greenbelt 5
Ayala Center, Makati City
Philippines
telephone: 729-0047, 729-0013

Putong Ube

I was in Greenhills tiangge yesterday looking for something. Whenever I’m there my feet automatically wander to the food section. The first thing I always buy is a small box of putong ube. Unluckily for me they were sold out of putong ube.

Puto is steamed rice cake. Ube is purple yam. Putong ube is the yummiest puto ever! When I take a bite I think of ube ice cream then ube cake. Putong ube tastes just like it but without all the fat and calories. The box says it’s made with real ube and doesn’t contain preservatives and artificial flavoring. For those who have never tasted puto think of it as eating a dense, soft cupcake.

their new packaging (click to see larger image)

What they had left was this big box of ube, pandan, cheese and muscovado flavored putos.

They also have muscovado and cheese single flavors. The cheese is also good but I want ube!!!

So I went back today and here it is in all it’s purple glory. Whatever we can’t finish we just stick in the freezer and steam it anytime we want an ube fix. Michelle informed me that she just came out with a sugar free version. Too bad it wasn’t in Greenhills yet.

Michelle’s Putong Ube

24 Libertad St. Mandaluyong City, Philippines

telephone: 531-2539 or 0917-UBE PUTO

OUTLETS:

Tiendesitas, Julia Vargas Ortigas Corner C5
V-mall, Greenhills
2nd Level Market Market Mall, Taguig City
Granada (Gilmore), Quezon City
Katipunan Rd. White Plains, Quezon City
SM Mall of Asia
SM The Block North Edsa

Pork Floss or Mahu

Pork floss or Rousong (肉鬆) is a dried Chinese meat product that can be fluffy or crunchy depending on the manufacturer. Some variations include the addition of seaweed, sesame seeds as well as chicken and fish floss.

Pork floss is commonly eaten as a topping for congee, tofu, and soy milk. It is also used as filling or topping for bread and pastries.

In the Philippines, we call it mahu (fookien term). Before only the Chinese in the Philippines are familiar with mahu. But when Bread Talk, a Singaporean bakery opened in Manila and introduced the pork floss bun mahu was introduced to the mainstream Filipino market. And did they love it. Whenever I pass by Bread Talk I see lines of people with pork floss bun on their trays.

Bread Talk’s pork floss bun

Recently Deb gave me a bag of mahu with nori (seaweed) that she bought in Xiamen. It was the crispiest mahu I’ve ever eaten. Mahu is usually stringy and chewy.

pork floss with nori (seaweed)

Since I don’t like eating congee I thought of the other ways I can use mahu.
1. Spread some mayonnaise on hot toasted pandesal and fill with mahu
2. Mahu on rice
3. Get a slice of white bread and spread with mayonnaise. Top with mahu and roll. I’m sure the kids will love this.

4. Mahu sandwich – bread, tuna filling and mahu
5. Mahu breakfast sandwich – bread, fried egg, mahu and sliced cheese
6. Scrambled eggs topped with mahu
7. Egg salad sandwich with mahu (thanks Janet!)

Dinner at Mann Hann

Swisher called for another meeting and when I was asked where’s a good place to eat I immediately suggested Mann Hann. I heard they moved to a brand spankin’ new building and I wanted to see it.

Mann Hann has been around since 1995. They started with one small restaurant and now they have several branches in malls. I think having their own free standing restaurant adjacent to their office is a feather in the cap in their long, successful stint in the restaurant scene.

I think the secret to their success is their consistently good Chinese comfort food. There’s nothing extraordinary in their menu. But most of their dishes are what the Chinese in Manila look for when they want a good, simple home cooked meal. Dishes that they grew up eating and want to share with the new generation.

From outside you would think this is a car dealership or a high end art gallery. There’s still no sign outside the restaurant but everyone knows what’s inside. The restaurant is located in a small residential street in San Juan, not exactly a prime location for a big restaurant. But if you build it they will come. And come they did.

Swisher partners

high ceiling and excellent lighting

2nd floor available for big parties

don’t know what this area is for

nice long tables that can seat up to 10

beef hofan P195

steamed dumplings P110

sate chami P195

The oyster cake is one of their most popular dishes. In the Philippines we eat this with ketchup. I realized this was not the norm when we ordered this in Hong Kong and they didn’t even have ketchup in the restaurant. I had to go to the nearest fast food outlet and ask for some ketchup packets to take back to the restaurant.

oyster cake P190

Kiampung is sticky rice with meat. You could say it’s Chinese paella? Try it instead of fried rice the next time you go to Mann Hann.

kiampung P75/bowl

The squid was crunchy and spicy and served with Chinese bagoong.

spicy squid P215

garlic kangkong P135

Their dessert specialty is homemade sherbet. It’s very smooth and creamy and has sago (tapioca balls), buko gulaman (coconut jelly) and crispy pinipig (toasted rice) on top. The picture below is half an order. You can ask them to split an order for you. I think half is just enough.

buko (coconut) sherbet P80

buko sherbet all mixed up

Their menu is back to back Mann Hann and Mannang (Filipino food). When we were there the Filipino food wasn’t available yet.

(click on pic to enlarge menu)

Mann Hann (main branch)
233 J. Abad Santos St.
Brgy. Little Baguio
San Juan City
telephone: 726-3706, 725-8515

Dinner at AzuThai

We had dinner at Azuthai restaurant at the exact date and time when earth hour was observed. Earth hour is a worldwide movement that called for shutting down your lights at home, work, the mall for an hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm local time. The lights in the restaurant were turned down that’s why it was challenging to get good pictures.

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten in a restaurant where I left really happy and satisfied. In Azuthai everything was good. Only a couple of dishes were too spicy for me. But then I have a low threshold for hot food. The next day I told my other friends about how good Azuthai was.

There were supposed to be 7 of us for dinner but only 4 showed up. Deb must have forgotten how many we are because she still ordered enough for 7. The waitress kept asking if there were still others coming. We did a good job of polishing off the food though. We did have leftovers of the bagoong rice and phad thai.

the kitchen was the only place where the lights were fully on

dining area with minimal lights

Thankfully the area where we sat had more lights on. These photos were shot at an iso of 1600 as suggested by Elisa. I think they came out all right. Thanks for the tip!

Som Tam P275
spicy papaya salad

veggies that came with the salad

This is the best pomelo salad I’ve ever eaten!

Yam Som O P295
pomelo salad

Tod Man Goong P325
shrimp cakes

This soup is just to die for. Next time I want a whole order just for me. It reminds me of laksa soup. The fresh mushrooms, tomatoes and chicken strips were a perfect complement to the rich and flavorful soup.

Tom Ka Gai P345
chicken soup with galangal, keffir lime leaves and coconut milk

The lamb in this dish must have been cooked for hours. It was melt in your mouth tender and the curry was only mildly spiced. This dish is perfect with white rice.

Massaman Gaeh P395
lamb curry with shallots, potatoes and peanuts

Khao Kapi P325
bagoong fried rice

rice all mixed up

Pad Thai P325

noodles all mixed up

The kale veggies was sooooooooo hot and spicy! The crispy pork was more to my taste.

Pahk Kahna Moo Krop P465
stir fried kale with crispy pork

Both desserts were refreshing and a perfect end to a spicy meal. A good thing they did was to freeze coconut milk and used that to top the dessert. This avoided the dilution from water if they used ice. We also ordered Mango with sticky rice but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Tap Tim Krob P125
water chestnuts w/ coconut milk

Ramie P125 (Thai halo-halo)

Azuthai
G/F Milky Way Building
900 A. Arnaiz Avenue corner
Paseo de Roxas, Makati City
telephonee: 817-6252 or 813-0671

Dinner at Café Ysabel

We recently had a stockholder’s meeting for our company, Swisher. My partners and I are the Philippine franchise holder. We held the dinner/meeting at Café Ysabel. I hadn’t been to Café Ysabel in maybe 15 years and I don’t have good memories of it. So I was eager to try the food again after all these years.

cozy interiors

partners hard at work

hot bread with an olive oil, balsamic vinegar dip

I was disappointed with the paella. The rice was hard and dry and not much of it. I wish they used a bigger container for more rice. The toppings were overwhelming. They were good though.

paella sulipena P448

The beef belly was very good and tender. It was so good I only got to eat a little. My partners swiped it all when I wasn’t looking.

U.S. braised beef belly P418

Penne Giannina was just ok. Nothing spectacular about it. I appreciated the al dente pasta though.

penne giannina P338
seafood, saffron creme, tomato and chorizo

This was my favorite dish. I know I didn’t like truffles from my previous encounters with it but somehow in this dish it’s fantastic. The truffle taste was subtle yet it blended well with the wild mushrooms and the cream. I want to go back just to eat this again. I’m glad I came back. I can’t wait to try the other dishes in their extensive menu. Now I know why Café Ysabel is still around after 25 years. That’s a mean feat in the fickle Philippine restaurant market.

Willy’s fettucine P328
wild mushrooms, truffle scented cream and parmesan

Jeff & Jasmine souffle glace duet P198
frozen raspberry and chocolate souffle, argellanas, chocolate sauce

Swisher Philippines

105 Sgt. Catolos St., Cubao, Quezon City

mobile: +63-09228-SWISHR

office: +63-2-7269978

fax: +63-2-4121955

Café Ysabel

455 P. Guevarra Street, San Juan Metro Manila

telephone: 726-9326, 725-5089

Lunch at Gumbo

Last week I had lunch with my college friends at Gumbo located at SM Megamall’s new Atrium. As the picture below says they offer a taste of New Orleans.

hot bread with roasted garlic and oil

onion rings

The baby back ribs weren’t fall of the bone tender. The sauce was good but it didn’t penetrate the meat. The rice was good and spicy. I’d rather not comment on the mashed potatoes. Needless to say it was the only thing left on the plate.

petite baby back ribs

The fish was just ok. The french fries were very good. Cajun seasoning was sprinkled on top making it hot and spicy. My friend Tes loved the mustard dip which she polished off.

fish and chips

For me the pizza was the best thing we ordered. The crust was thin and crunchy. It was dusted with cornmeal and that’s what gave it the texture. The smoke salmon had a not so pleasant fishy taste but the rest of the ingredients and the crust saved the pizza.

smoked salmon pizza

Riz, the birthday girl was given this headgear to wear while the waiters sang happy birthday to her. They also gave her a vanilla ice cream sundae.

singing waiters

Gumbo
2/F SM Megamall Atrium
telephone: 635-9571