Shoot First Eat Later

Dinner at Rizette’s House

Our group had a mini get together following our trip to Cebu all because of this bbq ribs.

Rizette told us she brought home several slabs of Tony Roma’s cooked ribs from the US. She bought them frozen from Costco and just baked them. She said it was the best and we dared her to prove it.

Tes’ contribution to our dinner was to this platter of cheese and salami she bought from Santi’s. She arranged it herself.

In our group of college buddies Rizette is our Martha Stewart. Every party, casual or formal is given the same attention and over cooking. It must have slipped her mind only 7 people were expected for dinner. Check out all the food she prepared.

salad with apples, feta, dried cranberries & pine nuts

Rizette is a really good cook. She kindly shared her recipes which you will find below. I want to make the fish and chicken because they were so good and full flavored. It seems easy to make too since all were just baked in the oven.

baked dory Siciliana

She has been fine tuning this recipe after trying Cyma’s Greek chicken adobo. I think this is even better.

Rizette’s Mediterranean adobo with roasted vegetables

The ribs were indeed yummy! Super tender and the meat falls off the bone. The sauce was just the right blend of sweet and tangy too.

Tony Roma’s bbq ribs

mashed potatoes

She just invented this dish right off the bat.

shrimp, tomato & basil pasta

That’s Monet, the producer of What I See TV show starring premiere photographer Paco Guerrero.

I brought this queso de bola cheesecake from Indulgence by Irene which everyone liked.

queso de bola cheesecake

fresh fruits with Greek yogurt & honey dip

buko pandan salad

Our group is almost complete. We miss you Len!! When will you show up? 😀

Here are Rizette’s recipes. There are no quantities to some ingredients since she often cooks freestyle. So just let the recipe be your guide.

Rizette’s Mediterranean Adobo with Roasted Vegetables:
2 whole chickens (or 2 kilos chicken thighs)
2/3 c olive oil
1/3 Kikkoman soy sauce
1 c water
lots of garlic
peppercorns
thyme
Rosemary
laurel leaves
sugar
juice from 1-2 lemons (or more depending on your taste)
feta cheese

Vegetables:
zuchini
marble potatoes
tomatoes
corn
bell pepper

1. Mix all of the ingredients (except the chicken) with a whisk in a mixing bowl.
2. Taste and adjust the sauce to suit your preference. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cook in pressure cooker for about 15 minutes (after it starts to steam up).
4. Transfer chicken with some of the sauce onto a pyrex dish.
5. Top the chicken with some cubed feta cheese(optional).
6. On a separate pyrex dish, pour the remaining sauce on the vegetables.
7. Finish cooking the chicken together with the vegetables by baking in the oven at 450F for about 30-45 minutes or until the chicken’s skin is golden brown and the vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

Shrimp, Tomato and Basil Pasta
I kilo medium-sized shrimp
olive oil
lots of garlic
white onion
white wine (not dry)
tomatoes, seeded
basil
salt & pepper
grated parmesan cheese
Penne pasta

1. Cook penne according to instruction. Set aside.
2. Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil until onions are tender. Add in the cubed and seeded tomatoes.
3. Add the shrimp. Right before the shrimps turn pink, pour a generous amount of white wine. Continue cooking until half of the liquid has evaporated.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour in the cooked pasta into the pan and mix well. Top with julienned fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

Rizette’s inspiration for this recipe was from the cookbook “The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers” by Murdoch Books; Recipes by Sophie Braimbridge and Jo Glynn
In the original recipe though, swordfish was used.

Baked Dory Siciliana
1/3 c olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped basil
3 pcs. cream dory fillets
pitted black olives, chopped
baby capers
finely chopped anchovy fillets in olive oil
tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
dried breadcrumbs

1. Mix some olive oil with lemon juice and some basil.
2. Season and pour into a shallow ovenproof dish, large enough to hold the fish in a single layer.
3. Arrange the fish fillets and leave to marinate for 15 minutes turning once.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
5. Combine the olives, capers, anchovies and tomatoes with the remaining olive oil and basil and season well.
6. Spread over the fish fillets and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

Thanks to Rizette for the wonderful dinner and sharing her recipes with my readers. To those who will try these recipes and any recipes on my blog let me know how it turns out.

Smoothies from The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt

I received a couple of gift certificates to try out White Hat’s smoothies. Since I can’t really drink an entire glass I brought my officemate Tina to SM Mega Mall one hot afternoon to have some cold treats.

I’ve tried White Hat’s yogurt before and I really like it. I always get a plain frozen yogurt without any toppings.

There was only one person behind the counter. She was getting something on the floor.

Ahhh milk. Not enough chiller or cabinets?

We chose the mango cream pie smoothie made with fresh mango (really small amount), walnut streusel, milk and yogurt.

walnut streusel

There was hardly any mango flavor. I found the flavor from the walnut streusel overwhelmed the taste of the smoothie. I would have preferred the streusel be sprinkled on top of the smoothie instead. I also wished I could taste the tangy yogurt more. Instead all I tasted was ice and milk.

I was glad to see fresh strawberries so we ordered the strawberry cheesecake smoothie.

You can see the 3-4 strawberries and a tablespoon of cheesecake bits.

We liked this so much better probably due to the addition of Monin strawberry syrup which amped up the flavor of the smoothie. The cheesecake was negligible though. I loved their wood spoons!!!

Check out all the fun ways to eat your frozen yogurt.

The waffles look interesting too.

The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt
Ground Floor
SM Mega Mall Building B
other branches

website
Facebook

Hot Pot Lunch at Wu Kong

Ever since I introduced my friend Elizabeth to one of my favorite restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui it is now her on her list of ‘must-eat’ in Hong Kong. Wu Kong is a Shanghainese restaurant that serves the BEST xiao long bao in my opinion. Yes even better than Din Tai Fung (Hong Kong).

Elizabeth also discovered their hot pot which she really loves. Even though I was still so full from breakfast buffet at the Club InterContinental lounge I joined her for lunch since she skipped breakfast.

I love these peanuts with seaweed. I’ve never seen it served or sold anywhere else.

fresh Shanghai cucumber

The cold pork was unusual and quite tasty after a quick dip in vinegar.

spiced cold pork (cheung kong style)

honey ham & crispy bean curd sheet in bread

Many Chinese restaurants serve this honey ham but Wu Kong is the only place I seen that adds crispy bean curd sheet to it. The added texture is fantastic and it also helped tone down the sweetness of the ham. After eating a couple of these without the bread I was truly unable to eat a bite more.

This is only served during winter months. We had this last February.

lamb hot pot HK$300

Poor Elizabeth had to eat all of this by herself.

She loved the flavorful stock that was made with Chinese red dates and other herbs and veggies.

I don’t know what the green veggie is called but I found it really bitter.

I tried one piece of lamb and was surprised at how strong and gamey the taste was. The lamb chops I love don’t taste like this. It’s an acquired taste.

sauce

The pretty rolls of frozen lamb turned into limp slices of meat. We had lots of leftovers. My bad.

Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant
Basement, Alpha House,
27 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
telephone: 2366 7244
website

Club InterContinental Hong Kong Afternoon Tea

The highlight of my Hong Kong trip last February next to Hong Kong Disneyland was really the food at the Club Intercontinental lounge in Hong Kong. I stayed in the InterContinental hotel for two nights and ate almost all my meals in their lounge.

My meals for two days were basically just breakfast and afternoon tea. No lunch or dinner. My first experience for afternoon tea was in The Willard Hotel in Washington DC. I thought I knew what to expect but seeing the buffet spread in the lounge just amazed and confused me. How can I possibly try everything?

mini sandwiches

I loved the inclusion of my favorite dim sum, bbq pork puff. I like pies more than sandwiches.

bbq puff pastry

spinach & ricotta cheese tart

grilled vegetable sandwiches

Based on my previous dining experience at Harbourside, the hotel’s buffet restaurant I know the InterContinental hotel’s chefs make very, very good cakes and pastries. It was agony deciding what to choose.

apple crumble

plain & raisin scones

coconut mousse cake

chocolate & praline mousse

palmier

madeleine

macaron

cookies

tea service

Day 1
This is what I ate on my first day.

The scones were good but had the tendency not to be crisp on some parts because it was placed in a chafing dish and it steamed a little. They served it with traditional Devonshire clotted cream and jam.

I loved the bbq pork puff and ricotta spinach puff. The smoked salmon sandwich was yummy too.

Since I loved everything on my first round I got the same things again plus the lovely apple crumble. It was a really good mini apple pie. The best I’ve eaten in Hong Kong.

The macaron looked really fancy but it wasn’t that good. The chocolate praline cake was deep, dark and luscious.

DAY 2

They had some new stuff for the next day.

whole wheat sandwich

cakes

fried meat dumplings, meat puff & mini spring rolls

On my last day I was lucky to have a late check out at 4:00 pm so after leaving my luggage with the bellman I took my hand carry to the lounge for my last afternoon tea.

Their tea kettle was cast iron and really heavy.

The fried dumpling was cold and not so good. The puff pastry and spring roll fared a whole lot better.

I couldn’t resist getting another apple crumble. The cheesecake and chocolate raspberry cake were good choices too.

From my seat at the Club Lounge I could see the long lines waiting for a seat for High Tea at the hotel’s Lobby Lounge. Here’s a picture of what the tea set looked like. It cost HK$428 for 2 on weekdays and HK$488 on weekends.

Check out this blog with lots of pictures of the High Tea. The food served was identical to the ones in the Club Lounge.

I was more appreciative of my ‘free’ afternoon tea buffet. If I stayed in the hotel longer I would have still eaten there everyday since the food choices changed daily.

I did try the evening cocktails at the lounge once. They had small dishes of cod fish, duck and even steak plus all the wine and alcohol you can drink. I was still full from afternoon tea so I just had a small piece of cod and a mojito. It was too dark to take pictures.

Getting Club InterContinental access is a really a good deal if you want convenience and don’t want to be bothered to go out for your meals. I can attest that the food is good. I guess this would be perfect for businessmen in town for a short stay. But if you’re a tourist I’m sure you would want to explore all the restaurants in Hong Kong.

Intercontinental Hong Kong High Tea

Afternoon Tea 3:00-5:30 pm
Club InterContinental, 2nd Floor

High Tea at the Lobby Lounge
Tea Set for 2:
Weekdays except public holidays – HK$428
Weekends & public holidays – HK$488
plus 10% service charge

InterContinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
telephone: +852 2721 1211
email: hongkong@ihg.com

Club InterContinental Hong Kong Breakfast Buffet

You’ve heard it over and over again, “Do not skip breakfast! It’s the most important meal of the day.” I believe it and after almost 1 year of eating low fat yogurt with fruit I was ready for more.

Whenever I stay in a hotel I never get lounge access since I want to eat outside the hotel and try the local cuisine. But since our junior suite at the InterContinental hotel came with lounge access I decided to wake up early and take advantage of the free breakfast buffet.

The Club InterContinental lounge overlooked the lobby lounge of the hotel.

For only a few seats in the lounge the breakfast choices was vast. Click on the pictures for a bigger view.

salad, cheese and cold cuts

congee

cereal, fresh fruit juices, yogurt

smoothies, fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs

bread

pastries and more bread

dim sum

hot food

It’s unbelievable but with all the food in the buffet there is still a menu for food cooked to order. I guess it’s for diners who have willpower and just want a plate of food.

Club InterContinental breakfast menu

So what did I eat? With much self-control I managed to limit my selection to ALL these.

coffee

I always have to have my favorite bircher muesli. This time I loaded it up with fresh blueberries, raspberries and toasted almond slices. Normally this would be more than enough for my breakfast.

bircher muesli with blueberries & raspberries

I hate eggs but the poached egg with mushroom sauce looked really nice. It was good! I love sausage more than bacon or other breakfast food. This was beef sausage and it was just so-so and I didn’t finish it.

poached egg & dim sum

I just took a bite of the bagel sandwich. I ate the ham and cheese without the rest of the bagel. It’s nowhere near my favorite New York bagels so it wasn’t worth the carb calories.

ham & cheese bagel

The almond croissant was excellent and that I finished. Crisp, flaky with a good amount of almond cream inside.
almond croissant

Elizabeth told me I MUST try the corned beef hash. She forgot to tell me which kind to try- the British or American style. Since I had no idea what was the British style that’s what I ordered. It was wet and mushy and filled with lots of potatoes so I only ate a couple of bites. I wish I ordered the more familiar American style.

British style corned beef hash

Elizabeth asked me if I tried the steak. I said, “what steak?” I didn’t see the back page of the menu. So on my second day I ordered it.

The food choices was basically the same except for these new hot dishes.

The super tempting almond brioche was new too.

almond brioche

I had this delicious strawberry yogurt with fruit in the bottom. I’m sure it wasn’t low fat that’s why it was so good.

strawberry yogurt

It was good as it looked.

almond french toast & croissant

I liked this pork sausage better.

sausage & sauteed mushrooms

This was the famous steak. It was supposed to come with an egg but I told them to skip that. It was just ok to me. A couple of bites and I was too full to eat more.

petit 4 oz. sirloin steak

fruits & cheese

Wasn’t that just over the top crazy and good? This is just another reason to stay at InterContinental Hotel in Hong Kong. It was a wonderful way to start my day although it did spoil my appetite for lunch. Who needs lunch with such wonderful breakfast?

From their website:
Club InterContinental provides an exclusive retreat for conducting business or simply relaxing. Located on the Second Floor with stunning views of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong skyline, the Club Lounge serves buffet breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails with premium wines and spirits and tempting hors d’oeuvres.

Enjoy this private haven for relaxing or conducting business for an additional HK$980 (single occupancy) or HK$1,280 (double occupancy) per day per room, plus 10% service charge. Simply request Club InterContinental when making your room reservation.

Buffet Breakfast 6:30 to 10:30 am
Club InterContinental, 2nd Floor
InterContinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
telephone: +852 2721 1211
email: hongkong@ihg.com
website

Sunday Lunch Buffet at Spoon by Alain Ducasse, Hong Kong

One of the best things about Hong Kong is you can eat your heart out from the cheapest street food to popular restaurants from France and around the world.

One of my favorite places to eat Sunday lunch aside from Grissini’s is at 2-Michelin Star Spoon at the InterContinental Hotel Hong Kong where we stayed for a couple of nights.

Spoons on their ceiling.

I normally avoid buffets since I can’t eat much anymore and I feel it’s not worth the price but I just couldn’t resist the food at Spoon. I love the high quality offerings they have every Sunday. I can’t say the same for their a la carte menu. We really had a very disappointing dinner there once.

The price for the buffet was HK$748 + 10%sc. To make this worth every dollar you obviously must come hungry and love wine. If you drink 3-4 glasses of wine you’re almost halfway there. I chose to drink a glass of fresh orange juice instead and a glass of champagne.

The place was so full so I suggest getting a reservation if you wish to dine here.

Spoon’s Sunday Lunch Menu

jamon iberico

The salad bar included chunks of fresh lobster meat.

lobster Caesar salad

melon roses

This bad boy was my favorite!

home made foie gras terrine

This was my favorite bread, flaky like a croissant but more dense and topped with sea salt.

knot bread

I’m not really a butter lover but Echire butter is a really popular butter from France.

Echire French butter

pain au chocolat

apple turnover

French cheese

ferme de peupliers yougurt

wine selection

There were a variety of hot dishes that came in small tasting portions right out of the kitchen.

buffet campagnard

I really liked the quiche made with really strong cheese. It’s one of the best quiches I’ve ever eaten. Elizabeth loved the potato salad with smoked duck.

beef tartare

My favorite part was the dessert spread inside the kitchen. You go in the kitchen and load up your plate.

Spoon’s pastry kitchen

I deliberately took the pictures while everyone was still eating their main course.

The choices were dizzying. Scroll down to see what I chose.

chocolate mousse

Paris brest

chocolate pops

steamed cheesecake

tiramisu

flan

panna cotta

berry tartlet

blueberry tartlet

apple banana crumble

This is what the cakes looked like when everyone was getting desserts already. This was Elizabeth’s favorite dessert. She urged me to try it but I only eat desserts that have the words cheese or chocolate in them.

mango passionfruit cake

ice cream

macaron shells from the oven

With all the food in the buffet you still get to choose one main course. I wanted the fried cod but it was already out of stock.

Spoon’s Sunday Lunch menu

These were my plates. Yes, diet out of the door!!!

lobster Caesar salad

The best thing on this plate was the thick slab of home made foie gras terrine the chef gave me. It literally melted in my mouth. Sooooooo good!!

foie gras terrine

Some were good, some were too stinky even for me.

French cheese plate

I didn’t like the steak. I just ate a little piece. Maybe I was just too full by the time this came out.

roasted beef

I tried a little potato gratin and it was heavenly. I wish I could eaten it all but I’ve developed a fear of potatoes. Strange carb fear.

potato gratin “Dauphinois” style

I loved their steamed cheesecake. It was ultra smooth and had the perfect balance of cheese and cream. Not too heavy and not too light.

steamed cheesecake

I wasn’t too impressed with the macarons. I liked the 3 other chocolate desserts more. The chocolate fondant on the bottom right was a rich flourless decadent cake.

my dessert plate

The chocolate pop was a surprise filled with a light mousse and a caramel center. Delicious except the caramel was a tad too sweet for me.

Spoon by Alain Ducasse

Lobby Level

Intercontinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

telephone: +852 2313 2323
email: spoonbyalainducasse.hk@interconti.com

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday
Dinner – 6:00pm to 11:00pm

Sunday
Lunch – 12:00 noon to 2:30pm

SPOON Bar:
Tuesday to Sunday
6:00pm to 12:00 midnight

Attire:
Lunch
Smart casual, no sleeveless shirt, short pants, slippers and opened shoes for gentlemen
Dinner
Dinner-smart and elegant, no sleeveless shirts, no athletic wear, and for gentlemen no tank top, shorts and sandal

InterContinental Hong Kong

If you are a regular reader of this blog you may have noticed that I’ve never featured a hotel in Hong Kong. It’s because we stay in a flat or apartment whenever we go to Hong Kong.

Last February after my wonderful 2 night stay at Disney’s Hollywood hotel I extended my trip and moved to the InterContinental Hong Kong hotel c/o my friend Elizabeth.

This hotel has been home to Elizabeth and her family for more than 10 years. This is where they always stay whenever they visit Hong Kong. I’ve been to this hotel numerous time to eat and to visit them but this is my first time to actually experience the hotel’s fantastic room and hospitality.

The hotel is located in Tsim Sha Tsui and is just a stone’s throw away from the Star Ferry, Harbour City and is next to Nathan Road.

lobby lounge

When we arrived Elizabeth’s room wasn’t ready yet so they put our things in this regular guestroom. I just had enough time to take some pictures before we went to Spoon for lunch. (blog entry to follow)

Nice bathroom.

For the regular rooms the toiletries were Elemis.

This room had a view of Salisbury road. That’s Sheraton hotel on the left.

From another window you can see the hotel grounds.

After lunch we went to Elizabeth’s usual room which was a junior suite. This is the exact and specific room she always stays in. It has the best view.

The bed was king size.

Bose sound system, speakers and an iPod dock. There was even a subwoofer in the cabinet.

These chocolates were sooooooooooo good!!! I brought home the whole box.

The bathroom was spectacular. And yes I tried out the jacuzzi tub.

The fully enclosed steam shower was so indulgent. Imagine hot steam then taking a cold shower right after. I felt like I stayed in my own spa.

To turn on the steam just wind the timer. 5 minutes was good enough for me.

I liked the lighted storage below the sink.

Toothbrush, razor, and other amenities.

I almost freaked out when I saw the bathrobe, towels and pillow cases embroidered with Elizabeth’s initials. I wish there was L.C. too. They really know how to take care of their regular guests.

For junior suites the toiletries were L’Occitane’s verbena line.

Even the hair dryer was sosyal!

This is the view I woke up to. The curtains can be opened and closed with a switch beside the bed. The flat I stay in has no-zero-zilch-nada view.

iPhone Camera+

You can understand why Elizabeth chooses this particular room. She has the best view of the Hong Kong harbour, the convention center and Central’s skyline.

At night this is the view while I work on my blog. This trip I barely went out to shop. I was so happy to stay in the fantabulous hotel room and soak up the dynamic view outside.

They used super sweet Philippine mangoes!

To Elizabeth’s amusement I went crazy choosing several pillows from the pillow menu. I chose the latex, magnetic health pillow and contour pressure relieving pillow.

You can tell which side was mine.

Housekeeping noticed I drank a lot of water since they saw my bottles of Bonaqua so they loaded me up with lots of Fiji bottled water without my saying anything. How’s that for excellent service?

This was our view at night.

The hotel, lighted up.

I loved my short two night stay at the InterContinental Hong Kong. But I don’t think Elizabeth will invite me to stay with her again since I didn’t want to leave the room or the hotel to eat out. Wait til you see what I ate their club lounge!! Thanks again Elizabeth for sharing your room with me. This is truly the best hotel to stay in Hong Kong if budget is no object.

InterContinental Hong Kong’s restaurants
Spoon
Nobu
Harbourside (buffet)
Lobby Lounge

InterContinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
telephone: +852 2721 1211
email: hongkong@ihg.com
website

Lunch at Yung Kee Restaurant

Last February I was lucky to be sent to Hong Kong to enjoy Disneyland for the first time. In between all the happy rides and scrumptious food my friend Elizabeth and I were able to sneak away for a couple of hours just to eat at Yung Kee.

I can’t remember the last time I ate at Yung Kee since I’m too lazy to cross the harbour just to eat there. Yung Kee is I think the most popular restaurant for Filipinos who go there for the best roast goose and that’s what I was yearning for too.

We got there around 3:30 pm and there were still a lot of people eating. It took us that long to get hungry because of the super duper delicious breakfast buffet we had at Enchanted Garden at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.

We were on the second floor waiting for our number to be called and be seated when they announced that the roast goose was sold out. I exclaimed loudly, “NO!!” and the other people around us chuckled at my dismay.

I have some friends who are big fans of Yung Kee’s century egg. I must confess I’ve never tried century egg before. Yes I must be a fake Chinese but the smell and appearance of the black egg really turns me off. I toughened up and tried a small piece. My first bite of the egg white part wasn’t bad at all. It had a jelly like consistency. I almost puked when I ate the yolk part. It tasted rotten and had a putrid smell. I guess it’s really an acquired taste. And it will take me at least a dozen years to have the guts to try it again.

century egg

I liked the sweet and hot ginger better. I put a piece of pickled ginger in my tea for a change.

Elizabeth loves jellyfish so we had it for our starter. It was cold and crunchy and had a strong flavor from sesame oil.

jellyfish HK$88

The seasonal qing chao dou miao or pea shoots topped with slivers of smoked ham was exquisite. It was really tender and fresh.

sauteed pea shoots HK$125

The smoked silken tofu was quite interesting. The smokey flavor can be tasted all throughout the soft tofu. I specially liked the fried bean curd skin.

deep fried smoked bean curd with special sauce HK$90

The shrimp was tasteless and made me think it was of the frozen variety. The lemon sauce was overpoweringly sweet.

deep fried shrimp with sesame in lemon sauce HK$210

I was quite disappointed not getting to eat roast goose. I wasn’t too impressed with the food we ordered specially with the high price tag. I guess the roast goose is really the main attraction in Yung Kee. I will be back! Watch out for me you sneaky goose.

Yung Kee Restaurant
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

telephone: (852) 2522 1624

email: info@yungkee.com.hk

website

Lunch at Cafe De Bonifacio

When my balikbayan aunt called me and invited me for lunch I knew exactly where I wanted to take her. I wanted to try the Filipino restaurant Cafe de Bonifacio at The Podium mall.

Chef Ojie who created a memorable meal for me at the Herb’s Best dinner party is also the man behind Cafe de Bonifacio’s food. That’s why I was so excited to try more of his creations.

The choices in the menu were the usual Filipino food but presented in very creative ways. Take for instance this “naked lumpia” in fried pastry cups instead of the usual rolled lumpia. This way you get to enjoy more of the veggies than the wrapper. Everyone loved this.

lumpiang hubad in pastry cups P110

My favorite, well one of, was this totally unique salad made with finely shaved daikon radish, sweet pomelo chunks, crunchy dried fish and lightly dressed with the Chef’s special vinaigrette. This salad was sheer genius. I’ve never had a combination of these ingredients before and it totally worked. It was refreshing, intriguing and just plain awesome. The crunchy dried fish gave the salad just the right amount of saltiness and texture.

spicy daikon & pomelo salad P210

I’m currently on an oyster love fest so when I saw them on the menu I immediately ordered it. Alas I wasn’t too fond of it. I found it too oily and more wrapper than oyster.

herbed oyster in crispy egg wrapper with special chef sauce P225

The fish was nicely fried and crisp. I just found the tamarind sauce lacking in flavor. I would have preferred a sharper and more aggressive tamarind flavor and I told Chef Ojie that when I saw him at the restaurant. He said he will fix the sauce. Thanks Chef!!

butterflied tilapia in tamarind sauce P299

The crispy pata wasn’t as crisp as I like it but the meat was juicy and flavorful. It certainly didn’t affect my dining companions’ enthusiasm in demolishing the crispy pata. I should have taken a picture of the bones left on the plate. The kang kong that came with the pork was unusually sweet. Really sweet. Why???

crispy pata ni Ka Ojie P618

soy vinegar and pinakurat vinegar

Since Chef Ojie is know as the roti king of Manila and I really enjoyed the roti he made at our private dinner I wanted to eat roti again. Instead of just plain roti I tried the chicken adobo roti. Oh wow! What an inspired concoction. It was just like quesadilla but instead of using flour tortilla a more flavorful roti was used and stuffed with really tangy delicious chicken adobo filling. Yes, this was my second favorite dish. This was listed under meryenda and it would have been a good choice for a snack too.

chicken adobo roti P150

We were all too full for dessert so we just had some milk tea from the stall beside the restaurant. I did take picture of this deconstructed turn which just came out of the kitchen. It looked really good and creative.

They also had dessert roti with choices of fillings like bananas, peanut butter, macapuno, ube, mango or strawberries. I want to try any one of those next time.

turon de Gregoria P140

I’m really happy to have discovered another Filipino restaurant that was good and had really creative choices and flavor combinations.

Menu
appetizer, salad, chef original pasta, meryenda
main course (our chef’s choices)
roti, supremo sorbetes, healthy beverages, pampagana drinks

Cafe De Bonifacio
Level 5 (cinema-level)
The Podium
18 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
telephone: 636-1407

website
Facebook

Zubuchon at Mactan Cebu International Airport

Who doesn’t know Marketman’s Zubuchon? Anthony Bourdain declared his lechon “the best pig ever.”

I didn’t have enough time to go to their store to try the lechon so I did the next best thing. I bought 1 kilo of frozen lechon at their small space in Mactan Cebu airport.

Zubuchon’s price list

1 kilo frozen lechon P490

My friend told me to heat up the lechon in the turbo broiler or oven toaster so the skin will be crisp and the fat will drip off.

This lechon tasted more like lechon kawali because the skin wasn’t smooth and crispy like your regular lechon. The skin was blistered and super crispy as if it were deep fried. What I liked best was the succulent and evenly flavorful meat. I’m not a fan of lechon because the meat is usually bland. I only sometimes eat the skin if it’s crisp. This lechon I ate all the meat. The meat reminded me more lechon de leche with it’s tender and almost milky flavor.

It really is the best pig ever!! Anyone going to Cebu? Can you buy me 1 kilo of Zubuchon? I miss it already. This is the perfect last minute buy when you are at the airport so make sure to bring an empty bag.

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