Shoot First Eat Later

Lunch at Bagoong Club

After Jane’s dinner treat at The Frazzled Cook and Mila’s at Romulo Cafe it was my turn at Bagoong Club. You must have noticed by now all these excuses we made just to try out different restaurants? I enjoyed trying out these 3 new places that I wouldn’t have gone to otherwise.

All the 3 restaurants have one thing in common. They’re all old houses that have been converted into restaurants. Among all three I like the decor of Romulo Cafe the best. I wonder what their neighbors feel about having a restaurant as a neighbor? I’m pretty sure they hate all the cars and traffic in their quiet residential street but take-out is a breeze.

They have several seating areas. This is the non-air conditioned dining area.

This is the one with air con and this is where we ate lunch.

For my non-Filipino readers, bagoong is a condiment made from fermented fish or shrimp and lots of salt. There many types of bagoong depending on the region that it came from. Basically bagoong comes in 3 flavors- regular, sweet and spicy. It’s an integral part of Filipino cuisine. For my favorite bagoong click here.

When you eat in a Filipino restaurant they usually just serve one kind of bagoong. If you don’t like it too bad. In Bagoong club they have 7 kinds of bagoong for you to try. Instead of bread and butter they gave us singkamas or jicama and 2 kinds of bagoong to start the ball rolling. The first bagoong was called bagoong umaga (morning) which was spicy and the other was bagoong pag-ibig (love) which was sweeter. I preferred the latter.

singkamas w/ 2 kinds of bagoong (umaga and pag-ibig)

They had paper place mats with different trivia printed on it.

We ordered the bagoong sampler so we could try the other kinds they had. We ordered the Europa which had pesto and tasted strange imho, the Asya, the special and buhay (life) which had coconut milk and was my favorite.

bagoong sampler P100

I was happy to discover that not everything on the menu contained bagoong. They had a variety of regular Filipino dishes as well as several creative ones. We ordered the ukoy or okoy which is basically a round shrimp and veggie fritter. We were thrilled when this tower of fried goodness was brought to our table. Their version of ukoy was mainly made of strips of sweet potato, carrots, green beans and some shrimp. We loved it! It was crisp and not greasy.

ukoy P195

From the specials menu on top of the table I chose the ginataang mais con labahita because I’ve never seen that on any menu.

It was a simple dish made of fresh corn kernels and bits of fish cooked in coconut milk. I groaned in ecstasy when I took the first bite of this heavenly dish. I loved it to death. Mila and Jane liked it but not as much as me. I probably ate more than half of this.

ginataang mais con labahita P180

lyrics of a Filipino folk song (translation)

The salmon belly sinigang had just the right amount of sourness. Yum!

salmon belly sinigang P270

The binagoongan combination was the only dish with bagoong we ordered and it was a disappointment. The pork cubes were few and very fatty and didn’t have much bagoong flavor. Ironic isn’t it? The grilled pork was a little better.

binagoongan combination P350

Maybe we should have ordered this instead.

The bagoong rice was also a let down. I couldn’t taste any bagoong at all.

bagoong rice P125

Even though we were already full we wanted to try at least one dessert since the desserts were made by Pixie Sevilla, one of the sisters who owned bagoong club and a popular chef and baker. We chose the calamansi torte expecting a tart and crunchy end to our meal.

calamansi torte P130

Instead we got a super sweet, semi-crunchy, and hardly any calamansi tasting dessert. What a disappointment.

Maybe this would have been a better choice?

We were all curious to try the tsokolate (hot chocolate) from Bohol.

Don’t bother ordering this. It was thin and super, duper sweet. It lacked chocolate flavor too.

tsokolate-e de Bohol P60

soup, appetizers, salad, vegetables

pork, chicken and fish

noodles and bagoong

rice, dessert and drinks

Despite some disappointing dishes I would definitely go back again just to eat the ukoy and corn dishes. There are several other dishes that caught my eye and I can’t wait to try them.

Bagoong Club

122 Scout Dr. Lazcano,

Sacred Heart, Quezon City

telephone: 929-5450 and 929-0544

Dinner at Mr. Sunmoon Seafood House

This entry about Sunmoon restaurant was late in getting posted because I just came home from watching Tears for Fear’s 1st concert in Manila.

I took the following pictures with my iPhone’s camera so pardon the quality. The whole Araneta Coliseum was packed to the rafters. The 2 crowd pictures below were taken after Sandwich and Pupil’s performance. Sandwich performed first. After their last song, Raymond Marasigan called Ely Buendia to the stage and they performed Alapaap with Raymond on drums. It was a nice surprise for the audience.

The concert started with a solo Curt Smith singing a slow, stirring performance of “Mad World” with an orchestra background playing through the speakers. After that Roland and the rest of the band joined him for “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and the whole Araneta Coliseum turned into a giant karaoke bar.

I loved the whole concert except for some unfamiliar songs in the middle. I was also disappointed that they didn’t sing “Change” even though we were all chanting that at the end of the concert. I hope they come back soon for another concert.

Okay, back to Mr. Sunmoon Seafood House or just Sunmoon. Sunmoon has been around for decades with their original branch in the lower ground floor of Shoppesville. We went there on a Monday night and the place was overflowing with people. After the first batch of diners left another batch took their place. I never knew Sunmoon was that popular. Maybe because the food is cheap and not bad at all.

Everything we ordered was just ok for me. Nothing spectacular but everything was very edible. What really stood out for me was the ox tongue. The ox tongue was very tender and cooked similar to the Spanish style with brown sauce and mushrooms. It was a steal at P300 for so many pieces. In other restaurants P300 will get you 2-3 thin slices only.

ox tongue P300

sizzling tofu P180

Sunmoon kidney P180

kang kong garlic P200

salted fish fried rice P280

asado rice topping P160

Sunmoon menu

Mr. Sun Moon
G/F 1 Kennedy Place,

Ortigas cor., Club Filipino Ave.

Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila
telephone: 470-1257

Special Lunch at Gloria Maris

We celebrated the 3rd death anniversary of my uncle. In Chinese tradition the official mourning ends after 3 years and a celebration with family members is held. This is also the time that the family members can start wearing red again.

This picture is special because in it is the youngest member of our family, Bree who is lovingly held by her grand aunt, the most senior.

This was our set menu for lunch.

California maki w/ assorted cold cuts

I don’t know how they did it but I could taste salted eggs on the skin, head and flesh of the prawns. I loved this dish!

fried prawns w/ salted egg

dried scallops & crabmeat soup

If you like taro then you will love this dish. Mixed seafood with fresh spinach covered with soft, creamy mashed taro.

mashed taro w/ seafood & spinach

This dish was similar to cua pao wherein you take a piece of fatty braised pork and stuff it in the plain steamed buns. Definitely scrumptious and sinful.

braised pork belly

steamed buns

The rest are your standard Chinese lauriat fare. The same dishes that should be present in a Chinese celebration. Fish, pigeon and crab.

steamed lapu lapu

fried pigeon

salt & pepper fried crabs

The misua or mee sua or miswa is a departure from the usual ‘pancit’. Misua is usually served during one’s birthday thus the term “birthday misua”. It was a welcome change.

misua

Mango pudding is my favorite Chinese dessert. Shaped into a fish and swimming in milk made it even more special! I ate the whole head!

mango pudding

masachi or mochi (glutinous rice balls stuffed w/ a black sesame filling)

Gloria Maris

Greenhills Shopping Center,

Ortigas Avenue, San Juan

telephone: 722-5508 to 10, 721-3504

Chili’s Big Mouth Burger Day

It was a small article in the newspaper but it caught my eye. 3 days ago I read about Chili’s Big Mouth Burger Day on April 27, 2010 wherein all the big mouth burgers which cost an average of P330 will sell for P118 only. I’ve heard about this once a year event but this was my first time to go.

The last time I went to Chili’s was with Sergei so it was only fitting to invite him to yesterday’s big event. We foolishly went to Chili’s Greenhills branch at 11:30 am. As soon we arrived I could see a crowd of people waiting outside. I managed to squeeze in and found out that there were already 12 groups on the waiting list. The lady said to come back at 6:00 pm if I didn’t want to wait.

I wisely went at 5:30 pm and immediately got a table. Sergei brought 2 more recruits who were delighted to try Chili’s excellent burgers for the first time. It’s good they decided to serve the burgers even before their original 6:00 pm schedule.

The burgers came out less than 5 minutes from the time we ordered. We suspected the burger patties were pre-cooked to handle the big volume of orders they expected. As soon as we took a bite of our burgers our suspicions were confirmed. The burgers were a bit dry but still very good so we didn’t mind so much.

Sergei and Ian ordered the bacon burger. He said the bacon wasn’t crisp or salty and didn’t add anything to the sandwich. It was still all about the 100% beef patty and that’s the most important thing.

bacon burger

Nette had the Swiss-mushroom burger. We couldn’t believe the huge mound of fresh sauteed mushrooms on the burger. I tasted the mushrooms and they were so yummy. I’m definitely trying this burger next time.

Swiss-mushroom burger

I had the ground peppercorn burger with bleu cheese dressing and Awesome Blossom onion strings.

ground peppercorn burger

The bleu cheese dressing was on the crown of the bun so I flipped it over since I only wanted to eat 1 side of the bun. I didn’t really taste the bleu cheese dressing maybe because there was so little of it. The peppercorns added only a very mild almost negligible kick to the burger. It was the Awesome Blossom strings that added an awesome flavor and crunch to the burger. I almost forgot that the burger was a bit dry.

before

after

The bill for 4 huge burgers would have been only P500 (that’s a steal!) or so if 3 people didn’t order Coke. Coke in can costs friggin 85 bucks (so not a steal, more like robbery)! That drove our bill to P795. Imagine the burgers cost P118 and the coke P85.

I happily drank free, cold, refreshing water.

When we left Chili’s at 6:15 there was a huge crowd waiting at the entrance for a table. I’m so glad we went there early. I’ll see you all next year, same time, same place and no Coke.

Chili’s Grill and Bar
26 Missouri St. cor. Nevada St.,
Northeast Greenhills
San Juan, Metro Manila
telephone: 727-2959

Dessert at Yoh-gurt Froz

After the very unsatisfying and disappointing desserts we had at Romulo Cafe we found an urgent need to cleanse our palate with something cool, refreshing and not fattening. Is there such a thing? The answer is a big YES! We found the solution in Yoh-gurt Froz with their non-fat frozen yogurts. Luckily they had a branch just around the corner from Romulo Cafe.

I thought Yoh-gurt Froz was just your run of the mill frozen yogurt place just like so many that have sprouted in Manila. What sets them apart are their yogurt varieties. They have non-tangy or tangy frozen yogurt.

From their website:
The Yoh-gurt Froz Original frozen yogurt is 100% non-fat, low in calories, and contains no table sugar. It is non-tangy, and tastes like ice cream, yet without the guilt — you won’t believe it’s yogurt!

mix-ins

If you choose the original yogurt you can choose the mix-ins and they will use the yellow machine on the bottom left to blend it in the yogurt. This is what I want to try next time.

blending machine

The Classic Fro-yo is a 98% fat-free soft-serve frozen yogurt with the classic tart/tangy flavor of yogurt. It is smooth, and creamy, with a refreshingly delicious taste, and is enjoyed with a vast selection of fresh fruit or dry and fun top-ins. You just can’t get enough of it! It is truly a guilt-free indulgence!

fruit and dry toppings

We all had the classic frozen yogurt which was tangy but just the right amount. It wasn’t too sour, it was just perfect for me. Jane is a purist and always eats plain froyo (frozen yogurt).

classic plain frozen yogurt P80

I on the other hand always go for flavored frozen yogurt without any toppings. I liked their strawberry froyo. It had a mild and pleasant strawberry flavor that wasn’t too sweet.

classic strawberry frozen yogurt P80

Mila went full blast with her froyo. She chose mangoes and strawberries to top her froyo. We all enjoyed our sweet treats. It was the perfect ending to our dinner and it definitely wiped out all the bad memories of the desserts we had at Romulo Cafe.

classic plain w/ mangoes & strawberries P120

Yoh-gurt Froz

Thompson’s Square,

Tomas Morato, Quezon City

(in front of Tempura and Office Warehouse)

other branches

Dinner at Romulo Cafe

After Jane treated us at The Frazzled Cook it was Mila’s turn and she chose Romulo Cafe in Quezon City. There are a lot of restaurants I’ve never tried in the Tomas Morato area and I was excited to try a new Filipino restaurant.

I loved what they did to an old house. The mostly monochromatic interiors were very modern and refreshing.

The foyer’s seating areas were not air-conditioned but were still full of people.

We sat in this small room which was reserved by two big groups. We felt like we were part of the party.

The walls were filled with pictures of Carlos P. Romulo and various dignitaries.

This is another dining room with a splash of green. I wasn’t able to take pictures of the function rooms on the second floor.

We ordered the unique Pinoy nachos made with sweet potato and taro chips and topped with melted kesong puti (native white cheese), keso de bola (edam cheese) and tomatoes. It was good but some of the chips were very soggy. I wish they put more sauce and cheese on it.

pinoy nachos P85

We unanimously agreed to order the boneless crispy pata binagoongan. I was curious how it would turn out. The crispy pata was indeed crispy and the meat was tender and flavorful. The bagoong or shrimp paste wasn’t very salty and it was sauteed with lots of tomatoes and onions and poured on top of the crispy pata. It was a very good combination.

boneless crispy pata binagoongan P625

I’ve read praises about the kare kare from other blogs so my expectation was pretty high. It was just ok for me. Nothing out of this world. Mila and Jane were the perfect people to eat kare kare with. Mila ate only the veggies while Jane chose all the tripe and I wanted the ox tail only. The problem was I didn’t find any ox tail. All there was were chunks of beef. That was quite disappointing.

Tito Greg’s Kare Kare P385

I have a high tolerance for sweets but this lech flan is beyond sweet. It can give you a toothache. It’s sweeter than honey, sugar and syrup put together. Avoid this at all cost.

leche flan P65

The turon had an ultra sweet pineapple puree filling. Another fail. The calamansi sherbet was nice and tart. That was the only saving factor in this dessert.

tropical turon w/ calamansi sherbet P145

The Romulo Cafe is a very popular restaurant. We were there on a week night and the place was packed. The food was a bit average although there were some that stood out specifically the crispy pata binagoongan. I would go back to try some other food in the menu. I’ll just avoid the desserts.

Romulo Cafe menu
appetizers/salad/soup/pasta/noodles, main course, new items,
dessert, drinks

Romulo Cafe
32 Scout Tuason corner Dr. Lazcano
Tomas Morato, Quezon City
telephone: 332-7275

Dinner at Seryna & Little Tokyo

I’ve heard of Little Tokyo in Makati but I’ve never been there. It’s the same for most of my friends. When it was time for birthday girls Jennie and Florence to treat the group we decided to have dinner at Seryna.

Seryna is part of Little Tokyo but it’s just outside the Japanese Torii gate that marked the entrance to Little Tokyo. The place was packed with Japanese diners. That’s a sure sign the food was good.

I liked the details in their ceiling.

birthday girls Jennie and Florence

our group of 11

Since Deb has eaten in Seryna several times she ordered for all of us.We started with a spinach and bacon salad with sesame dressing. It was quite good.

horenso shaki-shaki salada P200

goten ten mori P505

Puri puri maki is shrimp and veggies wrapped in rice paper. It was just like Vietnamese fresh spring rolls.

puri puri maki P270

California maki P250

spicy tuna roll P250

Deb ordered two sets of ten assorted yakitori sticks. The meat were all plainly seasoned with salt and pepper. There wasn’t any sauce or marinade used.

kushiyaki moriawase (10 sticks) P450

chicken tendon

We also ordered kamameshi rice. It brought back memories of the popular Kamameshi restaurant in the 80s.

I found the rice dry and not as flavorful as the ones in Kamameshi restaurant. Even the toppings were sparse.

kamameshi P560

Basically I found the food to be ordinary and typical of any Japanese restaurant. There wasn’t anything that really blew me away.

The Little Tokyo gate is right beside Seryna. Right after we ordered food at Seryna some of us went to Little Tokyo to buy more food. You can actually order from any restaurant in Little Tokyo and they will deliver the food inside Seryna.

The place was an open courtyard with the seating in the middle and several small restaurants surrounding it. Each restaurant had it’s own specialty. One was for noodles while there was also a yakiniku restaurant among others.

Deb led us to Kagura which specializes in Okonomiyaki or Japanese savory pancakes. Okonomiyaki is made of flour, eggs, shredded cabbage, bacon, and other ingredients. Some versions include noodles or potatoes.

We ordered the Mikkusu-yaki or “the works”. I don’t know what exactly was inside but I loved it! I enjoyed it more than anything we ordered at Seryna. We ate this inside Seryna. The waitress even gave us new plates for this.

Okonomiyaki P350

We also bought takoyaki balls from Hana restaurant in Little Tokyo. These octopus dumplings are the current fad in Manila. Takoyaki stalls have sprouted in fast food centers in all the malls in Manila. But these balls were a milion times better than those cheap imitation balls which don’t even contain octopus.

Takoyaki P100 for 6 pcs

We also went Choto stop grocery and snack bar also located in Little Tokyo.

This small grocery carried fresh produce, frozen meat, fish and lots and lots of packaged food.

Most of the items here cost P75. Pictured below is a wall of different kinds of furikake, a condiment made of dried seaweed and other spices for sprinkling on top of rice. Everything is in Japanese so you will have to rely on the pictures to tell you if the flavor is chicken, egg, or salmon. You can also ask the very knowledgeable sales ladies for their help. They also have a wide of variety of instant noodles, junk food, candies, salad dressing and ice cream. All for P75.

We plan to go back to Little Tokyo and sit in the courtyard and try out more food. The prices there are cheaper than Seryna and offer more variety.

Seryna menu (They have a very extensive menu but I think it’s time to reprint new menus. All the prices are covered with new typewritten prices)
appetizers, salad, a la carte, seafood/meat, sashimi, sushi, maki mono
tempura, age mono, yakitori, yakitori choices, nabe, steak, noodles,
donnburimono, soup, drinks, more drinks, special rolls

SERYNA

2277 Chino Roces Ave.,

Makati City

telephone: 894-3855

Kagura (Okonomiyaki)

Little Tokyo Unit 2,

telephone: 894-3856

Hana Restaurant (Takoyaki)

Little Tokyo

telephone: 339-3855

Choto Stop Japanese Grocery

Little Tokyo entrance or

Pasong Tamo entrance

telephone: 759-5560

Dinner at ThaiDara

Rochelle brought me to ThaiDara for some cheap and good Thai food. I’ve pass by the restaurant but I’ve never noticed the sign before. It’s Rochelle and Warren’s favorite after yoga restaurant.

The place was small and sparsely decorated. Their kitchen was located on the second floor.

This was Rochelle’s favorite soup. She was able to eat 1 1/2 bowls of rice with just the soup. The soup was a spicy coconut and lemongrass soup with chunks of chicken. It was just ok for me. I preferred AzuThai’s richer and creamier version much more.

tom kah gai soup P199

Warning this salad was so, so, so spicy!

green papaya salad

I really liked the very fragrant and delicious basil chicken. You must order this!

basil chicken P169

pandan chicken P159

The curry was a bit watery. Not the best curry I’ve eaten by far.

green curry chicken P159

The kangkong was good. How good was it? The 2 boys with us who were 8 years old demolished the kangkong. Yes kids do eat veggies.

Pak Boong or kangkong P99

kao klook kapi or bagoong rice P179

Pad Thai is my favorite Thai dish. I must order this in any Thai restaurant. I was surprised how much I loved it. It was sweet and sour and the noodles were cooked just right. Now I know where to go to get my Pad Thai fix.

Pad Thai P199

ThaiDara serves very affordable Thai street food. There were some misses but mostly hits. While we were eating there were a couple of people who took out food. I guess it’s a popular take out place since it was cheap and good. What more could you ask for?

ThaiDara menu
family style, noodles, desserts & beverages,
new items, budget meals,

Thai Dara Bangkok Street Food

Granada St., Valencia, Quezon City

telephone: 568-0651

Dinner at The Frazzled Cook

Jane wanted to treat Mila & me for her birthday. She chose The Frazzled Cook in San Juan. I’ve read a lot about this restaurant specially their famous pancake ala mode so I was quite curious to see what was so special with a pancake topped with ice cream. The restaurant was located in a dark residential street in San Juan. We missed the place at first because the sign was partially blocked by a post.

The Frazzled Cook was located in a converted house. I don’t know how much of the old furniture was used in the restaurant but I suspect it was a lot. The place is a mish mash of chairs, tables, designs, moods and themes. It had a homey eclectic atmosphere.

moi, Jane & Mila

the famous Hello Kitty spoon

We had the special homemade iced tea (in the blue pitcher) that other blogs were raving about. I found it way too sweet but it had an interesting flavor which I think was lemongrass. I had to add lots of ice and lemon for make it drinkable.

Jane’s favorite was the herbed chicken salad. I liked the fragrant grilled chicken on the salad. The dressing was tangy and fruity.

herbed chicken salad w/ basil vinaigrette P275

The wagyu beef was very tender and I loved the garlicky flavor. The mushrooms were very salty though. I was glad the rice wasn’t white rice. Instead it was brown garlic rice with lots of Knorr liquid seasoning. Well that’s what it tasted like to me.

wagyu salpicao P550

The beef couldn’t have been more than 3 ounces. So if you’re hungry or have a big appetite don’t order this. It was just fine for us since Jane ordered 4 main courses. She forgot there were only 3 of us.

The lengua was different. Normally ox tongue is simmered in sauce for a long time and served with the sauce it was cooked in. Here the ox tongue was boiled and sliced and a white sauce with mushroom and corn was poured over it. Cooked this way the lengua was dry and even the generous sauce couldn’t mask it.

lenuga w/ mushrooms, corn & mashed potatoes P350

I loved the chunky mashed potatoes.

The gambas on saffron rice reminded me of spicy shrimp paella. Yum!

gambas al ajillo w/ saffron rice P325

It was the Friday before Holy Week when we ate here and that means no meat for Mila who had the fish. I was amazed how big the serving was. I tried a bite and found it to be perfectly cooked and generously seasoned.

grilled tanigue steak w/ herbed butter P350

Jane couldn’t stop raving about the pancake. I had my doubts. Until I took a bite. The thick pancake was crisp yet dense, tender and had bite to it. It wasn’t your run of the mill light and fluffy pancake. It tasted like a cross between pancake and bibingka (Filipino rice cake). My analysis on this pancake was it had some rice flour in it and it was pan fried in lots of good quality salted butter. That’s what gave it the crisp edges, slight salty buttery flavor which was perfect with the mantecado ice cream and syrup. I too couldn’t stop raving about it. I love, love, love it!

pancake ala mode P180

The Frazzled Cook is a good place for home cooked, comfort food. The price is very reasonable and the servings are generous. Whatever you order be sure to end your meal with the pancake ala mode. I want to go back just to eat just that with a cup of coffee. But I’m not sharing my pancake.

Menu
starters, pasta/seafood/paella, meat & poultry, sides, desserts,
beverages, alcoholic beverages

The Frazzled Cook
916 Luna Mencias Street,
Barangay Additional Hills,
Mandaluyong City
telephone: 782-5980, 725-3354

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon with the J brothers

Last March I found out my 3 young cousins were going to be in Hong Kong at the same time as I was. I told Elizabeth about it and she said we had to bring them to Robuchon, the #1 restaurant in Asia (2009/2010) according to The Miele Guide. It would be a once in a lifetime experience for them specially for Jay, a budding gourmand.

The other times I ate at Robuchon were in the main dining room where they had a different menu and was more expensive. This was my first time to eat at the bar. It was a different experience which I enjoyed.

We had the prixe fixe menu which included amuse bouche, appetizers, entree and dessert plus coffee and petit fours for HK$390. It was a great deal considering the amazing food and service. Dining at Robuchon is a must for visitors to Hong Kong looking for the best French cuisine.

I was so impressed with my 3 cousins. They made a conscious decision to order all different food so that they could all try many dishes. I definitely benefited from it too since I also tried their orders.

Jim, Jon, and Jay

This was the bread basket of Robuchon. They have the BEST bread I’ve ever eaten in any restaurant. They sell these breads in their small shop at the Landmark and they sell from HK$15-20 each for a small piece. I told my cousins to eat their fill of the yummy bread and so they did. One of the biggest advantages of sitting in the bar is getting the bread while it’s hot and lots and lots of quick refills.

Most of the bread were crusty. There was one with bacon in it, mini croissant, mini baguette, but my favorite was a round soft roll with a cheesy dough. It was so addicting.

The amuse bouche was a small quantity of cumin flavored carrot & mango soup with foie gras custard. What a yummy way to start lunch!

carrot soup w/ mango & foie gras egg custard

I had the foie gras terrine for starters. At this point I was already half full from the bread. The terrine was good and the portion was generous. I couldn’t finish it so Jay gladly finished it for me.

duck foie gras terrine w/ toasts

The J brothers ordered crabmeat veloute. They were quietly analyzing and enjoying every bite of it.

Alaskan king crabmeat w/ fennel veloute

I was in my “trying to eat healthy” phase so I ordered the salmon. It was just fabulous. The cut of the fish was thick but it was still perfectly cooked. The middle of the thickest past was slightly underdone that’s why the salmon was so moist and delicious. The rich delicate sauce was just perfect with the fish.

Scottish salmon fillet w/ white wine & butter sauce

They gave us a free dish of mashed potatoes. Or should I say butter with a little potatoes? This was the smoothest, richest, butter-iest, creamiest mashed potatoes we’ve ever tried. The first bite made me swoon, two bites and my heart was racing and on the third bite I could feel my arteries start to clog.

mashed potatoes

Elizabeth said the cod was the best fish she had ever eaten in her life. She kept raving about how good the sauce was.

cod fillet w/ eggplant & aromatic verjus

I didn’t get to try the risotto one of the J brothers ordered. It looked so creamy and I barely could distinguish the rice. They liked it though.

risotto w/ cheese & spring vegetables

I wanted to order the duck confit but I asked the waiter which he would recommend, the salmon or the duck. He said the duck confit was very rich so I ordered the salmon. That didn’t stop me from trying it though.

duck confit w/ mashed potatoes & Comte cheese

OMG! It was so, so decadent. Imagine super tasty, tender pieces of duck under rich butter mashed potatoes and topped with salty, strong Comte cheese. It was heavenly and deadly. I wish I ordered it. I’m glad I didn’t.

lychee sorbet w/ fresh grapefruit & Dita jelly

I had the strawberry compote with aged balsamic vinegar with mascarpone & honey ice cream. It was superb although I didn’t taste the aged balsamic vinegar. Maybe it blended so well with the fresh strawberries that I couldn’t discern it.

strawberry compote w/ aged balsamic