The Emerald That Stopped Time

On the day that we were supposed to drop by the National Museum, I suggested to Art that we have a quick bite at a restaurant that, because of its following, had almost become a sterling representative of the City of Manila itself, Emerald Garden Restaurant.

Many of the parties that occurred in my childhood years were in this establishment, long known in the Chinese community, and while I have read reviews that have varying accounts of the quality of food it serves compared to the newer Chinese restaurants now, it was a tug and nod to nostalgia that I prevailed Art to take our pre-museum jaunt meal there.

As it was still before lunch time, I was reminded that dimsum was still being served, which made my heart skip a bit: their giant siopao (meat-filled bun), called Emerald Special (PhP 99.00) was the item to have.

Which, of course, was no longer available by the time we got there. (Talking to the waiter, I found out that at 6AM, they begin serving this, cooked in a specific quantity daily, and by 10AM, you would be lucky to even see a whiff of it anywhere. People actually pass by just to have it wrapped to go - while we were seated, at least three parties came in within a span of 5 minutes asking for it as well.)

Art rolled his eyes, and said that since we couldn't have "the" siopao, we should probably go elsewhere. But it was hot that day, and we decided to take our chances with the other items in the menu.

Shrimp Rice Roll, PhP 90.00.

Fish Congee, PhP 90.00. (Art had the Mixed Congee,

which was in a larger bowl, PhP 150.00.)

Spare Ribs and Shark's Fin Siomai, PhP 55.00 each.

Notice the table "cloth" - I think the material is vinyl. The place seems to have retained the exact same snapshot I have of it in my mind - faded wallpaper, the requisite green theme courtesy of the name, waiters who seem to be half deaf and also seemed to be working here for decades.

To Art, it was an odd place, although he had to concede that the food was good. But for me, I can still see my cousins and I around a giant table trying to get the crab "hands" (pinchers) when the plate came from the kitchen. 

Emerald Restaurant always symbolized a gathering of family and friends to me. I guess Art and I have to start a new tradition then.

After all, the Emerald Special has still eluded us. That means we will be back.

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*When we were paying our bill, a long time politician of the city entered, and sat two tables away from us. Lo and behold, from the noisy kitchen, an Emerald Special materialized. The waiter saw my quizzical look - he told us it had run out - and said that this politician came here frequently and had called ahead of time to reserve one.

Is that what it takes to get one? Yoohoo, Comelec, I want to run for office.

The Joy Of Feria

Our stay at Radisson Blu in Cebu was nicely punctuated with a visit to Feria, the hotel's in-house restaurant. The restaurant was large (even by Manila standards), or maybe I should say, sprawling. It had an airy, spacious feel, which was a nice change of pace from the usual places where chairs can't help but bump into each other. (Those darned chairs.)

The Manager on Duty (MOD), Ms. Phen David, met up with us for dinner. (Full disclosure: she comped the meal. But at PhP 800.00, I would have gladly paid for it myself.) She was - rightfully - proud of the spread at Feria.

What could this be?

Pictures really are better than words. (Well, sometimes. This is one such time.) And without further ado...

My staples: tuna and salmon sashimi.

I made sure to get the labels.

Where everyone was flocking to.

This brought out the mouse in me. Wait.

Which do I use?

Baked Tangigue. Enough said. More eating.

And they had actual Chinese chefs to prepare these.

Char Siew Pork - always a yes.

I have to have my arugula!

Requisite Cebu drink. This cheered me no end.

Hey, I have veggies! See?

A sampling of Chinese fare. (Yes, I'm biased.)

My first Coq Au Vin. It has nothing on adobo.

I was more excited to try the salsas over the steak (both were good).

They make their own ice cream. Don't miss this.

Coffee creme brulee - a mistake before sleeping, but perfect otherwise.

The "fill this glass up!" dessert. Mango overload. YES.

The MOD insisted I try this (Bread Pudding). I'm glad to have done so.

Interesting design to view while munching away.

This is a great food stop if ever you are in Cebu. Beep, let's meet here the next time I go over to your neck of the woods.

A Slice Of Hong Kong In Makati

After an active swim (we normally just wade along when we hit a body of water), Arthur and I decided to have dinner by walking around the neighborhood, and we had two distinct choices. Since we were both tired, we decided to go with the closer of the two, but when we got there, we found out that the place was recently transformed to have OTB (Off Track Betting) in its premises.

That sent us running right out to the farther one.

We always pass by Hong Kong Roast Food Express on our way to pay our Meralco bills, and have read some blog posts about it, but we never have gotten the time to stop by until today. (Strange, when we live close to it. But I'm sure other people have had the same non-experience of not ever going to a place that's close by home or work.)

It's a quaint little place (read: not really big) although it has a second floor as well. We were the only ones who were there - which normally food writeups would have you believe means bad food hence no crowds - but I chalked it up to being in such an unusual location.

I knew from the reviews I've read that the BBQ Roast Pork Asado (single order, PhP 180.00) was one of the dishes you purposely visit this restaurant for, so of course, we had that.

It was good to finally have a place to order this dish that I know is popular in Hong Kong, and in Chinese communities everywhere. (My mom would order this from a place I now can't remember when I was younger, I must ask her this weekend.) The aroma that hits you once you bite into the almost caramelized exterior is heady, and the cacophony of tastes (savory, sweet, woodsy) makes you wish you could freeze time.

When we were handed the menu, Art's eyes immediately settled on Salted Fish Rice (PhP 120.00) so we proceeded to order that.

It was the surprise of that dinner: you could eat this on its own because the flavor was fantastic. I can tell that some people may not like the bits of fish meat that may be a little too salty, but I've had this dish in many other restaurants and my usual question with those has always been where's the fish? so it was pleasantly surprising to actually feel the texture of fish bits in this version.

We also ordered Celery Fish Fillet (PhP 158.00) which I thought would be a nice change of pace from the Steamed Fish With Garlic that seems to be in every Chinese restaurant now. (Not that that's a bad thing, but it can get repetitive to see it in every Chinese menu.)

As soon as it arrived, Art whispered "konti". I agree (though the picture makes it seem like it had more servings than it actually did). But taste wise, it was worth every peso: a light sauce, infused with the namesake vegetable (and the obvious large pieces) as well as ginger, it provided a contrast from the two previous dishes. (It was almost a palate cleanser.)

We also went for a noodle dish, Sate Beef Hofan (PhP 168.00 snack/PhP 240.00 heavy). I wanted to see their version of this dish (another "standard" Chinese dish). They weren't kidding when they said "heavy".

It had large and many pieces of beef, and the noodles were cut quite thick, although the dish was quite salty. I would suggest that they tone down the sodium level, which overpowered the savory quality of the dish.

When I saw the Horlicks on the drink menu, I had to have it (ode to a childhood snack), but unfortunately, they ran out of it. We settled for Wheatgrass Honey (PhP 75.00) and Cold Refreshing Boba Tea (PhP 75.00), both of which were refreshingly excellent.

The Wheatgrass drink was light, a perfect accompaniment to the dishes we had that evening. I had my tea drink in Lychee flavor, and the bits of apple and kiwi served to accent the sweet tea that was topped by these pink "balls" which "exploded" when you bit into them, and gushed forth a saccharine liquid.

Two more groups of diners had entered by the time we were about to finish our meal, and they seemed to be regulars since the wait staff already knew what they were going to have. A place like this will indeed inspire loyalty, owing to the great food and the unobtrusive service, and they have just gained two more loyal followers in us.

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Hong Kong Roast Food Express

7467C Bagtikan Street, San Antonio Village

Makati City

(02) 9847760/(02)5537846

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hong-kong-Roast/203150153076834?fref=ts

http://www.hkroast.com/

Finally, Boon Tong Kee. Here.

Yes, there is a back story to the title of this post.

It can be summed up as: "We went all the way to Singapore and didn't sample Boon Tong Kee's famed poached chicken (Hainanese chicken)!" And we were tired, hungry, searching for hours for BTK using their (highly efficient) public transportation system of buses and trains...and when we finally arrived, and were seated in two large tables (that's how big our party was), we were told: "Sorry, we ran out of Hainanese Chicken!"

Nooooooooo. (No one verbalized this, but you could tell it was what was on our collective minds.)

So, when we scored tickets to the excellent Cirque Du Soleil production, Saltimbanco, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, I breezily put it out there that maybe we should have dinner before the show, and when I was asked where, I said "there's a Boon Tong Kee here, so that's where we're headed."

It may be just me, but did they design Mall Of Asia to be confusing? There are no directories with clear indications of specific stores. The fact that you could ride tram cars to get to buildings within the complex indicates how big it is area wise, so it's not "fun" when you get directions like "go to the center, turn right, go out and climb the stairs, go to the edge," as they involve literal kilometers, and when you're hungry...well, you can imagine what that does to your mood.

Finding Boon Tong Kee was a challenge. (Hint, hint.) Good thing it was worth the search. And wait, keeping the back story in mind.

As soon as we were ushered in, the lady taking our order wasn't even finished with her spiel and I said, "Hainanese Chicken. Please." Everyone else was looking through the menu but I knew exactly what it is I came here for. Arthur told me "let's get something else as well" so that's how we ended up ordering a tofu dish that was actually excellent.

After our order was taken, we noticed that it was not a very large space (in fact the booth we were at seemed a little cramped). They were showing various cooking demos on the television screen. We waited around 10 minutes for our food to arrive, which was just right in my book.

One could argue that a poached chicken is a poached chicken is a poached chicken, but the delicate aroma and taste of Boon Tong Kee's version of their signature dish lends weight to the claim that they are Singapore's best representative of the dish. (I also found out that their government hands out citations or recognition on an annual basis as to what is the best Chicken Rice version.) Light but flavorful, the aroma pierces through without overwhelming you, leaving both your olfactory and gustatory senses satiated.

The ginger sauce was a bit bland for me, but the others found it good, so that could be a matter of personal taste.

The rice that accompanied the chicken got the most "oohs" because it was thoroughly infused with the broth and could seriously be eaten on its own, even without any viand. It looks a little blah from the outside, which is why it elicited the most unexpected response.

This dish was also very good, tofu mixed with seafood (I saw crabs and squid) and it was definitely a pleasant surprise since I was very single-minded about having the Hainanese Chicken and nothing else. Again, it was light but had quite a kick flavor wise, the seafood complementing the canvas of the tofu. Like everything else on the table, nasimot sya (it was practically licked clean) because even the sauce was enticingly delicious.

I can't compare it with the Singapore version since I haven't had the opportunity to try it there, and I can already here the purists going "it's just not the same" but sampling the Boon Tong Kee chicken here - as well as something else - makes me feel we aren't missing that much from the version of where it originated from.

And I can finally say, I've eaten at Boon Tong Kee. And I like it.


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More information here: https://www.facebook.com/BoonTongKeePH

One Evening At Corniche

When you have foodie friends, they are sure to "spread the word" whenever a too-good-to-pass-up deal is known, and that is exactly what happened when I came across the Facebook Wall of a good friend who "hung" a poster for Corniche (in Diamond Hotel Philippines) announcing a fantastic deal offered by the hotel restaurant.

(Courtesy of gopacmanila2013.com)

It has been probably years (a decade, even) since I set foot in Diamond Hotel so I thought this was a chance for me to revisit them. The poster announced that they were offering their lunch and dinner buffet for PhP 999.00 nett (Philippine Pesos, inclusive of all charges) which also included free flowing sodas or lemonade - a practically unheard of deal in the bigger hotels, so the question that remained was "When do we go?"

Arthur told me that we did not need to worry about parking because as he recalls, they have a large parking space underground, which was the case when we got there. The stairway from the basement parking leading to the hotel will take you right to the doorstep of Corniche - a useful point since after dinner, you will probably have to gulong (roll) your way back to the parking area.

The decor was decidedly modern, very clean lines and lots of spaces. There were several "stations" set up all over the place which I thought was a better placement than having all the stations side by side and having people "bunch up" in line waiting for those undecided as to what to put on their plates.

I started off with appetizers. I was attracted by the way they presented their lumpiang ubod, and had to sample it along with other goodies.

Lumpiang ubod was almost too much of an eye candy to eat.

After that, it was a free-for-all: Arthur commented that I would never have a future as a food stylist because I would place odd things together in one plate. I replied, "Mind your own beeswax."

Here are some of the featured items in the buffet. I have to emphasize that because I think I was able to sample only a little more than half of the things that were being offered.

Lechon Macao was just OK, everything else was good.

"It's all seafood naman, eh." (To make one feel better.)

United Nations...of food. Sage flavored cheese was a surprise.

Salmon, 3 Ways: Sashimi, in Ginger Broth, and Baked.

Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern...and Lamb Kaldereta. Yum.

Do not miss out on the Green Tea Brulee - if you can catch it.

This was a better spread than we expected. Everyone in our party agreed that for the variety on display, and given the price, this was a hard act to beat. We were (luckily) seated near the roasting station, and I used that advantage to take on the baked salmon. (Not to be passed up, if you like salmon as much as I do. It's just a big plus that nutritionists are pretty unanimous in declaring it a "top food".)

For carnivores, a beautiful sight.

The wait staff was also a delight, very courteous without being cloying, although they noticeably weren't as attentive when the crowd swelled up - some of our plates piled up on the table, and I even saw one table returning their plates to the place where they stacked up the used dishes. But they were nice and apologetic about not being able to service tables faster, which pretty much smooths things always. (I guess they didn't anticipate as large a crowd as the one we were part of that night.)

Read the fine print for exclusions. Then enjoy.

(Courtesy of the Facebook page of Diamond Hotel Philippines.)

This promotion only runs until September 4, 2012.

Go. Now.



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For more information, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/diamondhotelphilippines

(632) 528-3000

One Morning At Bfast

Breakfast being my favorite meal time (aside from being the unanimous choice of nutritionists everywhere as the most important meal of the day) it was a no surprise that we would avail of Deal Grocer's offer for Chef Laudico's Bfast at the Ayala Triangle Gardens.

Since we decided to use it on a Sunday, I looked online and found out that they have something called "Wagyu Weekends", which starts at 9AM. It is described as a buffet, and the name implies the presence of Wagyu Beef. For PhP (Philippine Peso) 388.00, it sounded like a deal, since a look at Bfast's entrees cost around PhP 150 to 250.

The rains did not deter us, and Makati is lovely (read: practically empty) on weekends. And we brought our appetite, since it was almost 10AM when we entered Bfast.

Here are some of the items we got from the spread they offered.

Karnevorous Omelette, Sauteed Veggies with Bagoong,

Fish Tocino and Meat Lovers' Rice.

Chicken and Pork Tocino, Atchuete Rice,

Beef Caldereta.

Pasta with Crab Roe Sauce

Same Pasta with Mozarella Cheese

Wagyu Beef, Roast Chicken

Strawberry flavored drink, included in the buffet.

(Choice of this or iced tea, I would've preferred coffee.)

The standout items were the Lechon Kawali with Bagoong, Pasta with Crab Roe Sauce, and Karnevorous Omelette. Yes, it turns out that some of these weren't really "breakfast items", but that's because Wagyu Weekends extends until 2PM.

The Roast Chicken was quite flavorful, but the Wagyu Beef was a bit of a letdown: it tasted like "the usual" roast beef we'd tried elsewhere.

It was surprising that when we got there, many of the food items were cold and the spread wasn't complete. (Since we arrived almost 10AM, that means it was almost an hour since Wagyu Weekends started.) The staff did compensate - by just a tad - by being solicitous and eager.

A bit of hit-and-miss, but for the price vis-a-vis the regular prices, it was quite alright to have woken up for Chef Laudico's Bfast's weekend offer. I can't recommend the Lechon Kawali with Bagoong enough, Art and I thought it was the dish that made it all worth it.

Buffet name notwithstanding.


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Chef Laudico's BFAST
Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Avenue
Bel-Air, Makati City
(02) 621-6100