OUR AWESOME PLANET

Tao Yuan - Best Singaporean Food in Manila as Attested by the Singaporean Embassy

I received a lot of raves from the Chinese community about this popular restaurant in Malate called Tao Yuan. Originally, they were only serving Hong Kong Cantonese dishes but when they brought in the Singaporean chefs, the word of mouth about their Hainanese Chicken spread like wildfire among the Chinese foodie community. A few days ago, I received a Facebook message from our foodie friends from the Singapore Embassy that Tao Yuan serves the Best Singaporean Food in Manila. I definitely agree!

 

 

 

Best Buffets in Manila: Spiral, Sofitel

Spiral is a multi-cuisine restaurant with the biggest buffet in town. It has several live cooking stations and boasts the widest array of dishes. At the center of the restaurant is the spiral staircase connected to the main lobby, accented by the spiral art centerpiece.

 

Best Buffets in Manila: Li Li's Yum Cha Sunday Dimsum Buffet

Li Li Dimsum Buffet (P1,342 net) in Hyatt is one of the best Cantonese dimsum buffets in Manila. It’s just like the ones you can enjoy in Hong Kong. The restaurant is named after Li Li, a famous member of the Hongkong elite. Two of the private rooms are named after her daughters Fei Fei and Bai Ling. The menu is created by five highly skilled master chefs from Hong Kong to ensure the culinary quality and authenticity that Hyatt is known for.

 

 

Chefs' Quarters - Malate version of Duo

I'm happy that Robinsons Manila Midtown is bringing a new life to the restaurant scene in Malate. One interesting concept is Chefs' Quarters which offers fine dining at P200-P400 price range.

What do Le Soufflé Restaurant in Makati, French Corner in Alabang, Duo Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Serendra and Chefs' Quarters in Malate have in common? Answer: the tandem of Larry Cortez and Chef Mauro Arjona. They were pioneers of Le Soufflé, worked with Billy King to setup Voulez Vous now French Corner in Alabang before they decided to setup their own restaurant Duo in Serendra and now, their second restaurant, Chefs’ Quarters in Malate.

We love the concept of great service, good food at a casual dining atmosphere. We recommend the breakfast menu and they are open as early as 7am. There are plenty of parking spaces in Robinson's Manila Midtown and we like to hang out here this holiday season to avoid the crowds.

Chefs' Quarter's Menu
Sharing Appetizers, Salads, Soups | Fish Selection, Pasta & Rice Selection, Desserts | Beef, Lamb & Poultry Selection | Breakfast Menu | Snacks and Pica & Pica |(Photo Menu) Breakfast, Pasta and Rice Selection, Beef, Lamb Poultry | Desserts, Fish Selection, Salads, Sharing Appetizers

Paseo de Bahamas - Great Hangout place in Midtown

So after breakfast at Chefs' Quarters and dessert in Sucree, we came back on December 25 evening to hang out with my brother. We were surprised to find an inuman place that serves great food.

We were brainstorming on how to go about our 100days tour of the Philippines in preparation to write my book, Our Awesome Planet: Philippines. I was convincing him to join me and we would start a weekly internet show called Our Awesome Planet Live or Where in the Philippines is Aidan? (any other suggestions?) during that 100 days trip. You should see the awesome wedding videos of my brother Rommel and Iggy who are partners in Cinematic Concepts. I would like the internet show to have the same cinematic treatment but filmed you tube style.

We were dreaming on Christmas Day and hoping in comes true in 2008. We were dreaming of being sponsored by Canon for all our photo and video equipment. We love Canon and we won't settle for anything less :) (sorry for the Nikon fans out there...) We were inspired to give an alternative show to see the beauty of the Philippines in our own eyes and share it with the rest of the world. We plan to do it ourselves with the help of some friends, the support of our families, few sponsors that we would like to work with and a few donations from friends of OAP.

So much for that dream... let's go back to Paseo de Bahamas. We love the service, the great food that we did not expect and the beer tower concept. Check out their menu:

Sharing Hot Tapas, Bread and Pizza, Soup | Sharing Cold Tapas, Soups, Fondue | House Special Creation and Dessert | Juice, Beer, Softdrinks, Water, Coffee |Beverage List | Titania Wine Cellar |Paseo de Bahamas Bahamas Treats

Sucree -- Midtown's Dessert Place

Sucree Torte (P850 Whole/ P125 Slice). Imagine a double layer of chocolate-almond sponge filled with chocolate ganache followed by a silky layer of creme brulee and amaretto flavored chocolate mousse, enrobe in shiny chocolate coating. A torte that truly deserves our name.

Sucree opened their second branch in Robinson's Midtown. After eating in Chefs' Quarters, Sucree is the dessert place to be. The virginity of Sucree was featured in Lori's Manila's 10 Best Desserts, 2007 and was described as:

"Anyway, the aforementioned Virginity is what I’d expect in a cake tagged with that appellation. It’s pristine in color — almost white actually, (virginal!) – a sponge cake perfumed in vanilla caressed by the lightest layer of dulce de leche. Occasional bursts of macadamia praline add textural interest and keep the mouth enticed. Truly, while this cake is purely immaculate in looks, there’s nothing virginal about it in taste."

We decided to try the most expensive cake which is the Sucree Torte but we were disappointed. The creme brulee was out of place in a chocolate cake. We should have stick to Lori's recommendation.

Sala Sunday Jazz Brunch

Kir Royal, Champagne with Cassis

I never really love champagne until last Sunday's Jazz Brunch @ Sala in Malate. Sala is the last remaining good restaurant in Malate and it will soon transfer to Greenbelt 5. I love Sunday brunch. M Cafe, Lumiere and Sala are competing for this Sunday brunch crowd composed of mostly expats in Manila. The Sunday Brunch menu is all about Eggs... and Bubbles. You can opt to have an unlimited champagne bubbles with two courses for P1088+ (P1197 net) or just the brunch at P620+ without the fizz. We had to go for the Drink all you can Champagne and the Egg breakfast dish with dessert. You can order the champagne on its own or with cassis, peach juice or orange juice.

It was a lazy Sunday brunch with blogger friends with the Philippine Blog Awards night rants and raves as the appetizer. Come to think of it, I can’t remember now how many glasses of champagne I drank. All I know was after 3 glasses, I started to lose count and started laughing my heart's out during the course of the conversation. With the right company, the P1,200 price tag might not be that much and as long as you start drinking at 11am to maximize the last call for champagne at 2.30pm. Finally, I got introduced to Kir Royal and I love this champagne with a touch of sweetness from the blood-red, sweet, blackcurrant-flavored liqueur called Creme de Cassis.

Binondo Chinese New Year

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy New Year to all of You!

This is the first time I really felt the Chinese New Year Celebrations. My wife's family celebrates it and this is the only time that I appreciate it. We treated it like the Jan. 1 New Year and celebrating it in Binondo makes it more special. It was my first time in Binondo during this celebration and I avoided it in the past because I don't know what to do in Binondo or what to expect. There is that occasional fear of pick pockets and feeling of being an outsider trying-hard-to-celebrate-the-New-Year that prevented me from experiencing the Binondo Chinese New Year!

We had fun chasing the dragons/lions all around China Town. The photo opportunity is quite different because there is no organized schedules and the happenings are organized by the shop owners. What happens is, each store prepares something for the lions --- it could be candies or lucky coins to eat and sometimes beer to drink. They court the lions to dance and bring good luck to the store. The end of the dance is usually culminated by fireworks. Before the lion leaves, they get the angpao containing cash usually hooked high above the store's entrance. It is quite an experience to see these dragons and lions do this ritual all over China Town.

Tips in celebrating Chinese New Year in Binondo. (I'm putting this as a mental note for next year)

1. Bring Ear Plugs! The fireworks are so loud that it can damage your ear drums specially if you are near taking the photos.
2. Follow the dragons/lions. There is no set schedule on when the dragons/lions appear so the best way to find out is to follow the group of dragons/lions.
3. 10am and 4pm festivities on the eve of Chinese New Year. Usually most of the lions appear during this time. I'm glad that this year's CNY falls on a saturday.
4. Go on a Food Trip. You should bring someone with you who would know where to eat in Binondo. After joining Ivan's Big Binondo Food Wok, somehow I can say that I know my way around Binondo's culinary secrets.
5. Celebrate it with friends and family. Binondo will remain a mystery to most of us and it is quite an experience to explore it with family and friends. I'll try to organize something next year.

It was nice bumping into Sidney of Sari Sari Store, Ivan Henares of IvanAboutTown, and SenorEnrique of WishYouWereHere. Check out their post on the Chinese New Year @ Binondo:

• KUNG HEI FAT CHOI by Sidney's My Sari Sari Store
• Kiong Hee Huat Chai! by Ivan's About Town
• WELCOMING THE YEAR OF THE PIG by Senor Enrique's Wish You Were Here

Here are some postcards from the Binondo Chinese New Year...