OUR AWESOME PLANET

Wifey's Birthday in the Best Steakhouse in Town

Most of the time we find ourselves  at steakhouses when there's a special occasion. When October strikes 1st, its  birthday celebration time - my wifey's birthday. It's also time to find out if the raves we've been hearing about new restaurants are true. This time, our destination is  Cru Steakhouse at the Marriot.

Minnie Puno's The Home Chef Private Dining

The idea of opening one's house to strangers for private dining may seem odd and a bit foolish to some, but not for Minnie Puno. Minnie is known in the foodie circle for her Minnie Mousse (chocolate mousse with a twist of liquor), ang saWRAP asian wraps sold in Legaspi Market, and CROQS, filled Potato Croquetas. So when she decided that she wanted to share her passion for cooking with foodies in her own home, I decided to make that the inaugural event for Secret Resto.

Secret Resto is an experimental project where we invite OAP friends and readers to join us in experiencing a different kind of resto for the first time. It is innovative in terms of its promise to offer the latest restaurant experience with a different concept every time -- Different Menu, Different Place, Different Chefs. We aim to achieve a foodie experience that we will all cherish and, sometimes, immortalize in the blog. We also hope to achieve lasting foodie friendships and create meaningful networks through this experience.

Isabelo, Marikina's Secret Restaurant

We were blown away by our recent Isabelo Garden restaurant experience. It was indeed a secret restaurant -- you really have to journey to the heart of Marikina to find it. The food tastes good and you can tell that everything was cooked with love by the lovely Ms. Portia. The rustic Italian ambiance is set in an ancestral house (with old trees), which is artistically decorated by Portia's mom.

Isabelo is a combination of the concept behind Sonya's Garden, the kitschiness of Cafe Juanita, and the home-cooked goodness of Conti's. It is also a family showcase: the garden is created by the Mother, the Daughter is the queen of the kitchen, and the overall inspiration comes from the Grandmother. The walls are adorned with photos, paintings, pots and pans, mugs with faces, animal figurines, empty wine bottles and empty bottles of perfume (with contributions from some guests).

Tippi Tambunting's Masseto

There's a foodie buzz going around about Tippi Tambunting's new restaurant, and Rajo, Heart2Heart and EyeOnWine were ahead of the pack. It is called Masseto, named after an Italian wine, and it's a fine dining restaurant/wine bar. It has an extensive wine list much like Cav (without the wine dispensers), and is as elegant and hidden but more spacious than Elbert's (without the steaks).

Masseto is owned by the same people behind Premium Wines and they did a very good job of integrating the wine cellar with the dining setup and gourmet food by Chef Tippi. It has a better execution than the Wine Museum setup of Ralph's. Check out EyeOnWines' review of the wine selection there.

I'm excited about Masseto because it elevates the fine dining scene in Manila. If you like Lolo Dad's and Aubergine, you'll surely enjoy Masseto. Plus, it's a great place for Valentine's. :)

SOCO Private Dining - SO GOOD!

I heard about SOCO Private Dining from Paco Magsaysay of the Tuesday Group. I've always wanted to meet the Tuesday Group foodies but I always got intimidated, so I ended up lurking in their Facebook group. :) The closest encounter I had was when I saw them in O'sonho (I didn't have the guts to go to their table and introduce myself). Because of that group, I was inspired to create an experimental Wednesday Foodie Group. (See related post.)

SOCO stands for South of Commissary, deriving its name from its location, which is just beside the Commissary of Oyster Boy. It is located in a rented house. They maximize the living area for private dinner dining on Fridays to Sundays. Dennis of SOCO was very helpful when we reserved. He was able to convince us to get the highest set meal package with descriptions of the Baked Brie in Phyllo with Raspberries. Together with my brother, his girlfriend, and our close friend Maong, we decided to try it and had one of the most memorable private dinners in the heart of Metro Manila.

Check out our SOCO Private Dining experience...

8 Cool Things That Happened To Me Lately...

I just wanted to share a few awesome things to celebrate...

1. Our Awesome Planet in IMMAP!

It was awesome to present the story of OAP in the 3rd Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP). IMMAP is the biggest conference attended by the digital marketing industry in the country. I shared the story of how I grew OAP from scratch to becoming one of the most popular food and travel blogs in the country with as high as 15,000 hits per day. I presented together with Mark Lacsay of Sonic Logo Multimedia of Sound Drip, and Rianna Roces Trinidad of Proud Mama makers of Funky Feet on how Digital Delivers for Small and Medium Enterprises.

Laya on the 4th of July

1/12/12 UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed. 

Laya is the latest private dining place serving Southeast Asian cuisine in an intimate Antipolo setting. Laya means "freedom" in Tagalog and it was coincidental that we checked it out on the 4th of July.

A young rock band couple turned restaurateur and chef decided to convert their family's Antipolo resthouse into a dining destination every weekend for foodies. The couple reminds me of a young version of Claude and Maryann Tayag, and the resthouse reminds me of a modern Bale Dutung.

Currently, they serve a set 4-course meal, with the food choices changing every weekend at a special introductory price of P500. (Eventually it will be P650, but it's still cheap, considering the overall experience you get.)

(I forgot to bring my Canon DSLR, so all photos taken in this blog post were taken using an ordinary Canon point and shoot camera. I had to be creative to get usable photos from that camera, especially at night. :) )

Chef Laudico Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet!

I usually don't like buffets because there is a higher chance of food contamination from the saliva of people talking while getting the food, and the food is prepared beforehand, so you don't get the freshly cooked yumminess.

Chef Laudico's Weekend Buffet is brilliant and different, though. For P788 net per adult and P488 for kids 10 years and below, you can order from over 50 popular dishes and desserts from the buffet menu. The food is only cooked and served as you order them, which addresses my buffet concerns above.

The dishes served are half of their regular ala carte portions but they actually look like a serving good for one person. It follows the Clean Plate, No Leftover policy -- you will pay P100 for every unfinished dish ordered. Of course, you cannot share unless all of you order from the buffet.

It was the best Easter Brunch Buffet we've ever had in Makati. The only thing is their popular Adobo Overload dish is not included in the buffet menu. (Chef Rolly, I do hope it will be included in the menu.)

Related Post: Bistro Filipino by Chef Laudico -- Best Filipino Fusion Food!