Top Picks at Bayleaf Hotel

Recently work brought me back to Bayleaf Hotel in historic Intramuros. For my previous posts, you can go here, here, and here.

The most memorable item I associate with the hotel's 9 Spoons Restaurant is their pritchon.

For this visit they tinkered with the filling--the lechon bits are heftier, with the skin crunchier. This was a hit with me and my colleagues.

9 Spoons

9th Floor The Bayleaf Hotel

The hotel's newest dining outlet is the Rafaelle Woodfired Pizza Restaurant. I was smitten with

the Gamberetti, made of white shrimps, preserved lemons, garlic, chili, and almonds. Best consumed while still warm, it was garlicky and seductive. 

For dessert I had Dolci Al Cioccolato--warm chocolate cake with vanilla cream.

This reminded me of choco lava cake. Dig in while warm. The cake itself was mild, with the parts touching the hot plate tasting richer and darker. The cream makes the dish brighter. I finished the plate clean.

Rafaelle Woodfired Pizza Restaurant

Third Floor The Bayleaf Hotel

I now have a new favorite from the hotel's Cioccolata Churros Cafe--the brownies.

It was crunchy on the outside and moist inside. It was subtly sweet, and generous with almond slivers. No need for cream or caramel drizzle, as long as it is served warm. 

I should also add that the Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato (BLT) Sandwich was also good--they didn't stint on the bacon, which was fried crisp. Unfortuntaely, I have no picture to show, and so a future visit is in order. 

Cioccolata Churros Cafe

Ground Floor The Bayleaf Hotel

If you're considering holding a function in the hotel, opt for homegrown snacks. Their fried lumpia, sapin-sapin and suman sa latik are so good. 

The Bayleaf Hotel

Muralla corner Victoria Streets

Intramuros, Manila

(+63) 02 318-5000; (+63) 02 328-3170

My Favorite Pastries at Cafe Mary Grace

I love Cafe Mary Grace for its consistency and good service. You can check out my earlier posts here, here, and here. 

I first heard about the resto from my friend Teeny, who was raving about the ensayamada of the soft dough and the right medley of sweet and salty. You can request to have it grilled to intensify the flavors. 

Many of my friends were also mad about the mango bene, which reminds me of a very good tiramisu. The lightly sweetened cream tied all the elements together.

If you ask me I love the strawberry shortcake the most. It had just the right mix of sweet and tart and was generous with slivers of candied strawberry. The sponge was moist and the cream not too cloying. It was also Instagram-worthy: very pretty. I used to hate sponge cakes, but this is different from the sorry dry sponge cakes I had. 

'Til my next post. :)


Cafe Mary Grace
Robinson Place Manila
Midtown Ermita

Buffet Love at Marco Polo Ortigas' Cucina

Last December was a dizzying dervish of parties and get-togethers. Buffets are popular for these gatherings, and one resto I was keen on trying was Marco Polo Ortigas' Cucina. I've tried Marco Polo Cebu and Davao (click here and here) before, so I wanted to know how the Ortigas branch measure up against them. 

I took a page from my friend Rush and started with the soup station. I had a tasty, spicy soup with flavorful mussels, siomai, shrimps, and ham, freshened by calamansi. I dialed up the heat with chopped red-eye chilis or labuyo. Finished it off with a topping of sliced boiled eggs. This was yum--a fortuitous beginning.

Next I had tasty rib-eye steak in pepper steak sauce coupled with sweet cherry tomatoes--a nice pairing. 

The pork chops were moist and the pizza, which has been sitting on the counter for quite some time, was still flavorful. 

The pork and beans was just lovely and the seafood stew was divine.

Another winning platter: slipper lobster, mussels, and shrimp which I dipped in vinegar. 

Of the excellent gelato, I was partial to pistachio and vanilla which I topped with mango and blueberries.  

Of the pastries, I love the choco tart the best--rich dark silky balanced by tart strawberries--but Marco Polo Davao's version is more exquisite. 

Cucina
24F Marco Polo Ortigas Manila
Sapphire Street cor. Meralco Avenue
Pasig City
(+63) 02 7207777 local 6622

Legazpi City's Oriental Hotel for Ensaymada

This is my fifth post on ensaymadas. For a background on this pastry, click here. For what to me is a good ensaymada, click here.

Oriental Hotel's ensaymada is as hefty as Marco Polo Davao's ensayamda, but hews more closely to the Diamond Hotel variant. Indeed, this is one sinful ensayamda: high quality bread, well-balanced, not overly sweet, with the surprise texture of pili bits, and swimming in melted butter. This is one of the better ensaymadas I had.

The Oriental Legazpi 

Taysan Hill, Sto. Niño Village 

Legazpi City

(+63) 052 480

What I Ate in Bacolod and Iloilo

Next to Bicol, my favorite regional cuisine is Ilonggo. My introduction to this cuisine is via Ilonggo Grill, and right away I fell in love with the pork stew KBL aka kadyos (pigeon peas), baboy ( hocks), and langka (jackfuit), and the French-inspired pasty Napoleones. Later I would fall hard for the irresistible chicken inasal. There was no KBL during my last visit to Iloilo and Bacolod, but I had my fill of inasal, napoleones, and more. How do I differentiate Bacolod from Iloilo foodwise? Iloilo is batchoy and molo soup, while Bacolod is chicken inasal, napoleones, and Calea cakes. 

Bacolod City 

Bacolod City is the capital of Negros Occidental and is known as the City of Smiles. This is also ground zero for chicken inasal, stalls of which are clustered in the aptly named Manukan Country. For more on chicken inasal, click here.

1. Nena's Rose Inasal

I've been to Manukan Country before, and I swear by Aida's. For this trip, upon the recommendation of my officemate, we tried Nena's Rose. I was impressed with the generous sprinkling of garlic bits on the rice--the better to cut through the rich taste of the chicken barbecue. 

I also fell in love with the skewered chicken butts (isol)--juicy and soft, and presented in a novel way. Chicken inasal is not complete without the sinamak and the garlicky rice that cut through rich smoky taste.

Nena's Rose
Manukan Country
Fr. M. Ferrero Street, Bacolod

2. Calea

For my earlier entry on Calea's cakes, click here.

For this visit we went to the bigger branch located across the street. These are what we ordered:  

Choco Mousse Bombe--my favorite 

Pecan Pie a la Mode

Blueberry Cheesecake

I love all the cakes we ordered--except for one on the dry side--because they are not too sweet. There were still many we haven't tried--reason enough to fly to Bacolod in the future. 

Calea
Balay Quince Commercial Bldg.
15th Lacson St., Bacolod City
+63 (034) 435 8413

3. Roli's Napoleones

Napoleones is a custard-filled dessert topped with sugar glaze. Its origins can be traced to the French pastry mille-feuille. Two locals swear by Roli's, and I must agree: it was moist, the crust was flaky, and the custard was not too sweet.

Roli's Bakeshop
Roli's Arcade, La salle Avenue
Bacolo
(+63) 034 433-3257

4. Aboy's Restaurant

Aboy's is a must-visit whenever in Bacolod for good food and fast service. Never mind the distance from the city center. I love the free mint tarragon they served after the meal. Another plus for me was the lovely bangus inasal, pictured above. For more on a previous visit to Aboy's, click here. 

Aboy's Restaurant
Liroville Subdivision, Singcang
Bacolod City
(+63) 034 435 0760

Iloilo

Iloilo forms part of Panay province. Its capital, Iloilo City, can be reached from Bacolod via a two-hour ferry ride. Aside from the food, one should take time to visit Miag-ao Church, one of the few barioque churches in the country.  

1. Roberto's 

Roberto's is popular for its ginormous siopao, pictured below. With siopao this tasty and big, who can refuse?

I also fell in love with the lomi - tasty warm soup, firm noodles, crisp greens. Lomi is made of thick egg noodles, thin pieces of meat, garlic, and shallots.

Roberto's
JM Basa St, Iloilo City

2. Tatoy's 

Tatoy's is an Iloilo institution located along the beach. We always order the chicken inasal--tasty native chicken full of the aroma of tanglad.

Tatoy's Manokan Seafood Restaurant
Baluarte-Calumpang-Villa-Oton Blvd
Villa Arevalo Dist., Iloilo
(+63) 33 337 4276

3. Pacencia Cookies

I now have a new favorite snack: pacencia cookies. These are hard to resist mini-eggnog cookies. Pictured below is one I bought from one of the ubiquitous pasalubong shops for the blog, but the humble stalls offer better versions, with just the right amount of crunch and heft.

4. Molo Soup

When In Iloilo, having molo soup is a must. This cup was served to us during a work-related function--flavorful, rich in porcine goodness, warms your heart. Molo soup is made of pork dumplings, shredded chicken, and chicken stock. 

Pepper Lunch's Molten Lava Cake

I'm not crazy about chocolate desserts, but I don't mind molten lava cakes. I love Bora's Zuzuni's Mati Chocolate Sin. Here in Manila I love Pepper Lunch's Molten Chocolate Cake: rich and just the right sweetness, and perfect with the vanilla ice cream with swirls of caramel syrup. My only quibble was the staff took ages to bring me the dessert.

Pepper Lunch
Ground Floor Robinsons Place Manila
Padre Faura Wing
Pedro Gil, Ermita. Manila
(+63) 02 373 6493