Top Picks at Old Swiss Inn Restaurant

Once we entered the restaurant, this crossed my mind: it needs a make-over. I'm willing to look past the tired interiors if they serve good food, though. Fortunately, the bacchanalian gods were with us during our visit. Here are my favorites:

Corned beef. I learned quite late that corned beef is salt-cured beef, and not limited to the canned variety. Old Swiss Inn's was soft and superb, and quite interesting with either the mustard and horseradish dip.

The shrimp and bacon pasta. I wasn't inclined towards it at first, but I ended up loving it.

The sausage platter. I was partial to the the Schublig and Hungarian variants, the rosy, full-flavored beauties in the pic.

For dessert, we had the choco fondue. The fragrant Toblerone dip was intoxicating.


Old Swiss Inn Restaurant
Garden Plaza Hotel
1030 Belen St
Paco Manila
(+63) 02 522 4835

Peking Garden Restaurant's Golden Prawn Salted Egg and Fresh Scallops with Asparagus Soup

I'm lucky to have office-mates who, like me, are on the look-out for good eats. Since I pretty much confine myself to Manila, I get tips from them whenever I visit neighboring cities like Taguig or Quezon City, which, because of the traffic situation, might as well be far-off provinces. In a recent visit to Makati, I prevailed upon my friends that we eat at Peking Garden, based on a colleague's recommendation. Peking Garden, by the way, is a dressy Chinese restaurant, so prepare to spend more. Below are two of my favorites from that lunch-out.

I was smitten with the Fresh Scallops with Asparagus Soup. Don't let the picture fool you. I love light soups, and this is a winner. Delicate flavor, sweetish fresh scallops, home-cooked appeal. The asparagus was also fresh and plays well with an unfamiliar ingredient, which turned out to be sea cucumber--what an interesting taste and texture. The slight heat from the ginger added just the right amount of zing.

This is what I came for: Golden Prawn Salted Egg, which my office-mate was raving about. Lovely, fresh prawns with the achingly delicate saltiness from the egg batter. This straddles the line between flavorful and delicate, and pulls it off beautifully.  

Peking Garden

4th Level Greenbelt 5

Ayala Center
Legazpi Street, Legazpi Village

Makati

(+63) 02 729 0820

Top Picks from Tagaytay's Marcia Adams's Tuscany

Some meals are magical they are forever etched in your mind: Ka Lui's. My Kitchen. First Colonial Grill. Rafael's Farm and Garden. Here's another: Tagaytay's Marcia Adams's Tuscany. Just being there is an event (I'll post about this later).

It's with a tinge of sadness that I write this. An earthquake and a super-typhoon has just wrecked havoc on the Visayas, and having visited some of them, Leyte in particular (see here, here, and here), I'm not sure if the restaurants I wrote about are still standing after these twin tragedies. As of this writing news is slowly trickling in, and I do hope that the people behind these establishments, as well as the general populace, are safe.

But life must go on, we must soldier on. Tragedies have a way of bringing people closer. For a date or dinner with family and friends, I could not recommend this enough. Below are the highlights of our Tagaytay dinner, which consists of a three course-meal including an appetizer and a dessert. Every dish was cooked by Marica Adams herself. Since we went as a group, we were spoilt for choice. Be prepared to pay more, but with food as good as this, it's money well-spent.

For appetizers, we chose:

Amalfi prawns--crispy prawns marinated in salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley, coated with bread crumbs, and pan-fried. Amalfi is a Italian coastal town and a tourist draw.  I wrote in my notes: "fat, crunchy prawns."

The provone, melon and aragula salad is the bomb. Refreshing, pretty salad. At first I thought the yellow orbs were tomatoes.

Warm cheese-filled salad with walnuts and pistachio.

The Aaegean (vegetarian) salad consisted of grilled pear, mixed greens, grilled Italian ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, and roasted pistachios in herby, tangy dressing.  Very flavorful. You can do no wrong withe either of the two salads.

For mains we had

The Al-funghi--spaghetti with mixed fresh mushrooms, basil, and garlic. This vegetarian pasta disappeared in seconds.

The Italian pork chop--grilled loin chop seasoned with fennel and pepper, accompanied by organic rice made with leeks and chives.

We also had the shish kebabs. These were wonderful  even without the sauce. The lamb was not gamy at all.

For dessert we had

the lovely grilled banana split. Warm thick choco was poured over the bananas.

We also had the delicate panna cota with lemon sauce. Lovely lemon rinds. Don't forget to bite into the mint.


Marcia Adams's Tuscany
JP Rizal Street, Tagaytay City
0917-8011456

Abe for Tuna Panga sa Bawang

One thing this blog is not is being painfully hip: I don't believe in fads, as I believe that the most crucial thing when dining out is good food.  When it comes to reliable, consistent meals, one go-to chain is the LJC Restaurants, which counts Cafe Adriatico and Abe in their roster. I've featured the former's version of adobo here.

The last time I visited was with friends, and one of the stellar dishes we ordered was the tuna panga sa bawang. It was moist inside, crunchy inside. Obviously fresh. The dish comes close to the crispy tuna fish tail I loved in Ka Lui, which you can read here.

Abe Restaurant
3F Trinoma, North Ave., cor EDSA
Quezon City (+63) 02 901-5692

Batangas City's Tree House Restaurant for Lomi and Camaron Rebosado

In a trip to Batangas City, quite a few recommended we eat at the Tree House Restaurant. The place is straightforward and unpretentious. Of the meals we ordered, two stood out: the lomi and the camaron rebosado

Lomi, popular in Batangas, consists of thick egg noodles, meat and liver, and soup stock thickened with cassava flour and beaten eggs. The restaurant's lomi was flavorful and rich without being salty. I love innards in my noodles, and the calamansi and raw chopped onions cut through the rich soup. 

I also loved the camaron rebosado, deep-fried battered shrimp. Best eaten warm. It was flavorful--battered just right, and best served with sweet chili sauce.

The Tree House Restaurant
Diversion Road, Bolbok, Batangas City
(+63) 43 300-1110

Bayleaf Hotel's Pritchon

In my last post, I wrote about  La Mesa Grill's pritchon, chopped fried suckling pig wrapped in pita wedges. Since I have a soft spot for pita, those round, flat wheat breads, as well as shawarma (a liking I developed back in college), I was keen on sampling Bayleaf Hotel's version of the pritchon.

Here's my verdict: I love the presentation--the pita came in its natural color, not sickly green like La Mesa's. The pita was flavorful. The pritchon itself reminded me of shawarma. I was already full, but I made space for this. It was crunchy, and bright. The only quibble I have is I wished the garlic sauce was more garlicky, but over-all, I love Bayleaf Hotel's pritchon and I love it best with the dark, sweet sauce.

Disclosure: Unless otherwise stated, I pay for the meals I review. This was part of the tasting menu of the hotel when we came by for an ocular inspection for an activity related to my day job. Yes, I have a day job. 

Bayleaf Hotel

Muralla corner Victoria Streets

Intramuros, Manila

(+63) 02 318-5000

La Mesa Grill's Baked Scallops and Mesa's Baby Squids in Olive Oil

There appears to be a spate of big-concept restaurants focusing on Filipino cuisine, a number of which do not deserve the high prices they charge. Fortunately there are some who have been consistent with their offerings, and this post is about one of them. 

I've written about La Mesa Grill before here. This is a continuation of that post, since I've realized, after reviewing my photo archives, that there were items I should have also featured. 

Let's begin with the baked scallops. The profusion of minced garlic has a tendency to overwhelm other flavors, but the delicate flavor of the scallop shone through.

La Mesa Gill is known for its pritcthon, or chopped fried suckling pig wrapped in pita wedges. I love the crunch of the cucumber slivers, the crackle of the lechon skin, and the warm umami goodness of the pork fat. Balancing all the richness is the green notes of the herbs. The dips provided a medley of flavors--garlicky, sweet or savory lechon-liver sauce. If you know me, I'm partial to the garlicky sauce.

The brown mess pictured above was the best for me. We asked that the remaining pork ribs be cooked in chili and garlic. The result was out-of-this-world good. The spices cut through the richness of the dish. It was so yummy I wanted to eat with my hands. Imagine the warmth of the fat and the goodness of meat closest to the bone.

A few months later we were at Greenbelt for dinner at Mesa, La Mesa Grill's high-end sister. What blew us away--the baby squids swimming in olive oil and garlic. It was sublime. Imagine heavenly garlicky baby squids and the warm goodness of olive oil. I'm partial to this appetizer, and so far this is the best I tasted.

La Mesa Grill
SM Mall of Asia
(+63) 02 556 0737

Mesa, Filipino Moderne
Greenbelt 5, Makati
(+63) 02 728 0886