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

Ms. Polly's Award-Winning Chocolate Cake

Last December we were gifted with one amazing chocolate cake: it was moist, slightly bitter, no too sweet, very chocolatey. I'm not a fan of chocolate cakes but this is an exception: the icing is slightly sweeter than the body, driving one not to waste even a smidge.

Ms. Polly's Specialty Cakes and Desserts
16 Milan Street Merville Park Subdivision
Paranaque
(+63) 02 824 7612

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

Cioccolata Cafe for Churros and Pretzels

Churros. My former boss love this fried dough-pastry snack, which usually comes with a chocolate dip. We would order from Dulcinea, which was near our office, and her eyes would lit up. Sadly, that branch of Dulcinea has closed. Fortunately, Bayleaf Hotel has a pastry shop that has this as its banner item.

Ciocolatta Cafe's churros are soft and quite chewy, and quite addicting. If you look closely at the dates stamps on the photo, you'd see that we bought these on separate dates. Between caramel and chocolate, we agreed that the former was the better dip.

We also tried this lovely cinnamon pretzel. Best when hot off the oven. It remained soft, though, even when it has cooled a bit.

Cioccolata Churros Cafe
The Bayleaf Hotel
Muralla cor. Victoria Streets
Intramuros, Manila
(+63) 02 328 3170

Chef's Quarter's Surprise

If you're a sucker for ambiance, this restaurant is for you. Perfect date venue, right? This is how I imagine a Southern California restaurant would look like (no, I haven't been there, but I have a vivid imagination).

Unfortunately, the main dish I ordered was was underwhelming. Good thing I always order dessert, in this case the aptly named best-selling Surprise, because otherwise I won't be back. There was scant information on the menu or online on the components of this dish, but it had well-balanced layers of cheesecake and choco, two things that always does it for me. There were granules of burnt brown sugar that provided textural interest. Fresh mango slices and strawberry swirl provide the necessary acidity.

This was not my first visit--I still recall how good their Tessie Tomas salad was. I just wish next time I'll have more pleasant surprises.

Chef's Quarter
Robinsons Place Manila
Pedro Gil cor. Adriatico St.
Ermita, Manila
(+63) 02 381 3449

Bayleaf Hotel's Champorado

About two months ago, I was assigned to Bayleaf Hotel, ranked # 1 by TripadAdvisor for hotels in Manila, for work. If you are familiar with how whole day seminars are, these usually involve, at the very least, lunch and morning and afternoon snacks. This is one reason I'm having trouble doing battle with the bulge--but, well, I shouldn't really complain. Some meals are so excellent they end up featured in this blog.

I was about to ignore that afternoon's merienda--champorado--until I detected the strong, unmistakable whiff of tuyo (dried fish). Champorado is chocolate rice porridge, and is popular snack or breakfast item during the wet season. Evaporated milk is usually poured over champorado to make it creamier, and many households add a sprinkling of dried fish. I found the latter unusual, until I tried this one featured below. I love the mix of sweet, salty and creamy, not unlike Happy Lemon's cocoa with rock salt and cheese foam, but that is best reserved for a future post.

Bayleaf Hotel

Muralla corner Victoria Streets

Intramuros, Manila

(+63) 02 318-5000

Chocolate Treats from Dipolog City's Tablea Chocolate Cafe

I'm not really crazy about chocolate, but I won't turn down a chance to sample good chocolate. We were in Dipolog City, located in the southern island of Mindanao, scouting for new seminar venues. In one of the newer hotels, Ariana, located minutes away from the airport, is a branch of Cebu-based Tablea Chocolate Cafe, specializing in tablea-based food and drinks. The Dipolog branch appears to be the first outside the Visayas. Tablea is a tablet made from pure cocoa and is traditionally used in the country for hot chocolate. The company claim to source their cocoa locally. This is our picks from the menu, and they're all excellent.

The choco silvana. I love its toothy goodness. It was nutty, with a crunchy outer layer, and creamy inside. As you can see, it's pretty and lethal. Silvana is described as a frozen cookie made up of a layer of buttercream sandwiched between two cashew-meringue wafers.

Dark choco goes well with mango and churros. Churros are fried-dough pastry-based snack of Spanish origin.

Pictured above is the puto maya. The mango provides a welcome acidity.

Lastly, the pure, dark, and thick choco.

Tablea Chocolate Cafe
Ariana Hotel
Airport Road, Minaog, Dipolog