happyfoodies.com – Philippines Food Blog

It’s still Buon Appetito at L’Incontro

I remember passing by Reposo many years ago on the way to Saint Andrew’s Church along Kalayaan and the Makati municipio farther down the road, driving past a row of restaurants and establishments that include the familiar white structure that is Budji Layug’s shop. Fastforward to the present: the street is now called Nicanor Garcia, Budji now shares billing with Royal Pineda and there are newer shops and offices along the row but a lot of the restaurants have either moved or are now gone. One of the holdovers has a familiar name but the façade looks new to my eyes.

Tags: Cheesecake, Crepe, Flambee, Italian, Makati, Risotto, Veal

Cantonese as Fine as Jasmine

Just hearing the name of this widely cultivated flower calls to mind adjectives like exquisite, delicate and versatile. It is a flower of many attributes beyond its beautiful form. To have a restaurant bearing its name means having big shoes to fill. Good thing that Jasmine Restaurant found at New World Hotel lived up to its name, serving some of the finest Cantonese Cuisine in the metro.

Tags: Cantonese, Chinese, Jasmine, Lobster, Makati, Seafoods, Suckling Pig

Great food needs No Signboard

I know foodies friends in Singapore who has been living there for years and they were just happy enough to show me around their favorite places to eat. Say Singapore, we can heavily expect a chili crabs and prawns in the mix. We trooped to the back of esplanade and entered a restaurant facing the bay for me to discover that a really good restaurant really needs No Signboard to say how good their seafood is.

Tags: Chili Crab, Prawns, Seafoods, Singapore, Vegetable

Lunch with the Hardys: Fine dine with fine wine

Call us very casual drinkers for we Happyfoodies really eat more than drink. However, an invitation to sample some of the best Australian wines one fine weekday came as a proposition too good to pass up. The wines we’re tasting are made by Hardys, the most popular brand from Down Under. With Oakwood Ortigas as host, we knew the pairings with Oakwood lunch fare would be worth the trip.

The occasion, a rather intimate small group lunch, introduces the Hardys’ new Heritage Reserve Bin – Riesling, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon — continuing the company’s tradition of blending grapes from different regions to come up with complex wines. Distinguishing itself from vintners that make wines from single plots or regions, the Hardys have carved a name for taking grapes from different places and maturing them to come up with complex blends.

Tags: Australian, Hardy's, Oakwood, Wine

Dark Chocolate Orange and other tales at Haagen Dazs

It’s hard not to love Haagen Dazs. The texture is always creamy, smooth and velvety. The flavors are real and faithful to the fruits that inspired them. And what they say is true – the ice cream’s consistency is dense and full-bodied, not full of air, even when melted. True, the price is very premium but the quality you get is incomparable. We got invited to another Haagen Dazs event (always a welcome thought for any foodie) and got to try more flavors.

Tags: Desserts, Haagen Dazs, Ice Cream

Comfort food served sans pretensions at Cuillere

Years ago, a popular donut brand advertised its croissants to a backdrop of French music to convey authenticity. In the same vein, a popular coffee brand showed a couple sipping their instant coffee in lieu of café au lait with Paris in the background. Then, there was also a time when two French-themed bakeries went head-to-head to stage their version of the French Revolution, armed with baguettes and French bread. You’d think by now a lot of Filipinos would be more familiar with French cuisine but ask the casual foodie what his/her favorite French food is and most likely you’d get a blank stare. Or pray you don’t get “French fries” for an answer.

Well, that must be because we don’t really have French influences in our culture, including our cuisine, much in the same way as our neighbors such as Vietnam and Cambodia have being French territories in the past. Much of what the casual foodie knows about French food points to either the ‘Filipinized’ taste of French breads and pastries or the gastronomic treats that sound intimidating to the ear and even more so to the pocket. Which is why an invitation to sample French comfort food at Cuillere in Serendra at Bonifacio High Street, came as a refreshing experience, sans pretensions and intimidation.

Tags: Baguette, Beef, Bonifacio High Street, Dory, Foi Gras, French, Portobello Mushroom, Sandwiches, Serendra, Taguig

A Taste of Asia at Makansutra

Going back to the Manila Ocean Park last weekend became a trip not only for your happyfoodies to rediscover the oceanarium but to fish for something else – the food offerings at the Makansutra Asian Food Village located at the Ocean Park mall.

Makan means “eat/eating” in Bahasa while Sutra means thread or line holding things together (or metaphorically, a collection of such lines or things such as in the Hindu scriptures) in Sanskrit. This is especially meaningful as Makansutra is envisioned to be a place gathering together fare from all over Southeast Asia sold hawker-style. Granted that one may not always have the opportunity to travel but at Makansutra, one can let his/her taste buds do the traveling. Will K.F. Seetoh, the Singaporean foodie who inspired this enterprise, approve? Tag along with happyfoodies and find out.

Tags: Asian, Bak Kut Teh, Laksa, Manila, Noodles, Pad Thai, Satay, Soups