Dolce Vita – Ermita

I spotted the restaurant a couple of days earlier in the middle of Manila street life – during the day, I need to say – with its inviting red lips logo on the façade of the building, representing the Sweet Life of the Philippines. You guess it right; the Italian restaurant is called Dolce Vita, after the classic movie of Fellini and last Saturday night we decided to check it out.

Once inside you leave Manila wild life and suddenly you are in the tranquil surrounding of an Italian restaurant with an awesome interior. The enormous Venetian masks on the walls are magnificent and the dark wooden statues give the ambient light a great atmosphere. The Dolce Vita is already a pleasure to sit and look around.

The menu has plenty to choose from, but not before you read at the opening page the credentials of master chef Tiziano Cavalinni. What a great name! And even better, the chef himself was wandering around the tables and the bar at several occasions, in his kitchen wear, only the big spoon was missing.

Tiziano, at age with a grey ponytail and a worn face of decades in the kitchen, cooked in his heydays for Queen Elisabeth and Luciano Pavarotti, and we all know the latter did like a second dish. The chef even learned his art in a 4 star rated Michelin restaurant! Oops, how many stars? Double M googled it to be for sure and indeed, Michelin ratings are not higher than 3 stars. Suspicious… or just a printing error? We were now warned and ordered in silence.

I do not eat half a day before dining out – in contrast with Double M - who tucked away a chicken leg just before entering the restaurant. So I had some classic Italian starters: a minestrone soup and an Insalata de Cesari. The soup was very rich in vegetables and came in a large portion, enough to end up with two cups and share. The Cesar salad was crispy although a bit too much swimming in the dressing, which I personally do not like.

The mains were coming and demanded quit some space at the table since they were served at big wooden boards. MM choose a chef’s specialty; the Fiorentina, a Florence porterhouse beef marinated and grilled in virgin olive oil. I took the Coteletta alla Marcello, a fried breaded beef tenderloin with a Parma ham topping, truffle cream and parmesan cheese. I can only judge my beef, honestly, I was not convinced. I like the pure ingredients and prefer moderation with sauces and cheese. I once read a book about the fast food industry where CEO’s were talking ablout succes snacks; in case of doubt, top it with molten cheese and bacon… and this was a bit the effect with the breaded beef; I only tasted the topping…

It was pretty mighty – so no complains about the size of the portions. I am not sure how Double M experienced his chef’s specialty, but it seems to be okay since he completed it literally to the bone… The choice for a dessert was limited, only the Tiramisu cake was available from four options. I expected this Italian biscuit cake drowned in coffee and liquor as heavy as the meat dishes and so we shared this as well. A good choice and indeed, no need for coffee, it was soaked in well.

Wrapping up – Dolce Vita is a great place to sit and escape the hassle of Manila for some hours. I don’t want to be too tough and will be back and stick to the homemade pasta or pizza and check out again if we will give out an additional Michelin star or not. Master Tiziano will have his second chance to prove the real Sweet Life of manila…

MakanMakan - the Asian food village

It took a while, but we are back into the food tasting and restaurant testing business! Double M and me were busy settling down in a significant Tower in the Ermita quarter of manila. We must have a good outlook of our surroundings since we plan to visit all restaurants, foodstalls and bistro's within our view, so there is no time to lose!

Now you can make a cross bearing and plot where our headquarters are, so if you are around, let us know and maybe we can share a good meal somewhere in the neighborhood. Our first dining out depended fully on the weather. It is rain season and with the grey skies always ready to shower you, we took the risk and moved out far (without umbrellas!), crossed Roxas Blv. and hit for the H20 hotel, an unknown location for us.

We found out that it is still partly under construction and in between the welding, cutting and building sites, something pretty interesting is arising. The hotel is build on former sea and so the themes of some shows and events are centered around  marine life and aquariums. But we save that for another time, as hungry we were, we headed straight of to Maknmakan - the Asian food village.

We started with a dimsum platter, to silence our grunting stomachs; the dimsums were crispy, nicely textured and tasteful even without the chili and soy sauses. A good start asking for more. About the ambience; the kitchens are open and in the middle of the hall, with the tables scattered around, indeed giving the impression you are in a village. Every station has its speciality and the menu reads Chinese, Filipino, Thai, Malay and Singapore kitchen. Time to flush a local San Miguel beer and get ready for the main.

Good, I have the biggest space available and was most hungry, so decided to go for a Noodle Soup Asado and a green Thai curry, while MM ordered a humble Singapore beef noodles. Then, impatient as I was, I attacked right away after the waiter served the soup, a strong and salty broth with something floating around in it which I took for asado (whatever that was supposed to be; sometimes I surprise myself...).Superb! Though not mine at all. I was quickly sipping away Double M's part of his noodles dish. I realized that once a rather big bowl of soup with sweet pork meat was served out, together with my green curry and rice. All together too much (the soup), too hot (the curry), but very good.

It was Double M who was a bit dissapointed with his Singapore noodles. Being a true carnivore; the meat was hard to find (not in the broth and too less under the noodles), so luckily I got some help in emptying the dishes at my side of the table.

So that was where it ended - no need for a dessert this time and when leaving the food village we decided to come back later and try some more of the extended and divers menu. It need to be said that the food village delivers a great quality for a very affordable price and the portions are generous.

Epilogue:
On our way back we bought some luxury sweets for Double B, the little nephew of Double M, and since we missed our dessert, we decided back in the Tower to try some of them with a coffee. Unfortunately little Double B will never see his sweets... and in the meantime we bought some ordinairy buttercookies as replacement. Luckily, Little Double B is still too young to read this: and the sweets were absolutely great!

Cafe by the Ruins

Who would drive at least four hours through the tricycle filled roads of the Philippine province followed by a dark and dangerous climb over steep and unlit mountain roads with speeding trucks while having a flat tire? And that only to consume a world famous cup of coffee only served at a place called By the Ruins???

We did, double M and me. Cause this was not just a cup of coffee, this was the extremely rare civet cat coffee... What coffee??? Okay, its a kind of weird story and don't ever ask me how they invented this coffee, but the civet cat eats coffee berries, digested by the cat after which the beans are harvested from its... poop. This is then produced the same way as other - normal - coffee beans and brewed to a cup of fresh coffee. In New York they can charge you up to $100,- for a cup of coffee, but since the Palm Civet lives in the Philippines, it did not cost more then a regular Starbucks Frapuccino...

By the ruins is located in the mountainous city of Baguio, in the north of Luzon. The Ruins are a bit hidden behind a busy street nearby the central park of the city, but once inside (and waiting to be seated as even at lunch time this spot remains utterly popular) you enter a surprisingly moody garden like place. On the menu we read the following phrase:

"The ruins we lay claim to are the remains of a garden theater which was later converted into the gracious home of Phelps Whitmarsh, the first civil governor of Benguet. The house was built early in the last century and destroyed in World War II.The governor maintained a famous garden where Mrs. Whitmarsh, an Ibaloi, propagated flowering plants and introduced strawberries and vegetable seeds." 

We also had a great lunch (in the next blog) but coming back on the coffee. I finished the whole cup while Double M did only sip a couple of times, showed me his connoisseur look, then pushed the whole cup into my direction while murmuring something about 'distinguish taste' and 'interesting' after which he continued his cream cappuccino...

Another shot of the By the Ruins interior, obviously prior to my photography courses. I promise better overviews next trip...

Happy holidays!!!!

Sorry guys....been busy spinning fire..and juggling work and a million other things....but....in two weeks...yours truly and my partner in crime and pleasure and gastronomical adventure would be reunited for the holidays, Filipino style.... so stay tuned as we feast during christmas and share you where our hungry mouths would lead us...

-live well, eat well and be merry!!!!cheers!!!!

More rain in Phuket

One thing that I can say honestly without being cheesy, is that my dear friend can cook a kings meal with a near empty fridge and virtually no exciting ingredients around. This time we were better off, the hotel reception mentioned that a fresh market was not far away, a bit further down the road. So we followed their instructions and found quite a big supermarket where we ended up with too many bags of food and drinks. But where you trip over taxis in Bangkok, in Phuket they are rare, if not existing at all..

With help of a parking guard we could jump on the back of two scooters and with full speed we were in 5 minutes back at our hotel. Before putting his sleeves up, my partner got rid of his holiday attributes and took position in the kitchen.

While I was watching Centurion, a hack and slash movie without a deep storyline, but not bad at all since I love Roman Empire movies, my private cook for the day created some magic on just two hot plates at the other corner of the living room.

Once ready, the result was awesome and old times were relived. I could have shared these pictures as from a classy restaurant and you would probably not notice it was home made. Lucky me ;-)

Cream soup d'execellent with shredded carrots

French fries with egg slad

beef glazed with onion and veggies

and wine...

And so it was worthwhile staying inside this day. The early dinner for me was one of the highlights of the holiday, with great wine on a lazy rainy day in Phuket. You don't have to travel far to have a 5-star meal...

Rainy day in PHUKET

The day before, we were actually planning to take an island hopping tour to Kho Phi-phi for the following day, but since our lazy asses were to exhausted from..ahmmm...lazing around....we just decided to cancel our trip and decided to stay in Phuket...

The next morning, a misty, rainy morning greeted us from our huge hotel windows....such a romantic weather!!...(and yeah, great thing we cancelled our island hopping trip, i couldn't imagine myself being stranded in an exotic island where god-knows-what-will-happen-next)...

The weather left us with no choice but to stay in our hotel, so we just decided to hit the hotel's restaurant- East 88 Beach Lounge....which was a delightful surprise....

rainy day in PHUKET

As for starters I ordered beef carpaccio, the meat is so tender,the saying "melts in your mouth" would be such an understatement... it was mildly flavored with choiced herbs and spices which perfectly complemented the raw flavor of the meat...

beef carpaccio

..and as for Tet, lo-and-behold, such daring taste buds, he ordered caesar salad.....

caesar salad

We were seated at the edge of the restaurant over-looking Krabi island which was fully covered with mist and fog...it's a very surreal yet romantic splendor....and surprisingly,though it was raining, it was also low-tide; the shores were wide and inviting for a run...

Our main dishes were sublime.....I ordered king prawns with mango salad served with green rice which was very fresh...it's bursting every mouthful,like a summer field in your mouth. A very playful complex mixture of flavors in the salad: tangy, spicy, sour, sweet...a totally interesting harmony of flavors....

king prawns with mango salad and green rice

My friend's daring choice for the main dish is...(***drum rolls..)...

beouf ala bourguignonne....

in fairness, it was a really good piece of meat...tender,soft,juicy with a very rich gravy poured over it...

beouf ala bourguignonne

After savoring our hearty meal, we decided to walk along the shore...armed with a camera, and my friend's photography skills, paired with a model-wanna-be,..ahem..that's me....we decided to capture the beauty of the place and the weather...

...strike a pose here..strike a pose there..OOOH...there as well!!!.....we were just fooling around and totally enjoying the rainy weather...

look ma!

...it was indeed a rainy day in Phuket, but that didn't stop us from having so much fun and a great memorable experience....


-eat well,live well and be merry!!!!....

Teddy rice...

The most surprising rice delivery ever...

Could you ever eat such a cutie?

So much better then this, which I also could not eat...

Far from cute... 

blehhh!

Best Chicken, Worst Chicken secrets...

What would South East Asia be without chicken? What would the world be without chicken? For some reason has the chicken discovered the world together with human beings since I have not traveled any serious restaurant on this globe without seeing chicken on the menu. 


During our culinary mission in Thailand we came across the best and the worst outlet for chicken dishes. Let's start with a very well known dish called Stir Fried Chicken With Cashew Nuts. Actually its my favorite chicken dish and now, after many years, I have finally identified Secret Garden in Bangkok as the best restaurant dealing with this dish ever.


I was so enchanted by the flavors, aromas and taste of this dish, that I forgot to take a proper picture, so we have to do it with this one, the plate at the right side...

The cook must have learned this recipe straight from its inventor: normally the oyster sauce overwhelms the whole dish (at least that's the case at Da Shi Da, my provider in Dubai, but in Secret Garden I could distinguish every separate ingredient: sweet peppers, carrot, garlic, french onions, celery, dried peppers, unexpected small bites of ginger and not in the last place the cashews and chicken chunks. Wonderful! 

This dish traveled all over the world, and I discovered even its origin: In 1963, David Leong served the first cashew chicken dish at Leong's Tea House in Springfield, Missouri, USA. Leong moved to the United States from China in 1940, and since then he had been searching for an Asian-influenced dish that could please local residents.

Well, honestly I think mr. Leong just brought it from China to the US, but okay, the Americans, lets give the Americans also a bit of history... 


So Secret Garden remains a secret, I really can't tell you exactly where in the Thai capital you can find this place. We were simply dropped of there by a taxi driver... 


Another secret chicken recipe is even more known across the globe, but for several reasons I am not interested at all to find out how to make it: The Colonel's secret flavor recipe of 11 herbs and spices that creates the famous "finger lickin' good" chicken remains a trade secret. Portions of the secret spice mix are made at different locations in the United States, and the only complete, handwritten copy of the recipe is kept in a vault in corporate headquarters.  Yep, we are talking about this colonel. 

In Phuket - no other option was left to get rid of our hunger - we were forced to enter this fast food chain and order the chicken pieces. Or is it still chicken, cause it's not really recognizable. The eleven spices in breaded butter are so strong and widely wrapped around the chicken, that I am quite convinced that you eat more oil breaded spices than chicken...

Above you can see the different pieces of KFC in the middle of our late 'dinner'. Completely over the top are the so called chicken popcorn... I have opened at least two pieces of breaded spices without finding anything that could point in the direction of a bit of chicken. I need to admit that I never liked KFC and so I can conclude that the myths around its secret recipe is much more interesting than the dish itself, read here. 


The colonel was bought out of KFC in 1964 and during the following years the food chain added oil, salt and flour and less chicken. The colonel reacted angry that  they prostituted every goddamn thing I had. I had the greatest gravy in the world and those sons of bitches-- they dragged it out and extended it and watered it down that I'm so goddamn mad!  


If the table hammering colonel then started cooking Stir Fried Chicken With Cashew Nuts in a Secret Garden in Siam, is never confirmed...   

Current Obsession: Oishi WAFU

Current Obsession: Oishi WAFU

This post has nothing to do with our gastronomical adventure in Thailand, but I never stop eating and I have accidentally discovered something that my 5-year old nephew is munching days ago…and now it is turning into an obsession, I am consuming this,not just by pieces but by boxes….

pardon me for the bad image...believe me,it tastes divine!

It's amazing how sophisticated it tastes; the buttery, cheesy filling is just perfect complement to the light, crispy wafer…aaaah….now I'm finding ways to play with it,…with cream?!…ice cream,perhaps?!….fresh mangoes?!….with or without anything, it tastes divine….now off i go to open more packets of WAFU!!!!….

-eat well,live well and be merry…cheers!!!!

Sawasdee ka Thailand!!!

Sawasdee ka Thailand!…

Right from the airport up to my hotel for that night,i could feel the warm welcome of the Thai people,it's amazing..and very genuine…

Since I arrived midnight,i was quite starving and a bit exhausted, being unfamiliar with the place I decided to just stay in my hotel room and order room service...

I ordered a simple dish..it's egg noodles with pork topping…being from a neighboring country,this is not new to me,until I had my first spoon of the broth…I was punched, I was then reminded that I was indeed already in Thailand,where food are extra spicy even if it says mild….after drinking a bottle of water in one gulp, i indulged into the complex broth of mixed spices,the tender pork topping melts in your mouth,and releases a delicious marinade.

egg noodle soup with spiced pork topping

The following day,after picking up my partner in crime at the airport,a whole new bigger adventure begins….a totally crazy adventure; exciting gastronomical journey that we would be telling in the coming posts...

-eat well,live well and be merry!!!!...cheers!!!!