Promise, last na ‘to!
Thanks to @galieblitz on Twitter for sending the link! I just felt that this would be the perpek kepkeyks to serve in the wedding where the bride wears the gown from my last post. Okay, tama na ‘to, let’s move on! Nom nom nom nom nom! Sober rang bus toes!
I don’t mean to be unnecessarily secretive, but we’re extremely excited about an upcoming project (two, actually, but more on the other later on). We were sooo tired yesterday because we had our photo shoot for the said project at Abe in SM Mall of Asia. I don’t want to jump the gun before the actual launch, but at the same time, I’m aching to give at least a teaser! It’s a team-up we’ve actually been turning over in our heads for the longest time. So when we were approached, we were stoked to get on board. I promise to blog about all the details once we have the go-signal and the accompanying literature to herald the project. Since we’ve signed on the dotted line yesterday, it’s safe to assume it’s a deal. Here’s a clue:
Before I tell you the resolution of our 8-hour ordeal, here’s the entrance to the toilet of the Koh Samui airport:
The rest of the toilet is just as plush. Anyway, back to the monsoon drama. Eventually the rains stopped, but we all had to wait for the planes to fly to Samui from wherever they were diverted to. After about 8 hours of waiting and so many flights canceled already, 1 plane was able to land. 3 flights worth of passengers, 1 plane. Imagine the chaos! I felt like they had to perform triage just to figure out who goes where. Us being on the first flight of the 3, got priority. So once again our luck pulls through. By 12 midnight, we were in Bangkok. The last meal I ate was breakfast at around 9am. I skipped the food they gave us at the airport because it was fried rice. So first thing we did at the Suvarnabhumi airport was eat. We opted for the classic Phad Thai and some satay:
Recharged, we took a taxi to deposit us into the luxurious folds of our gazillion-star hotel. WRONG. When we get to our hotel, which for record looked AMAZING on their website, we were greeted by people who looked and acted like creatures from the black lagoon. Rude, unkempt, sleazy, unprofessional (and that’s me being kind). Then we were led to the 2nd floor, asked to carry our own luggage (because they don’t have porters), and squeezed through this hallway:
I don’t know if the photo does it any justice. Seriously, 2 people cannot walk side by side in that “The Shining”-inspired hallway. And when we opened the door to our “room” (I put quotes because I will fight tooth and nail if you insist on calling that abomination a “room”):
It was a box, with a sink in the corner. If we wanted to pee or poop, we had to go and squeeze down the end of the hallway, avoid the twin girls with knives, and do our thing on the communal bathroom (yes, singular, bathroom with no “s”). Not even the worst motels looked as prison-like as that room (not that I’d know, since my experience with motels are as limited as this statement is defensive). So suffice it to say, we upgraded to the “superior” (their word of choice, not mine) room, which at least has it’s own toilet (and to be fair, free wi-fi).
The sheer exhaustion served as our sleeping pill, otherwise it would be difficult to surrender to sleep in a room that seemed forsaken in comparison after the splendor we bathed in in Sareeraya back in Samui. But, we aren’t in Bangkok for luxury; we are here to experience the Siamese queen city in all her heady/dingy/debaucherous glory.
The next day, with a renewed spring in our step, we rode Bangkok’s beautiful subway, so clean and so orderly, to be deposited in the heart of the city.
We didn’t know where we were, we just kept walking, entering thanons and sois (I think that means roads and alleys), taking us heck knows where. It was so much fun! Bangkok’s crazy, like an Asian New York:
And the food! There’s food everywhere! And I grew up avoiding street food (mainly because our germaphobe mother instilled into our brains on a genetic-level the fear of dirt in our food). But this time, I put scandalous things in my mouth (definition of scandalous: anything skewered that I cannot identify)!
Then we chose a hole-in-the-wall joint to eat in, looking filthy but authentic. We ordered something new. First, a delightful dish the flavor of which I’ve never encountered before, rambutan and shrimp salad:
Such an explosion of flavors! We also got minced pork something:
And then we ate a weird street food snack. It’s sliced grilled squid with cocktail hotdogs in super spicy vinegar sauce:
We’re just taking break, then once the Suan Lum night market opens, we’re off! We’ll stay there, shop till we drop, or until it closes at 11pm, whichever comes first. And once we’re done, we’ll see where else the night takes us. I don’t know if we’ll find wholesome or sleazy things to do…if it’s wholesome then I’ll blog about it tomorrow. Otherwise…you’ll never know… 
The day started out great, with the sun finally out, and beating down on the damp island. After a huge buffet breakfast, we finally got into the water, which was still chilly like iced water, but at least the sun was out. We skipped the beach because the water was still a bit murky, given that the flood waters were still draining into the ocean.
We heard that during the flood crisis early this week, our resort was waist deep in flood waters! I have no idea how that might’ve looked. It was like their Ondoy, they say the worst flood they’ve seen in 40 years. And we missed it by a mere 3 days. Now we have a better idea just how lucky our timing actually was. What we thought was crappy timing turned out to be great timing. Weird though, everyone in Koh Samui tells us November is really typhoon month, but our Lonely Planet book said that November to April are the best months to visit the island. Apparently NOT.
But nevertheless, it was quite a bummer because the sunshine only lasted about 30 minutes, replaced by cloudy skies and the occasional drizzle, but we didn’t let it dampen our spirits. For lunch, we decided to to walk the streets of Chaweng Road, the city street parallel to the beach. It was such a delightful road! I don’t know what it was, but it had a dainty quality to it, lots of nice shops and restaurants, in Tagalog, maaliwalas, and I had so much fun just walking around aimlessly, looking for a nice place to eat. One sign though, reminded me of home:
Trying to budget our money, we opted for a hole-in-the-wall joint and we feasted on spicy squid salad, more tom yum, and fried glass noodles with pork. For a mere fraction of what we’d pay for had we eaten at the resort, it was delicious! I guess what made it extra tasty was the fact that it was so cheap. We had to stop ourselves from buying stuff because I’m sure most of what we see here, we’d see in Bangkok, and cheaper.
And check out the Thai Coke Light:
We went for a Thai massage in the late afternoon and I turned into jelly when my calves were massaged. It was such a relief after all that walking. On our way back, we ate dinner in another small restaurant, and the papaya salad was the spiciest food I’ve eaten to far. Literally, it felt like someone punched me in the chest! My mouth was numb for half an hour. I was talking like: “Bith, cad ay hab a glat ob wadduh…” I swear my hearing was cut in half after that meal. It was too much. So not going back there. Just looking at the photo makes my tongue tingle again.
The other stuff was good though, some noodle thingy and some pork with veggies thingy.
Then, on our way out, we saw that they were also serving shark on the menu. Sad though, because I know all shark species are already endangered, although I don’t know if rules are different here in Thailand. They didn’t seem to mind me taking pictures of it, so I guess it isn’t illegal here. Then I saw at least 5 more restos serving the same thing.
Walking at night was even more spectacular: bright neon lights, trannies passing out leaflets for their burlesque shows, drunk foreigners making asses of themselves…fantastic! Of course I was glad to see my headache tonic, Starbucks, but it was surprisingly empty. The streets were crawling with throngs of people, but Starbucks was empty. I guess it’s not as popular here as it is in the Philippines. I grabbed a latte, the caffeine of which, will hopefully keep me headache free for the rest of the night.
Mighty pissed though because I completely forgot that tonight was the premiere of Nat Geo’s Great Migrations! We planned to watch it here at the resort, but we completely forgot. จิ๋ว!
After our first 2 attempts at food blogging, the first at S.O.C.O (which we absolutely loved) and the second at The Goose Station (which left us a little underwhelmed), we excitedly leaped at the chance to feast on our third multi-course dinner, this time with Chef Popit. Unlike in the previous restaurants, Chef Popit had a lot of sets to choose from. Me and my friends had to do a votation to decide on just one set, and we ended up with the Amelita set.
We were supposed to have this dinner a good month ago, but last minute it was postponed because Chef Popit had to be hospitalized. Thank goodness he’s back in good health and so we finally pushed through. The dinner was going to be in his mom’s condo, where the set-up was done in a room that looked like a former library.
We had just one waiter, since the deal is, Chef Popit only serves one group per day. So it doesn’t matter whether you’re just a couple or a big group, he only serves one group at a time. So as soon as we were settled, the parade of flavors began:
Fried Tomatoes With Polenta Crust Topped With Tapenade
Our appetizer was an interesting crunchy little number. It was completely new, yet there was something familiar about the whole thing. It was funny because I was finishing up the last piece before I realized I was eating tomatoes. It was a nice start, and it gave a peek at how unique this little culinary journey was going to be for us.
Turmeric Lentil Soup With Popcorn Shrimp
This was an easy sell for me, because it tastes very similar to my all-time favorite soup, lobster bisque. My untrained palate doesn’t really know what the difference between the soups are, but same or different, I love both. The soup was served in a tiny rectangular dish which would normally be a too-small serving, but knowing that this was an 8-course dinner, the amount turned out to be just right.
Cheese Soufflé On Salad Greens With Balsamic Vinaigrette
Again, the salad was perfect for me because I don’t like creamy dressing. It just had balsamic vinaigrette (which is my usual dressing of choice), and it was basically regular salad, but with a twist. The pièce de résistance of this dish was the cheese soufflé on top. The closest I could think of describing the taste is a cross between a muffin and scrambled eggs. I love eggs, so it was a hit with me. It mixed well with the leafy taste of the greens and the tartness of the vinegar.
Tuna Carpaccio With Lemon-Sesame Oil Dressing
My experience with carpaccio is limited at best. It’s basically maguro sashimi, pero maarte. Carpaccio is usually raw meat or fish, so I was glad the chef chose fish because I’m not big on raw flesh of any type of animal, so fish is the least of the evils. And although I don’t even eat maguro sushi, I must say, I enjoyed this dish, maybe because of the dressing or the preparation, because I didn’t get the usual gummy texture I usually get from raw fish (which I hate).
Spinach Gnocci With Pomodoro Sauce
The dishes that had come out have been bundles of surprises, and the next one was no exception. It’s basically like taro, or radish cake, with spaghetti sauce. The gnocci itself has a very mild flavor and that starchy texture that perfectly balances out the full flavor of the pommodoro sauce. The dance of the different textures and flavors was delightful! It was a fun dish to explore and it was something I actually wanted a second serving of.
Seared Mahi Fillet With Mustard Béchamel Sauce
This was basically a fish fillet over some raw beets and with a cream sauce. I don’t like beets at all, but I decided to eat all of it anyway to experience the dish the way the chef wanted us to. It was quite unique, because I’ve never eaten raw beets before and never sliced this way. It’s like singkamas but less sweet. I still don’t like beets, but at least it wasn”t so bad. My least favorite of the dishes, not because it was bad, but only because the other dishes were exceptional.
Beetroot Roulade
Easily the most unique, the most bizarre, the most unfamiliar of all the dishes presented. And to my surprise, it also was my most favorite of them all. It’s so hard to describe, mainly because I’ve never tasted anything quite like it; nothing comes close. It’s not exactly delicious, but it’s delightfully interesting! It’s not tasty in the conventional way, in fact the flavors are downright odd, but for some reason my taste buds were quivering with enjoyment. And after you swallow a portion, a swift spiciness suddenly darts through your mouth then disappears as quickly as it came. I never tasted the spiciness while I chewed, only after I swallow. Fascinating!
Baked Fillet Of Chicken Breast On Spaghetti With Pesto Sauce
Everyone had chicken breast, but because I don’t eat chicken, Chef Popit did the same dish for me, only with fish. This was an okay dish, nothing fancy, plus I’m not so hot on pesto. Those are the 2 pasta sauces I like the least: pesto and carbonara. But to be fair, the pesto was really good, I just don’t like pesto in general. Plus. I guess it suffered in comparison to the dish right before it, the show-stopping beetroot roulade. And we were reaching the limit of our stomach’s capacity as well, reaching the end of the meal.
Crème Brulee
There were 5 of us who partook of the dinner, and it was unanimous: this was the BEST crème brulee we have ever tasted in our crème brulee-filled lives! We couldn’t believe how incredibly creamy that little concoction was! It was sooo good, verging on orgasmic. This is what I’m talking about, if I’m going against doctor’s orders and eat sugar, this is the dish I will cheat for!
Summary:
This was what I was referring to when I was discussing what I felt was lacking when we ate at The Goose Station. With this 8-course dinner, I felt like I took a journey, a culinary one, where I was taken to places I’ve never been to before. I felt excited with each new course, to see if I’d get to taste something new, like the beetroot roulade, or be wowed by a delicious version of something familiar, like the crème brulee. I also appreciated the hands-on approach that Chef Popit took, by coming into the dining area every now and then to see how we were doing, entertaining questions we might have with the different dishes, and generally making us feel at home. There’s something to be said about chefs who take time out to fraternize with the clients who patronize his craft. It’s personal and it’s effective. But in the end, no matter how gregarious a chef may be, it all boils down to the taste of the food. And in this aspect, Chef Popit did not disappoint. If I were shelling out good money on food, I would definitely splurge for a dinner like this. The only reason I chose a least favorite dish is because the other dishes were stellar. Overall, highly recommended for taste buds craving for something different. If you’re looking for new gourmet explorations, I wouldn’t think twice pointing the way to Chef Popit’s condo. Money well-spent, and taste buds that are happy for it.
Ever since we had our 5-course dinner at SOCO in Pasig (which I blogged about) my photogroup Fourground decided we would try as many of those as we can. It’s really fun, because it’s like taking a trip down a culinary road; you never quite know where the experience will take you. It’s also a chance to practice our food photography and our fledgling food critique hobby. We were supposed to try Chef Popit’s 5-course dinner, but 2 days before our dinner, he had to beg off because he was hospitalized. So we had to look for another set to try and we chose to go with Chef Rob Pengson’s The Goose Station in W Tower in Bonifacio Global City. They have a menu for the 5-course meal, but for each course, you have choices to pick from. So each of us ended up with different dishes for our individual meals. So here goes my set:
Snacks: Foie Cone, Potato Glass, Truffle Puff, Savory Macaroon
Of the four appetizers, I liked the Foie Cone the best. In the words of Delle, it had the most “conviction”. Maybe I just didn’t get what the others were trying to go for? They were interesting, but didn’t really hit the right notes. My least favorite was the Truffle Puff. There was a certain taste among the melange of flavors that I particularly didn’t like. Not being a true gourmet, I cannot isolate and correctly identify the offending flavor. But the Foie Cone was an explosion of goodness. I also loved the gelatinous texture.
Beet Garden Salad: Beets, Orange, Davao Goat’s Cheese, Walnut Soil, Garden Garnish
For me, the best dish in the whole set. Not only is it magnificently pretty in terms of presentation, but it’s refreshingly delicious as well. That beet gelatin tube in the center, filled with goat’s cheese, was absolutely divine. And the other stuff littering the plate were such an interesting motley of flavors. It was designed to look like a real garden, but I just found that snail shell in one corner of the plate a bit gross. I don’t like the idea of a mollusk sliming about in my salad. Not very appetizing to me. The rest though, was absolutely gorgeous to the senses.
Eggs Benedict: Poached Egg, Hollandaise Foam, Truffle Oil, Bacon Tuile
My least favorite dish. I like eggs, but this threw me off. You’re supposed to mix the whole thing up and scoop it spoon by spoon into your mouth. It looks yummy, but the whole raw egg feel to it turned me off. I was not a big fan of the slimy texture, and it had a lot of half-cooked egg whites, so the feel of that phlegmy texture in my mouth was not a pleasant experience. I like poached eggs, but I’m not a big fan of soft-boiled eggs, which this dish reminded me more of.
Lamb Ribs: Mushroom Gnocchi, Red Wine Sauce, Pistachio
This hefty slab of lamb was pretty good. The meat was practically melting off the bones and it had none of that lamb taste that turns off most people from this type of meat. It was mostly a delicious meal…until the end. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but it had a weird aftertaste. Not the maanggo taste often associated with lamb, but a different weird taste left on the tongue. My friend Lennie had the same comment; she said it’s as if a coating was left on her tongue. It was good while you were eating it, but it left an odd aftertaste.
Yogurt Parfait: Foam, Mixed Berries, Mango, Granola, Mint
Like true yogurt, this dessert was more tart than sweet. Most of it was foam, which I ask coffee shops not to add whenever I buy designer coffee because I’m not fond of it, and it wasn’t the type of dessert I’d break my sugar fast for. If I were eating sugar for the first time in 6 months, this would not be the dessert I’d be saving it for. Not bad, but not great either. I preferred Lennie’s dessert more, the Chocolate Candy Bar.
Summary:
Just to qualify my credentials, I am neither a chef nor a gourmet, so my opinion is purely on a foodie level. I just like eating a lot and so it’s very possible that my opinion is mostly from a layman’s point of view and should be treated as such. On that defensive note, I must say, in general, I was pretty much disappointed. The presentation is A plus plus, but taste-wise, except for the salad, it was mostly a dud. Just comparing it with our dining experience with the cheaper-priced SOCO dinner, the 5 courses didn’t take us on a journey; it felt more like going around in circles. Many of the dishes had similarly tasting components. And with some, the ingredients didn’t seem to gel with each other to form a single whole. It’s almost as if you can taste each ingredient, as separate from each other, instead of working together to form a unified flavor. And strangely, after the dinner, we all felt light-headed, and Fritzie felt outright dizzy. At first Lennie thought it was the wine in our lamb, but Greg had the Duck Confit and he too was woozy. But the biggest disappointment of all, I guess, was the lack of that satisfied feeling you have after a particularly good meal. We had it at the SOCO dinner, also our lunch in Ugo Bigyan’s place in Laguna. With this dinner, our bellies were full, but our taste buds were left wanting. Of course I leave space that maybe I just didn’t get it. Maybe some other more sophisticated palates would appreciate the complex flavors and ingredients that went over my pedestrian taste buds. Many flavors to me tasted queer, if not all-out unpleasant. So as far as form is concerned, it was fantastic, we had a field day shooting the photogenic presentations. But as far as substance is concerned, or to be specific, taste, it wasn’t bad, but it definitely was far from great. Would I come back? Maybe someday, but not anytime soon. For now, I’d rather try first what other chefs have to offer. But this is just me, you might want to try out their dishes for yourself, you might have a totally different call on their cuisine and enjoy it much more than we did. Peace!
Despite the threat of Typhoon Ester, one thing led to another, and we found ourselves on the road last Saturday, hurtling towards Pampanga, the land of my mother’s people. Although my mom is pure Kapampangan, we never really went to Pampanga because all the relatives we know were all in Manila. So I didn’t really know how to get around the province, much less speak the dialect. I think I know a couple though: mapali ing nasi, e cu balu, caragul ng buldit, asapu queng bola la lalam ng tete, taksiapo, among others. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we ended up in Holiday Inn, in a quite unexpected weekend away from the city, an impromptu getaway, that we welcomed nevertheless.
Before going to Holiday Inn (we’re at the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…) we decided to finally eat lunch at C’ Italian Restaurant, where you’d find the original panizza or rolled pizza popularized by Yellow Cab. We had salad and Jando panizza (with Italian sausages, olives, and other yummy morsels):
Then we finally arrived at the hotel to check in, and we were surprised that the room was pretty spiffy. It had two chambers, one had the living room area with a sofa and a flat screen TV:
And another room had the bedroom stuff, a work desk and another flat-screen TV! And can I just say, the sheets were wicked!!! I could so get used to a king-sized bed like that, enveloped by billows of soft, insanely-high thread count bed sheets, and goose down pillows. You didn’t lie down in it, you SANK in it. I had to be physically dragged out of that wonderful bed:
One of my unwritten rules regarding vacation is “no laptop”. But since it wasn’t really a vacation, I decided to bring my laptop for the very first time. So it was such a big production number for me, even willing to pay the 500 pesos for 24 hours internet because I saw myself blogging, tweeting, Facebooking all weekend long. And what do I discover amid all that childlike wonderment and excitement? I left my charger at the RX booth. I wanted to cry. I was even willing to buy a new charger just to be able to go online. But apparently there’s no Apple store in Clark. In frustration, I just set up my useless laptop on my exquisite work desk, as a reminder of how incompetent a packer I am. Madder packer!
We took a nap first on that glorious bed (I miss it already, waaah!) and woke up in time for a visit to the Duty Free store. I almost lost my mind! There was so much to buy. I don’t remember going this crazy in the Subic counterparts. But this one had so much stuff I wanted. But we kept the buying to a minimum, ending up with just chips, body wash, roach traps, and grout cleaner. Then we decided to drive around until we see a nice restaurant. It was pouring, so we had a hard time navigating around Angeles. We ended up in a small street that pretty much looked like a red light district. It looked so much like Soi Cowboy, the place we went to in Bangkok. And yes, the girls were aplenty. They were not on the streets, on account of the torrential rains, but they were still there, by the entrances to their clubs, wiggling their fingers at potential clients, shooting them come-hither looks. I have to admit, it was quite scary.
Frustrated at not finding a restaurant, we ended up back at the hotel for dinner. We just went to their restaurant Mequeni, and had dinner there. We ordered lumpiang veggies and beef caldereta:
After dinner we decided to just continue the binge and munched on chips and dip as we watched the sucky Keanu Reeves movie, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. Keanu’s wooden acting was well matched for his role as an alien from outer space. Then we watched a much better show on the Discovery channel where Les Stroud counted down the most dangerous waters in the world in terms of shark attacks (Florida waters was number 1). By the time the show was over, I was already half-asleep. I don’t even remember how I fell asleep.
The next morning, this was how our window looked like:
Typhoon Ester was pouring full blast. We got up, and went down for my most awaited meal during any vacation – the breakfast buffet!!! No typhoon is going to rain on my parade…or my bacon for that matter. Here’s a picture of my cholesterol-laced power breakfast:
I blame the pouring rain for my appetite! It was just so nice to eat all that oily food when the weather is cold and freezing water is falling from the icy heavens. I needed to insulate my body with layers of blubber to protect me from the impending cold.
Anyway, to make things worse, we took another nap after that heavy meal, and slept until they rang us to get our sorry asses out of there. We paid our bills, checked out, and headed back to Manila early because I had to host a wedding with Delle later that afternoon. On our way back, it was really scary! The rain was really falling hard. And I guess because of the rain, the roads and highways were practically deserted. It was creepy in a “The Day The Earth Stood Still” kinda way. It was a much needed respite, despite the foul weather, and we really enjoyed our Pampanga surprise holiday weekend. Let me wrap up this post with some photos of the wet deserted roads on our way home (taken, of course, from inside the car, in between wiper swipes):
We swore never to let the wet season stop us from enjoying a well-earned road trip!
Since we’ve been here before (same time last year to be exact), I really didn’t bring my camera gear anymore because I didn’t really see myself taking pictures this time around. So I just brought my handy waterproof Canon D10, and my Nikon D90 “just in case”. True enough, I hardly took pictures, because we were too busy being like kids. So if you want to see photos of the awesome resort, just search for “Calicoan” on the search bar of my blog, and it’ll show you links to the 3 posts I did same time last year. It was a very simple, low-stress weekend. We practically spent 3 days soaking either under the sun or in the salt water pool.
We also spent whatever time we had out of the water, wolfing down platefuls of sinful delights like crispy pata. We stayed there for 3 days, and for 3 lunches straight, we feasted on one of the best, if not THE best crispy pata we’ve ever tasted. The balat was thin and crispy to the bite, quickly breaking down into juicy morsels with every nibble. Of course we always ordered veggies or fish with it to justify the culinary orgy we partook of. It was food porn, I tell you!
We also tried out surfing, and unexpectedly we found it quite easy to stand. We all got the hang of it on the second or third try. Maybe the background we have on wakeboarding made it a little easier to learn. The waves were small, so our instructors said it was the perfect size for beginners like us. Surprisingly, the hardest part was not finding our balance, but paddling far to where the waves were breaking. It’s much harder than you’d expect! By the time I paddled far enough to catch a wave, I was totally exhausted and out of breath. I’m just glad I tried it this time around, since we skipped the surfing part the last time we were here.
Like I said, for the most part, we just fooled around like kids. We’ve never quite behaved like this before, just having fun, not thinking of anything except relaxing and laughing and making fools of ourselves. To give you an idea, here are some samples of MANY pics we took goofing around:
All in all it was one of the most fun vacations we’ve ever had. It was inevitable that we’d get the blues coming home, given that it was so much fun, and it was way too short. As it was, we had to swap with the Playtime Girls to be able to maximize our stay there. So after 3 wonderful days, we come home recharged, armed with wicked tans and memories to last a lifetime.
(the famed San Juanico bridge linking Leyte and Samar, where Dante Varona notoriously jumped off)
As I type, I’m dripping with sweat because I started brisk-walking around the village as part of my new fitness regimen. My doctor insisted that although diet is the primary concern, lack of exercise is just as dangerous as eating bad. Why am I sharing this? Because this is a long-delayed post, this dinner happened March 26, 2010, when my friends and I decided to try this 6-course dinner by SOCO: Private Dining By Reservation (it’s in San Antonio Village in Pasig).
I hardly get to indulge in dinners like this. The last time I think was when we did an 8-course dinner in Chef Laudico’s house way back in 2004. The reason I brought up my fitness regimen is that just when I fell in love with dinners like this, suddenly, everything is bawal. So I don’t know when I’ll get to partake of such a banquet again. I guess I’d have to get used to my usual plateful of tears instead. Anyway, we chose the SOCO Tasting Menu #1.
Cocktails
Baked Brie in Phyllo with Raspberries
This was DEEELICIOUS. I felt a bit guilty because it was on the sweet side of the spectrum. If not for the equal amount of saltiness, I would have mistaken this for dessert.
Dinner Proper
Tuscan Mushroom Salad: Pan-Seared Foie Gras on Carpaccio of Tuscan Mushrooms topped with Raclette Cheese and served with Chive Cream Dressing, Chopped Tomatoes and Edible Flowers.
Hands-down my favorite of the 6 courses. Absolutely scrumptious! The combination of the Foie Gras and Raclette had my toes curling. It was hard to top this one.
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Goat Cheese Whipped Cream
I’m not a big fan of pumpkin soup, so I’m not the best person to judge this. My niece makes a killer pumpkin soup, but I’m really just not into it. But based on the other pumpkin soups I’ve tasted, this one’s definitely one of the better ones.
Tiger Prawns on a pool of Squid Ink Sauce topped with Chorizo Fritto and Paella-flavored Risotto
Being a big seafood eater, I gobbled this up with much regret, because I was so patay-gutom that I think I didn’t give it the proper respect by eating it slowly, appreciating the fine flavors that went into it. My mind just saw: “FOOD!” and ate every last morsel. The squid ink on the side was a nice touch. I’d slide my prawn over it before popping it into my mouth and it gave the dish a nice twist.
Snake River Farms’ US Wagyu Flat Iron Steaks with Garlic Potato Puree and Bacon-wrapped Asparagus
Again, I’m not a big fan of steaks in general. Even as a kid, I wasn’t really into slabs of beef on my plate. I’m not a big chewer (I know, unhealthy), so unless the meat is EXTRA tender, I tend to chew a bit, then gag on the juice-less meat. But this one was definitely tender, and I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the prawns more, but this wasn’t bad at all. And to think we’ve gone through 4 courses before this, and yet I ate every last bit.
Chocolate Souffle topped with White Chocolate Shavings served with Vanilla Bean Sauce
I was SUPPOSED to skip the dessert. But when it came out, how could I not venture even a little taste? Well, the “litlle taste” translated to eating half of this blissful experience. It was so sinfully good. I was glad we had coffee to balance out the sweetness. Of course a flood of guilt ensued once I put the chocolate-stained teaspoon down…
Overall, we were so happy that we swore to make this a regular hobby. My friend Lennie is such a Foodie that she has a couple more Private Dining restos lined up already. The price range is a bit steep though. But I felt that it was money well-spent. It’s such a luxurious gastronomic experience. It’s like being spoiled rotten through food. Good luck to me given my new stringent diet, but I guess I can treat myself every now and then to nights like these filled with good food, great company, and some food photography.
Like I blogged about on a previous post, I’m dead serious on improving my health by getting more exercise and cleaning up my diet. I don’t really follow anything strict, I just try to avoid cholesterol and sugar, including artificial sweeteners. So that doesn’t really leave me with much (at least not much yummy stuff). So here’s the diet I came up with, and I hereby christen it: “The Chico Garcia Healthy On The Inside, Sexy On The Outside Diet”.
Basically, I’m avoiding meat altogether, except fish, which I eat a lot of, and fried stuff. And as little sugar as possible, except for naturally occurring sugars that come with carbs.
Step 1: No more sugar or artificial sweetener in my morning coffee. Delle and I brew our own coffee in the morning, so I learned to take my coffee with only some skim milk. It’s not bad, actually. Also, no more of my favorite diet softdrinks and juices. Just water and my coffee with skim milk.
Step 2: Lessen even the sugary fruits like mangoes, bananas, watermelons, etc, and partake sparingly of only my most favorite fruits like my current fruits du jour, prunes, plums, balimbing and kiwi:
These are DELICIOUS Bangkok balimbimg I get to buy in Binondo. It’s not always available so I buy whatever stock they have whenever it’s there.
No, this isn’t a photo of my testicles on our marble kitchen top, it’s my guilty pleasure, kiwis. I’m sure the sugar content is pretty high since it’s juicily sweet, but I don’t care, I love it! And they say it is the singular food that makes the smell of your…uhm…”juice” much less pungent.
But of course I also binge every now and then. Just before I started typing this, I ate me tons of durian, which Delle pointed out this morning, is loaded with sugar. So sue me, I never claimed I was strict about my diet rules.
Step 3: Change of breakfast. Before I realized the error of my ways, Delle and I had a breakfast schedule. M-W-F, we brought our own baon, and for me that usually means rice and canned bangus. T-Th, we order food from the few fastfoods that offer delivery at 6am. Now, we had to change that as well. Now, every M-W-F, I bring our new best friend, kamote for me and Delle:
These are the sweeter, orange version of our humble kamote, known as Taiwan kamote, or as I like to call it, “Rockwell kamote”, because you can buy this at Rockwell for 150 pesos a kilo (in Binondo I get mine for 50 pesos a kilo). I call it Rockwell kamote because I think it’s the only type of kamote eaten by rich and sexy people. Seriously though, I’ve heard so many fitness buffs and athletes swear by this root crop, because although it’s sweeter than the local variety, it’s got good carbs that fills you up but doesn’t pile up the calories. So every M-W-F, we gorge on this sweet creamy mushy carb and surprisingly, we’re not as U-2-10 as we expected, since kamote is notorious for it’s unflattering twin, flatulence.
As for T-Th, I make baon (naks, make baon!) one of two choices. Sometimes, I still bring my canned bangus, but this time, not with white rice, but with unpolished organic brown rice, mixed with this thing I found in the grocery:
I forgot what it’s called, since I threw away the packaging, but it’s a mixture of different grains like brown rice, whole rolled oats, and some other alien-looking high fibre grains that boost your fibre quota in leaps and bounds. It takes a little getting used to, especially the texture, but it’s twice as filling as regular brown rice and it does wonders for your bowel movement.
I alternate that with muesli, which is basically uncooked rolled oats, dried fruits, nuts and seeds. I got me the one that didn’t add sugar, because most have sugar to make it sweeter and creamier. I bought the boring kind:
I just soak it in skim milk overnight, in the ref, then make it baon the next morning. It’s pretty yummy and quite refreshing to eat in the morning!
Step 4: Eat more at home. This is my secret weapon. At home, we no longer serve meat dishes, just fish and vegetables. Add to that our yaya’s bland cooking and voila, instant diet! I love eating out, and let’s face it, the reason why food in restaurants taste so good is that they do anything, add anything, however unhealthy, to the food, just to get that yummy flavor we all love.
I had to let go of most of the things I love the most: salt, sugar and fat. Oh well, I guess it’s time to let go of the eating habits I had when I was a much younger man. My metabolism is slower, I gain weight faster, I bounce back slower, so I need to help out my body any way I can. I think it’s working, my barber said I lost weight, even if I didn’t, so I guess it kinda works? I don’t know about the sexy part, but I definitely feel much better on the inside. The high fibre diet flushes out the food at thrice the usual speed. I feel so clean inside (despite the dirty mind).
So there you go, my new sexy diet. So when you see me out in the streets, humor me, tell me that I lost weight, and tell me how hot and sexy I’ve become. Deal?
