Feast at Gourdo's

Gourdo's Cafe is at the Fort Strip, decked beautifully in quirky graphic artworks such as medieval paintings of its chief character Gordo and hand-drawn comic book style collages. We had a feast fit for kings during a private event reservation, buffet-style. It was super good! Everyone left happy, sated and dwelling in warm fuzzy feelings left over by the quaint, homey ambiance (wood-fired ovens, delectable gelato displays and desserts anyone?).

Baby Back Ribs with Barbecue Sauce - soft and flavorful, with the sauce coated sweetly and perfectly 

Beer battered chicken fingers with honey mustard - average fare, but good for pica pica   

Fish pot pie - I loved this one. Creamy, cheesy top crust, and generously filled with what tasted like white fish chunks, teeny sliced baby carrots and mashed potatoes. It was quite addicting, and I had myself spooning one serving after another.

Rib-eye steak - Boy, don't be deceived by the picture because it is amazingly succulent and flavorful, with a rich gravy sauce that topped it off perfectly (the secret ingredient being a hint of Worcestershire inside, maybe?) Very, very good.

These are the toppings of the Asian Salad, which was given an extra kick paired with a sort of soy vinaigrette that tasted surprisingly sweet. I like.

Spaghetti Bolognese - average fare, but tasted authentic and tomato-ey. 

Another winner in this hungarian, mushroom and gorgonzola white cream sauce pasta. The texture of the sauce was smooth and silky, and the hungarian sausage really stood out. That alone was good enough to eat on its own. My table-mates kept wondering if it was truffle infused, because of its delicious, earthy and herb-like taste, which is always a good point of comparison as truffle is very expensive and highly regarded.

Cream of roasted pumpkin soup. Hearty and warmly familiar. My table-mates also loved this. 

Gourdo's Pizza - Grilled chicken, barbecue sauce, cheese and GRAPES. Yes, you heard me right. I love this glorious and unique take on pizza, because the grapes add something really special to the dish. Never would have thought grapes on pizza could become so appealing, but now I have been enlightened. ;)

Peach, bacon and cheese pizza. Another fruit-infused pizza to brighten up the palate. I particularly adored the blue cheese bits on the pizza. Not your average pizza slice, because it's way better! 

I love their textured food props on top of the gelato - like real strawberries, an entire Crunch bar or chocolate blocks. Certainly was a factor in having everyone buzz busily over the counter like bees. If I'm not mistaken, a serving only costs P 70 which is unbelievable value for the premium flavors and rich quality of the creamy gelato.

Capped it off with these brownies - rich, sweet and densely packed with chocolate paired with the Irish Cream gelato which had the perfect sweetness and kick but without the alcoholic aftertaste. It tasted like French vanilla and caramel, or an even better combination of it. 

Sure to come back. I'm eyeing other pieces on the menu -  particularly many of the other gelato flavors, seconds of some of the food we ate, and the salmon panini. It was something we loved in the original menu back in the earlier days, and were dismayed to have it taken out. But it looks like it's back, with a vengeance! ;) 

Elbert's Cheesesteak

This was my lunch yesterday.

Elbert's American Cheesesteak.

If I'm not mistaken, it costs around P 320, which is pretty expensive for a sandwich. However, considering that this is the same Elbert of Elbert's Steak Room in Salcedo Village (known for its steaks and the exorbitant price tag attached, as well as the mysterious door that we mistook for just a plain wall the last time I ate there with my family), I guess this falls within reasonable range.

Eight inches of bread, shredded steak, cheese and onions. I sliced my sandwich in halves, which was fruitless as I ended up eating the whole thing anyway. Oops.

Italianni's Almost Midnight Snack

Fully Booked has a major warehouse sale at their Bonifacio High Street branch, ending tomorrow April 8, 2011. Prices are unbelievable. How low do they go? As low as P 20! Yes, 20 pesos, you read it right. There were tables filled with stacks and stacks of books at price points P 20, P 50, P 70 and P 100. To give you an example of the relative quality of the selection, P 100 included lots of hardbound books (with a pretty diverse selection of business non-fiction, self-help how to's, fiction novels, and more) while P 50 included lots of branded travel books like Fodor's and Frommer's as recent as 2009 and with popular cities. I even saw several books that I had bought full price in the past. 


It was definitely a steal, with people reportedly buying strollers' worth of books and even requiring boxes as they swept the outstanding-value-for-its-price book selection (rapidly trimmed from a large floor area at Fully Booked's Top Shelf when the event started late March, into a small retail space on the third floor by the time we came). Another example of the price versus quality ratio - My cousin bought some sci-fi books by a cult favorite author for a mere P 70 pesos each, when he'd easily have bought it full price for P 700. I hope they make a habit out of this major warehouse clearance sale. Throw in a pleasant, quiet, air-conditioned ambiance, carefully stacked books (all you need to do is circle the tables, reading the titles hands-free), a ready stroller and a special cashier situated for that purpose, and you're all set for some primo bargain-hunting. 


I bought a P70 book by novelist Amy Tan, which I have yet to read. I don't usually buy books anymore, as I have a long list of titles pending in my beloved first generation Kindle (a glorious hand-me-down from my dad). The only thing I miss is the random browsing afforded by paperback copies. I am a browse-a-holic, impatience and curiosity combining as I sometimes read the ending first or significant chunks in the middle before I properly start it from cover to cover. 


After some serious window-shopping (contemplating the height of wedges in Charles & Keith, flabbergasted at the latest Apple technology of 12-core processors, and drooling over pricey dresses in Topshop while mentally weighing it against bargain finds in places like Cotton On, Multiply and Greenhills) as well as a teensy bit of dog-watching (Bonifacio High Street is the place to be whether you're a chic dog owner or just your dog is), we trooped towards a faithful favorite for a late night snack - Italianni's. 


We ate my favorite way - communal dishes placed in the middle and sampled by everyone. I've gotten so attached to getting to try a string of dishes in one restaurant visit, that sometimes ordering a solo dish feels almost lonely. (Unless it's a tried and tested true favorite which I would happily gobble up on my own.) Plus, it also accommodates two of my favorite things - Italian food and appetizers.  

Spaghetti with giant meatballs - tangy tomato and satisfyingly meaty (there were two meatballs, but enough to slice up in small chunks and eat with the linguine)  

 Stuffed mushrooms - cheesy, creamy, mushroom-meaty 

 Italianni's Caesar Salad - classic and sweetly fun to munch on.  

Truffle fries! I haven't eaten in Italianni's for a long time, so this was a pleasant surprise. The sauce was honey-mustard-truffle, which was delightful and endlessly appealing. 

 Salmon carpaccio - tasting like its garnish of capers, olives, spices, and other unnamed ingredients.

Fried calamari - the ultimate pica pica snack food, the right kind of crispy. 

My personal favorite was truffle fries, which did not scrimp on the truffle flavor. The first time I tried truffle fries, it was at Bistecca, and since then I have surmised you can never go wrong with truffle oil and French fries on hand.  It's becoming an addiction. I don't even usually like honey mustard, but with truffle oil? Yum yum. (In the words of the heaviest four year old in the world, Lu Zhihao ;)