Graduation Buffet Season

So it's graduation season once again. My younger brother graduated from high school, and I from the last ever educational institution I will attend - college. Graduation season is equal to eating time once again, and in this case it's kicked up by a notch for our hotel buffets scheduled right after another. Our food splurge this week does not disappoint.

Some highlights and lowlights:

Circles, Makati Shangri-La (my brother's graduation Friday night) 

We like it for its wide variety of food, good service, flourless chocolate cake, lamb chops with mint jelly (unfortunately, none today!) My mom and aunt also loved the noodle station, with hand-pulled noodles and seafood portions of large mussels, squid and shrimp (bigger than you can find it at the frozen area). My uncle also had some prawns cooked in butter, but he said it was just okay.

 Sushi platters. Don't worry, I didn't finish all of that by myself. My brothers and I started off with sushi appetizers while waiting for the rest of the family. Included here is the trademark salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi, lapu-lapu sashimi and spicy tuna (quite good all in all).

 I got chocolate chip cookies, drizzled it with vanilla sauce and strawberries. Although, Spiral in Sofitel still has the honor of having the most delicious cookies.

 Tonight they had a chicken shawarma station. It was really good! I put lots of garlic sauce in mine. Yum. The fried siomai was also quite good. I'll pass on the peppered beef, Indian naan bread (I had to put butter on mine), steamed siomai, and this weird bread and meat pudding that I don't know what convinced me to get.

A slab of prime rib. Personally, I enjoyed it with mint jelly rather than the gravy sauce. Also, I can never resist the wood oven-baked pizzas of Circles and Spiral. Four cheese, give it to me!

 Almond jelly with nata de coco and all the good stuff. Light, sweet and refreshing.

 I got some smoked salmon with garlic cream sauce from the salad station which was hidden behind the noodle soup area. I almost didn't see it if not for my aunt pointing it out. I also shared this heavenly cheese platter with my aunt and brothers, paired with raisins, walnuts, grapes and crackers. It was so good. Grapes with cheese is always a superb combination.

Trademark flourless chocolate cake goodness, and this horrible raspberry cheesecake burger that looked great, but didn't taste it.


Paseo Uno, Mandarin Oriental (my graduation Saturday night)


We were supposed to eat in Heat, Edsa Shangri-La but it was already fully booked. Graduation night, it is. So we decided to eat at Paseo Uno at Mandarin, a place where we haven't gone for quite some time due to establishments like Spiral being more competitive (in terms of variety and promo pricing). But it was a very good decision because Paseo Uno offers a variety of food that is uniquely available only to them. While the other hotel buffets have the usual spread of Japanese sushi, prime rib, and other marginal add-ons like Indian Stations and Chinese stations to relay the impression of variety, Paseo Uno has a carefully selected, quality buffet spread. For one, it has a foie gras station and various high-end seafood offerings that actually look appetizing (sea bass, sea mantis, lobster, etc). The only complaint I have is service! I feel that they are drastically undermanned. All the attendants look harried and are hard to flag down. This creates bottlenecks in the buffet line at times. My dad ordered a temaki from the Japanese station, and it took three follow-ups for it to finally be delivered to our table. My brother ordered sea mantis and it arrived during dessert already. Very poor service, but good selection. It's a wise choice not to compete with other typical hotel offerings, and instead carve out one's own niche.

This time, I decided to focus on seafood, dessert and cheeses. I'm not a very big beef person, and the prime rib from the previous Circles night really filled me up and didn't bring me as much satisfaction as the cheese platter did (tee hee). I did however take a bite of my brother's prime rib and tempura just for sampling purposes. He went back for a second serving of the prime rib so I guess he liked it! There was also roast chicken and lechon, but again those dishes aren't very big on me as they're readily available else where so I didn't attempt to get portions.    

 The salmon confit (middle left) was quite good, and the sea bass (topmost) was so soft and flavorful that I had to come back for seconds and considering thirds. The scallops were very hard (upper right). But if there's one thing that they're famous for, and something they truly deliver on, it's the foie gras (bottom). It melts in your mouth in a unique, rich taste.

 Garlic and lemon prawns (top left) and the slipper lobster (middle top) were quite good. The deviled prawns (top middle), siomai and seafood dumpling, truffle crusted fish (middle bottom) were just okay. I also got smoked salmon and seafood salad which were also nice.

 I forgot to take a picture of this plate, so you can see it's now quite demolished. But it was basically an array of cheeses, grapes (that we had to request for as their refilling was quite slow), smoked salmon again, salmon sashimi, and kani salad. This was a good plate. My mom and I loved the blue cheese.

 I'm not usually a dessert person, but for this dish I would make an exception. The milk tea ice cream and the chocolate crumbly cookie dipped in the chocolate fountain were so good I went back for more. Not visibly seen also are the chunks of nata de coco that I got. I also had a bite of my mom's marble cheesecake, top grade too.

 My brother's sea mantis. Quite good, but each piece didn't have much seafood meat.

 My dad's halo halo bonanza.

Pictures of some stations.


All in all, Paseo Uno seems to have a smaller yet better quality selection. If you're tired of the usual Japanese spreads and looking beyond just the usual meat offerings, Paseo Uno has its foie gras, sea bass, sea mantis, slipper lobster and milk tea ice cream to offer. Calories well-spent!

In the mean time, it's time to get back on that treadmill.

Merienda Bliss: Belgian Stroopwafels

My cousin came back from Europe the other week and brought Belgian "stroopwafels," a family fan favorite. It's a soft baked biscuit interlaced with a sweet caramel filling, sometimes called as a syrup waffle or a treacle waffle. This particular brand I've found to be the best. Gouda's Gilde, I love you.

Best eaten on top of a cup of coffee, with the savory steam softening the stroopwafel. In this picture, I pretended I only wanted half a waffle. Of course, this quickly failed as I ate the other half promptly after.

Delicious.

Graduating From an Era

It's the end of an era. 

When I was younger, school seemed like a never-ending series of graduation and admission. Pre-school, kinder/prep, grade school, high school.... It was one school year after another. And now, I'm at the end of that line. After my short-lived summer, it's not going to be another school year that I go back to. It'll be the real world, a different beginning in store for me. I am about to enter the rat race, without the excuse of my naivete or student age to allow me to coast on by. You know how everyone's always kinder to students? With less expectations and more allowances for mistakes? No more of being spoiled like that, haha! 

I officially graduate this March, 2011 and leave my alma mater of four years, Ateneo De Manila University. It's been my home for the past few years, an institution that I can proudly say I am part of. I can only feel nostalgic about all my Ateneo experiences and tricks that I can now bestow on my younger brother who is entering the same. 

But as I move on and say farewell, I can't help but make a list of the things I'll miss - not just about Ateneo, but the life of a student in general.  

1)      Free cuts   

There are days you just don't feel like going to class. And still you do, forcing yourself to trudge slowly to the classroom and upon arrival, finding out you were being given a beatific gift - a free cut!  

2)      Suspended classes

A guilty pleasure. It's not that I want destruction to rain on our city - that's not the fun in it at all. I just want an excuse not to go to class. The feeling of waking up blearily, wanting desperately to go back to sleep, checking your cellphone and finding a bunch of messages saying "No classes today!"  

3)      Laugh-out-loud funny class moments

Inside jokes in the classroom, a teacher with a great sense of humor, roars of laughter at something unexpected that leaves your stomach hurting.

4)      Seeing your friends

Self-explanatory. You don't need permission to go to school like you do to places on weekends.

5)      Summer, sem-break and Christmas breaks

 Mid-way, I start getting bored anyway and lose things to do. But the anticipation and the countdown that leads to it, and the first few days where doing nothing still feels like bliss.

6)      UAAP basketball games

There's nothing like watching a game live, hearing the drum beats and the cheers drown out your voice, watching with bated breath as the last few seconds decide who wins the game - and screaming your heart out when you find it's your school. And the feeling of pure pride as the whole Araneta Coliseum (blue side) raises their arms and sings the school song, especially getting louder as everyone shouts the part "Win, or lose, it's the school, we choose!"

7)      Cutting class to watch a movie, eat out, or go to the game

You know what? I won't remember the days I spent dutifully in class, forcing myself to stay awake but looking at the time longingly every few minutes. I'll remember those days I threw care to the wind, said to my friends, "Tara, cut na!" and coasted on to do something fun, like catch a movie, eat out or watch a UAAP basketball game.

8)      Exceptional lectures

Sometimes, you're not expecting to learn something - but you get caught up in a lecture that was particularly mind-blowing. I.e. Theology class with Ray Aguas.

9)      Hanging back, chilling out in the caf, SOM Mall, or where else

Self-explanatory.

  

10)       Katipunan food trips

Many well-spent calories at the local KFC, McDonald's, Shakey's, etc. 

11)       The feeling of having printed the papers you’ve worked on or submitting a major project

The subject of hours of toil and sleepless nights.

   

12)       Getting an allowance for not doing anything.

Self explanatory.  

13)       Manang's Liempo and Lechon Kawali, with a special patis/soy sauce/vinegar concoction

Likewise. 

14)       The kind Xerox ladies who always have a smile and a greeting ready for you

As a corollary: being done with mountain high piles of Xeroxed readings and notes. I have years' worth of scratch papers ahead of me. I may turn 30 and still be using the other side of a wretched Accounting worksheet. 

   

15)       Automatically checking for your ID every time you see a security guard

It's not just me. Most Ateneans suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder of the ID sort - sometimes I'm in a shopping mall and the mere sight of a guard automatically has me checking for my non-existent ID lace.

16)       Enlistment woes

Everything about the process is nerve-wracking - finding out your random number (holy *?!#% last batch), waiting online for enlistment time (get ready to sign in a minute or two earlier than PC time), having fast fingers (and a fast connection) to click on the few remaining slots of a much coveted class (meaning: easy A teacher) and coasting along with a few tricks, like submitting enlistment even when you're not done and praying the site won't crash so you won't repeat all the steps over again. Many have not emerged in one happy piece from this stressful process. I'm often one of them.        

17)       The kindness and community in being "a man for others," exemplified in things like the Ondoy Volunteer Operation

18)       Ateneo jokes

Oh come on, who doesn't have their own repertoire of school pride jokes? It is said, after all, that it is in the process of other-ification that we reinforce our own identity. (At least, we’re honest) Haha.

These are just some of the great memories I've had. But I've had my time. As I leave Ateneo, I give the role of making memories to the incoming and current students, and wish them true-blue luck. Besides, I always tell myself, there's no need to be sad, because life's like that - as you leave things you've loved, and enter into the unknown, it remains that every moment has the capacity to be a great memory - if you let it. 

D'Talipapa, Boracay: Best Seafood Experience Ever

One of the best and most memorable meals of my life was in this no-frills, unassuming paluto service place beside a wet market in Station 2, Boracay. The wet market is called D'Talipapa, famous to Boracay tourists who have experienced it. The market is a small, makeshift tiled area filled with a number of vendors showing off their wares and fresh catches of the day (often still alive and kicking) in large, water-filled basins.


Don't expect three-star services or accommodations. In fact, as soon as we arrived, shuttled by our hotel service, my mother looked uneasily at the place, slightly taken aback by the sari-sari store ambiance and street-side quality which she had not been expecting. This is not a fine dining place, although later on, we would find out its food is actually better and fresher than many hotel-grade places we've tried. My older brother promised us that the place was good, telling us his best meal in his past Boracay trips were always held at this place, with a cuppa of beer and basking in that tropical summer glow. Troopers that we were, we forged on.  


I followed my dad and brother around, happily taking pictures as they peered at the wet market's offerings and started negotiations. Haggling is a must. They take one look at you, size you up as a tourist, and jack prices up high. It's better to have an idea of how much the seafood market value really is as a guide to haggling, although you can also just automatically start haggling at like 40% less. Soon enough, they'll give you a fair price.


My dad bought scallops, lapu-lapu fish, crabs, lobsters and a lesser-known seafood named diwal or angel wing clams. We turned these over to the paluto place, called Plato D'Boracay, a few steps away, and settled for lunch. 


A feast for kings, that is. Now, I'm not very fond of seafood. I like it as much as the next person, but eating seafood fresh from the market, fresh from the waters, was an experience that elevated my appreciation of how good seafood could really be if it was cooked and caught right. There's a quality to it that's earthier, more succulent than ones that have been aged a day or two or lost some of its freshness in transportation. I could imagine that they tasted like the seas, that we were practically beach-front and so close to the waters unlike a hotel restaurant where you are enclosed by decorated yet concrete walls. 


We raved about the food for days and days. Even up to day, during one of our famous food reminiscing episodes, this meal always comes up. 


You can consult with Plato D' Boracay how you want it cooked. Their ingredients are probably very simple; surprising yet familiar flavors that somehow complement and highlight the natural flavors of the seafood. I tasted a ketchuppy garlicky component in the crabs, which was a surprisingly tasty outcome, unique from the usual experience of buttered or chili crab. I particularly loved the diwal, which was soft, tender, flavorful and delicious. The closest description I can appropriate would probably be of mussels, but um, 100x times better. And oh my, the scallops! Cheesy, garlicky, sumptuous. 


It was a delight to see as all the dishes were coming out, looking very impressive in their cooked splendor as we oohed and ahhed. Then there was a deep, significant silence as we all dug in and filled our bellies to our heart's content, basking in the feeling of a really good, really unforgettable meal. I still dream about it to this very day. Lol. 


Pictures of the market and our fantastic meal. 

 

 

  

 

      
       

Cibo, A Classic

Cibo, for me, is a dining staple. I used to eat at their branch in Glorietta with Mom - the one with the cold stainless steel tables and chairs and high bar chairs on the side. I always enjoy eating at Cibo for my comfort food - telefono pasta, spinach dip and occasionally, the grape shake or the mint iced tea. For Mom, it's always been the dish she calls salpicao - much to the confusion of the waiter. We like to simplify the names of the dishes by associating it with words we're familiar with. But in reality, here are their official menu names, with our matching homemade descriptions: 

Penne al Telefono P 315 (Telefono Pasta) 

(Stewed tomato, mozzarella, white cheese, basil, cream)

- Every time I go to Cibo, my usual crossroad is whether to order the genovese pesto pasta or the cheesy telefono pasta. Telefono wins at least 51% of the time - only because of my deep and devoted love for anything cheesy. Love their bread also - I try to save my bread chunks as I always get bitin towards the end, when I still have pasta and no more bread.  

Tagliata Di Manzo Aglio Rosmarino P 415 (Beef strips)  

(Beef tenderloin, roast, sliced, foccacia) 

- My mom loves this dish. It's simple but appealing, the beef sliced thinly and drizzled with flavor and herbs. Garlicky rice can be requested, which is so good with it.   

Today, we are with my younger brother who is always fun to eat with - his enthusiasm and appetite have no bounds. Together, we decide to try a couple new things. Although we were both sorely tempted to order something deceivingly ordinary but still appealing (their potato chips with dip), we decided to stick to more filling dishes.  

 

Fontina Tartufata Asparagi (Cheesy Truffle Dip) P 265 (?) 

(Fontina, bel paese, asparagus mushroom-truffle paste, truffle oil)  

- This is a winner. Eat it fast though, while the cheese is still soft and gooey courtesy of the hot plate. Love the subtle flavor of truffle which is such a distinct taste by itself. It usually comes with what they call Sardinian flat bread, but my brother and I prefer our dips with the crostinis. Much more filling and with an added crunch.   

Minestrone Alla Genovese P 173 (Hearty Veggie Broth)

(Vegetable broth, seasonal garden vegetables, leafy greens, basil pesto)

- My brother's words: hearty. And so it is. I am partial to creamy soups though, so I am biased. 

Caviale Salmone P 365 (Pizza)

(Mozzarella, lumpfish caviar, smoked salmon, cream cheese, chives)

- This one was just okay. I find that the pizza dough is a bit too hard, especially as it cooled. It was like trying to bite off something tough.  

For some reason, I like taking pictures of the table napkin or place mat to remember where I've eaten. Here's the signature orange napkin of Cibo. Cheers! :)   

 

Awestruck by Taylor Swift: Meet & Greet

Had an amazing Taylor Swift experience last night. Currently stuck on my mind: Speak Now by Taylor Swift. It has such a catchy hook! 


We had an enchanted opportunity to meet and greet Taylor Swift yesterday (yes, my attempt at a pun). She looked so pretty and au naturel in a pastel pink polka dot mini dress. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures as they had an official photographer who would be tasked with picture-taking, nor was autograph-taking allowed as we received pre-signed autographed pictures in lieu of this. We also met her in groups of 10, probably to save time as there were quite a number of other people in line. My reaction upon shaking her hand? AWESTRUCK. 


Taylor Swift is every bit as nice and sweet as she seems. She made sure she was able to even just say hi to every person in our group which I found to be a sweet, personalized gesture. To me, she said, "you're so pretty!" It took a long time to register, I was so flabbergasted because obviously, I am just this humble human being beside THE Taylor Swift, Popstar Extraordinaire. Finally, I found time to respond (almost incredulously), "YOU'RE so pretty!" She even went and kissed the little girls on the forehead, finding them every bit as adorable as they really were. 


I love stars who are very kind to their fans. I think all it takes is this thought: Once in their lives, they were ordinary people too, who would've cherished the opportunity for someone so famous to pay attention to them. To a starstruck fan, they can give a meaningful gift - a memory to cradle close to their heart for as long as they live. It's a pretty great opportunity to touch lives from all over.  


The concert started with a bang, with a song from her new album, "Sparks Fly." Taylor Swift came out shimmering in a gold sequined flapper dress, shimmying her way through the crowd with expert head-banging of her glorious mane of blond curls. There was this giant LCD screen in the back that had glittering 3D images, changing backdrops with every song and setting the mood beautifully. To the song, Enchanted, the backdrop befit its name - a picturesque fairy tale forest scene glittering into the night. To the song, Speak Now, it was replete with a cute choreographed wedding scene bridesmaid type of number. 


Taylor Swift also proved her versatility, playing three instruments - a sequined silver guitar, a laidback ukele (to which she interspersed chords from Hey Soul Sister by Train, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Apologize by One Republic with her own songs), and the piano for Dear John (John Mayer, you are one sorry jerk for breaking her heart! Haha!). At one point, one of her musicians played Enchanted purely on violin, which was beautiful. The crowd sang along, catching recognition of the tune, and the violinist smiled as we "got" it.   


Taylor also interacted with the crowd, telling us phrases like "Mahal ko kayo" and "KamustaS kayo?" At one point, she even went down the stage and circled the front set, shaking hands with the excited fans awaiting with arms outstretched. There was even a mini-scuffle near us as she threw her gloves to the crowd and two teens dove for it. Haha!  


She ended the 1 hour 25 minute show with a fake leave - the crowd shouted "We want more!" - and she came back out, singing "Love Story" and falling theatrically back-first away into the stage as the finale. Though it would have been nice if she'd sang her other songs like "Teardrops on my Guitar" and "Today was a Fairy Tale." Still, great, great concert. I've become a fan. I hope I get the opportunity to watch the other concerts lined up this year - Bruno Mars, rumored Lady Gaga, I'm watching you!     

One Wagyu Sunday

It's Sunday today, the ultimate cheat day for dieters. My family did not disappoint, eating like it was a feast for kings. The highlight of lunch today with extended family was pizza from Yellow Cab. Oh garlic and shrimp and 4 cheese pizza, simple (but fatty fast food) pleasures in life. They had it sliced in criss-cut bite-sized chunks, which is always an enjoyable and relatively guilt-free way of eating pizza. Eating in slices always limits me just to two to three pieces (and I want to try everything!)  


Mom went to the Chefs on Parade event yesterday and brought home some frozen goodies namely prime grade Wagyu Steak (P4,300/kilo or approximately 10 small-medium steaks) and Hamachi (P1,900 for 3 cuts). Quite pricey actually, so it was a good thing the food was delicious! My brother, M brought home crabs from Clawdaddy and there was also homemade kare-kare with bagoong. Eating, commence! 


The Wagyu steak was deliciously and sinfully marbled with steak fat and flavor. Soft, juicy and best taken with our favorite Japanese steak sauce (I'd tell you the name but I can't read Japanese. We just call it The Japanese Steak Sauce). The hamachi practically melted in my mouth, its texture was so smooth and velvety. Clawdaddy Szechuan-style crabs + crabs in olive and garlic had us cracking and snacking all its finger-licking-goodness. 

 
 
 

I am so full. But it's a good kind of full.