Plaza Level, Sofitel Philippine Plaza
CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City
+63 (02)832-6988
Lunch for today was prepared by head chef Jose Luis Gonzalez, a Spanish chef who studied at the Artxanda Bilbao, a prestigious culinary school. He has worked in four restaurants in the world namely: El Bulli, Mugaritz, Arzak, and El Celler de Can Roca. While waiting for food to be served, I heard that in some restaurants he has worked for, people had to reserve three months advance just to taste his food, so me sitting there made me feel really blessed.
Appetizers.
Lemon Yogurt Ravioli with Basil - If I am to explain how eating this feels in the mouth, I would compare it to a balloon filled with water. The balloon was strong enough to hold the liquid inside, but once it's poked, it will burst and the water will scatter. That burst was actually quite surprising, but of course in a good way. The lemon wasn't too overpowering, and the basil just gave it an interesting twist.
Black Forest Ham with Idiazabal Cheese Mousse Toast - A very good appetizer, but I found the blend of the ham and cheese quite salty for my taste. If I am to make this at home, I might lessen the amount of ham and cheese (since the toast was quite small), but since we only got to eat one piece, it was okay enough. By the way, I had a few sips of white wine after eating this, and the blend of taste was so good!
Caramelized Foie with Mango - I was a bit hesitant to try this because I know "foie" is liver and I don't eat liver... but I do know that as a foodie I should at least try and taste it, and I was glad I did. It didn't have any liver taste (or aftertaste) that I hated, and of the three appetizers, this was my favorite. The foie had a hint of saltiness, which went well with the sweet and slightly tangy mango.
Lobster Salad with Crispy Focaccia, Macadamia Nuts, and Truffle Vinaigrette - The very first thing that caught my attention were the pink petals... and yes, those were bougainvillea flowers. It gave a slight bitter taste to the salad (but not as bitter as arugula), but the one thing I am thankful for this salad was that it had lobsters. It was my first time to eat lobster, and now I can say that it's delicious.
Main Course.
Main Course.
Lamb Tenderloin with Confit Potatoes, Crispy Pineapple, and Lamb Jus - At first I thought desserts were served quite early. :) Anyway, the lamb was cooked medium well, something I appreciated because I didn't like my meat rare. I already got to eat lamb many years back (but it wasn't as much as this one, more like a taste of lamb), and I did know it had an aftertaste, but the great thing about this dish was that it didn't have that not-so-good aftertaste. Also, I loved the texture of the crispy pineapple (those wrapped with noodles) as well. Fruit on meat? Why not?
Surprise Dessert.
Strawberry-Tomato Sorbet with Grilled Pineapples and Basil - We did have a print out copy of the menu on our table, and we were expecting the one with beer ice cream, but they told us this was a surprise. Pardon the poor quality of picture (my camera really can't function well in low-lit environments), I just had to take this picture as fast as possible. Anyway, this was served with just a scoop of the sorbet and some cuts of pineapple on the side, and this tube-like glass seemed to be "out of place," but the surprise was that Chef Jose Luis came to greet us with a pitcher and he started pouring milk into the glass. Turned out, the glass had a dry-ice inside and when poured with milk, the milk started to froth. Quite interesting to see... if one pours water in dry-ice, it will create smoke, but when poured with milk, it will create bubbles. Once the bubbles cleared out and the sorbet and pineapple was then swimming in milk, they took away the glass because of course, dry-ice can't be eaten, but the milk is still edible. In fact, Chef told us he just poured ordinary milk, but the milk on our dessert tasted different than ordinary milk. Amazing!
Pumpkin Cream with Beer Ice Cream - We were still served the dessert printed on the menu, and tasting this I knew it tasted somewhat familiar... until one of us (fashion photographer Ira) said it tasted like Brazo de Mercedes. The beer ice cream tasted a bit like beer, but not that strong. It still tasted like vanilla ice cream, only slightly bitter.
Lunch done, we still took time to talk with each other more, and yes, have a group picture. Taken by my sister, I am so thankful that I got to eat lunch with these people. There were familiar faces, but more I met for the first time.
Lunch done, we still took time to talk with each other more, and yes, have a group picture. Taken by my sister, I am so thankful that I got to eat lunch with these people. There were familiar faces, but more I met for the first time.
Fever Luxe Lounge is open everyday dinnertime onwards. This is a lounge, yes, but they do serve dinner, too, and if you want to know more about the place, and check their schedule (they have events every now and then), please check their website, FeverLuxeLounge.Com.
Big thanks to Fever Luxe Lounge and Sofitel for the invitation.
So... what did you have last weekend? If you're new to the Weekend Eating meme, you can read the rules and get the badge codes HERE. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined last week.
PS - I am thinking of opening a Facebook Page for this blog... and I am thinking of compiling all entries for a weekly album (with links to your post, of course). I am asking your opinions about this. :)
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my