Stockmarket, Bonifacio High Street

I did not know that the restaurant, Stockmarket, is by Del Monte. The poor choice of name does not give off images of fresh produce on a platter. Instead, along with the architectural design, it makes you think of an uptight restaurant that serves pea-sized, insanely expensive artificial food for heartless finance moguls.

This fact becomes clear though with the racks of Del Monte canned products and fresh pineapples that greet you upon entering. The servers' uniform (green and khaki) also scream farm-fresh vegetables and healthy menu items. The interior design tried to achieve a country-kitchen feel, what with the white wooden furniture, mocha-colored seat cushions, walls with framed recipe pages and glasses with pineapple design lined up against them. Sadly, it failed in execution with the result of being torn between chic and modern, and homey and nostalgic.

Fortunately, the food was its saving grace, although it wouldn't hurt for Dole to give more value for customers' money. I mean, it IS Del Monte already.

I wanted a light dinner so I went for the berries-something-salad. Essentially, a salad made of lettuce, mango, grapes, strawberries, blue cheese and walnuts. The "berries" part was the sauce-- a puree of mixed berries which did not taste artificial and had just the right amount of sweetness. B liked it a lot. For the price though (Php295), they could've been more decent with the strawberry serving, as what I had in my giant plate was one tiny strawberry sliced into four.

I noticed how B likes to have pasta on weekend dates. I guess it's the romantic/traditional in him. His tomato-based pasta with salmon was light without sacrificing taste. The salmon was cooked and seasoned perfectly.

The Ice Cream Bar by FIC (Fruits in Ice Cream) has opened inside Stockmarket, so you can have your fix of fruity ice cream after dinner. But I can't think of anyone who'd want FRUIT ice cream after having a fruity meal already.

We had a satisfactory dinner at the Stockmarket. Next time, I will order the Pineapple Harvest Salad-- a salad arranged inside a cored pineapple-- which we spotted being brought to one of the tables. I look forward to coming back in the afternoon to experience the place and food in daylight. Perhaps I will appreciate the interior design better.