A new McDonald's Item to love

A good day starts with a good breakfast. For some reason, days starting with a brekkie from McDonald's always turns out to be a good day. Or maybe they just happen to be mornings on the road out of town. I discovered a gem among the tired breakfast items of the Golden Arches at a gas station on a breakfast stopover to Batangas... only in the Philippines: the Hamdesal!

Whenever I tried to order this before, B would make a face in disgust, making me revert into a McMuffin variety or the unimaginative pancakes which seem to be shrinking proportionally to the value of our currency.

I discovered that the Hamdesal is actually enjoyable, and upon analysis one of the most nutritious breakfast options on offer.

It's funny how I don't even like this when conjured at home (like when my mom makes it), but I guess it has something to do with the pan de sal being unrecognizable in the Hamdesal. As you can see the texture of the bread's surface is nothing like the picture McDo uses in the menu (first picture above). It looks and almost tastes like the bun used for the burgers, except for being a little coarser, you wouldn't know it as even the size belies the nature of a pan de sal.

Normal pan de sal is also sweet, which the Hamdesal's bread isn't. This works in Micky D's favor as one can detect every nuance of flavor from the subtle taste of egg to semi-salty smoky ham. The addition of syrup makes the flavors blend and contrast nicely together as sweet-and-salty with smooth-and-coarse textures.

I ordered my sandwich without the mayo, as the combination of mayo and syrup seems disgusting.

I like how hefty the ham is, although that's about half a serving of egg. I'll order this again if I have to start the day wrong (or right, depending on my mood, as right breakfast usually means a generous serving of geriatrics-prescribed bran flakes with soy milk).

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Le Petit Artisan

Location: Greenbelt 5, Makati City

Isn't our little V-day picnic basket purdy? :)

That's raisin bread from a newly-opened French pastry shop in Greenbelt 5, Le Petit Artisan. The experience with Alexandre still fresh on my mind, I wasn't keen on being cuckolded again into buying overpriced bread just because some French guy is in the shop. But when we passed it on Friday night before our breakfast picnic, B couldn't resist checking it out. I must admit, I was also drawn by the rows of bread baskets lining the walls.

We were only supposed to look. But B succumbed to the croissants silently beckoning from the glass display shelf on the counter.

He bought a chocolate croissant, as butter croissant weren't available at the time. Although he's not big on chocolate, he thoroughly enjoyed his pastry which we noted was bigger and had more chocolate than that of Alexandre's.

Speaking of Alexandre's, the French guy running the bakery also chatted us up. We were wondering about the variety of bread loaves, and when he said that all breads are whole-wheat, sugar-free and yeast-free, I was sold. However, appealing as all the breads were, I'd just seen a Paris episode of Giada's Weekend Getaway the previous Sunday, so I knew raisin bread was the perfect choice for a French breakfast al fresco.

We had our raisin bread loaf sliced, and while waiting for it we voiced our observation that the bakery's croissants seem larger than those of Alexandre's. At the mention of the rival French bakery, all hell broke lose.

Mr. James shared with us his outrage towards a popular Filipino food blogger (his website begins with the letter O) who wrote about Le Petit Artisan. He confirmed our suspicion that this blogger is a major free-loader who writes biased reviews based on the freebies he gets. Apparently, at Le Petit Artisan, he didn't get the recognition nor courtesy he usually receives in other restaurants (good ol' Frenchies), although Alexandre did so. The result is raving reviews on Alexandre, while a mere pfft on the Mr. James' croissants. Poor little artist! Joke's on the blogger though, as you can see from one reader's comment after his bashing:

I wouldn't bother repeating the other things Mr. James said. After all, B and I could judge for ourselves which of the two made better bread and pastry. It made sense too, as Mr. James, the French head baker, has been baking privately for elite clients for a long time since coming to the Philippines. It was only recently that the group behind Max Brenner's Philippines convinced him to fully commercialize his breads.

How to tell a good croissant according to Mr. James: when you pull the croissant horizontally, it should ribbon apart and not crumble or split into two. Because Alexandre's croissant was dense and a bit moist, I can imagine it ribboning a little but mostly splitting.

Before leaving the store, I asked for tips on how to best enjoy our raisin bread. Mr. James said to toast it and add just a little honey or jam. The next day, though we didn't bother toasting the bread since we were going on a long drive, it was still soft and fragrant with the smell of california raisins and walnuts.

We had it with honey (myself) and strawberry jam (B), although we would've been equally satisfied having it plain with 3-in-1 Nescafe coffee mix care of Sierra Madre Hotel and Convention Center.

It was truly a perfect way to say, Bonjour, mon ami! :)

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Alexandre, Authentic French Bakery

There's a new french bakery that B read about in a blog. It's reportedly authentic, being owned by a French guy with recipes by his family. To pass the time before my dinner appointment with college friends, we decided to have a chic merienda.

It wasn't easy to find this small patisserie in Global City, and it didn't help that B forgot the name. We located it near the Grand Hamptons condo and triumphantly found a parking space (albeit paid) across.

The look of the place, even from outside, has "expensive" plastered all over it. We guessed that the foreigner who was the lone customer for the night busily working on his laptop was the owner.

View from inside

We chose to occupy the big couch near the entrance to get as far away from the staff as possible. It was very cosy and the lighting was romantic. Because the glass reflects the restaurant interior, you feel secluded even though the truth is everyone can see you from outside.

Posh interior

At the counter, we couldn't decide what to order. The server kept insisting on trying their pizza. She kept selling it even though we told her twice we're looking for something light as we still have a dinner to go to.

After a while, the owner (Alexandre) finally intervened and introduced to us the various items on the menu. He was very proud of the loaves of bread which were brought out on a wooden tray for our benefit, and he too tried to convince us to order a pizza. He said they just developed the recipe the day before. When I heard they have rye bread, I decided to buy a loaf as dark rye was what I lived on back in Sydney.

We decided to sample the pastries. What could be more French than croissants? We were surprised at the prices for such small croissants, however, and when we were told those on display were the grande size, we could not help but wonder how the petit ones look like.

Butter croissant (Php50) with brewed coffee

Never having been to France, I can't say I'm a good judge of what an "authentic" croissant should taste like. But according to my research, it should be flaky on the outside while being airy soft inside. It should be buttery but not greasy.

Alexandre's butter croissant was buttery and dense inside, which made up for the small size. Maybe because we went at dusk, but the pastries were no longer fresh and so the croissants were not as soft as they should be. The crust wasn't fall-apart-at-the-touch-of-your-fork flaky, but not greasy either as commercial croissant usually is. In fact, I didn't make as much mess as I always do when eating croissant.

Pain au Chocolat (Php60)

The chocolate croissant had just the right amount of chocolate filling so that it didn't taste like dessert. They use real chocolate that's rich but not too sweet.

Our big disappointment was the coffee. At first we found the coffee reasonably priced at Php95 for regular size, but it turns out it's because it tastes like barako coffee which means it was coarse and there were dregs at the bottom of the cup. Having had mine black, I was not able to finish my mug.

We noticed that the coffee table is decorated with coffee beans underneath the glass.

We stayed in the restaurant long after the unfinished coffee had gone cold. The place became more romantic as the night wore on. Nobody bothered us and the few customers that came in only bought bread loaves to take away.

Overall, we felt we got our money's worth with the ambiance, excellent service and good food. I am actually excited to come back in the morning for the Breakfast Bonjour Php250, made up of a basket of assorted fancy breads, a plate of petit croissants (butter, chocolate & almond), accompanied by honey, strawberry & mango marmalade with a choice of any regular size of hot beverage. Surprisingly a good deal, considering it's a breakfast at the Hamptons! :D

Checkout Alexandre's Facebook page. This guy definitely knows how to make use of social networking.

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Late-night Italian at Padrino

Location: A-Venue Mall, Jupiter St. Makati City

Because we tried to catch the 6:30pm showing of a movie that turned out to be disappointing anyway, we didn't have dinner until 9:00pm when we were finally able to decide where to eat. Ever the pasta-lover, B wanted Italian food and suggested a place called Padrino where he had a good dining experience once, some time ago.

Padrino is in the ground floor of A. Venue Mall, developed only two years ago by Antel Group. I remember my first trip there to be also my first taste of the Sicilian Pizza, a reasonably priced Italian fastfood that's now everywhere where there's a university.

Padrino is created by the same people from L'Opera Ristorante Italiano in The Fort. B has raving reviews about L'Opera as THE ONLY Italian restaurant in Manila. But L'Opera is not only known for authentic and quality food but its gastronomic price range as well. That said, we were surprised to see the price list of Padrino, which is even cheaper than restaurants in Greenbelt.

The good thing is, lower price didn't equate to lower quality. The service was also good. On the table:

Complimentary bread basket with sweet butter, liver pate and tomato salsa

Spaghetti Alla Pescatora (Php300) As you can see, it is teeming with seafood, unlike some restaurants that give you one or two clam shells, two squid rings and call it seafood pasta. B could not find anything wrong with this dish (a rare occasion!).

Wurstel Classic (Php300) described on the menu as "An Italian country side version of a hotdog made with hearty serving of grilled Italian sausage served on grilled homemade bread." Until today, I can't believe I ate those two sausages by myself! Either I'm German at heart or I was just hungry.

Aside from the bread, there were steamed vegetables with parmesan, grilled onions and potato chips on the side. The bigger one on the left was not really tasty, just very salty; I remember having to salvage it with a lot of ketchup. Looking back, maybe I should have sliced the sausage and made everything into a sandwich? I did NOT eat everything on that plate at least.

We knocked back a couple of beers (Php45/bottle!!!) with the food. It helped me appreciate the loud music courtesy of the DJ in the restaurant. We're not sure if it's because we met the owner of the restaurant or service and food are normally that excellent. Too bad the presence of foreigners dining with Filipina hookers was off-putting; then again nobody asked us dine in a place across Makati's Red Light District.

The restaurant's loud music is fully heard outside to attract customers who want to chill some place al fresco. Padrino's Php300 pizzas and cheap beer are definitely a hit among groups.

When we got the bill, we were given coupons that said free pizza for Php500 purchase on our next visit. Mine was until January 31 only; good thing B's coupon is not dated. Padrino may not be an ideal date place, but it's definitely a good one to get together with friends.

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The Bestest Best Steak that doesn't seem like Steak

Location: Dusit Thani, Makati City

If one day you wake up with thoughts of meat filling your head, when you're feeling so carnivorous that you can eat a pony, stop yourself before you head to the nearest steakhouse. If you're going to have yourself a piece of beef, by all means treat yourself to the best with Umu's Wafu Steak. I am not exaggerating when I say that you'll die happy if it's the last meat dish you will eat. Well actually, no, you will be sad because you won't be around to have it again.

I know this blog is turning out to be a declaration of passion for Japanese cuisine. Is it obvious that Jap food has a big following among Filipinos? In our case, it's the default option when we're not feeling adventurous; our tried and tested Japanese restaurants always let us go home happy and feeling healthy. Sometimes though, it's nice to discover new Japanese restaurants reserved for special occasions.

Umu is located in Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City. You will never imagine a fantastic Japanese restaurant in a Thai hotel, but there you go.

I'm going straight to the highlight of our dinner and move backwards from there. The steak I want to describe deserves nothing less.

When the Wafu Steak arrives at the table, it devilishly casts its onion-and-meat aroma towards you, pleasuring the olfactory senses until you realize you've got your nose half an inch away from the bowl. The plating is beautiful: all pinks, browns and reds. You can tell that the beef is a perfect medium-rare by its pink center, while the browned exterior means it's seared just enough to seal in the juices. Spring onion, red peppercorn and garlic flakes (I think, if not potato strings) are used to garnish the dish.

I can't describe enough how mind-blowing the beef is. It's soft and so so juicy... like really tender pork meat. I don't like steak because I end up wanting to spit out the chewy beef after sucking the juice. The unbelievable un-chewiness of the Wafu Steak is a revelation to me. The sauce is sweet and peppery. It was so good that when all the beef was gone, we seriously considered taking away the remaining half-centimeter of sauce!

And now for the rest of what went down. Since we opted to sit outside on the patio to afford the view of a pond with koi and waterfalls, the pictures were taken with the Night Shot setting. The result was ten minutes of picture-taking everytime a dish arrived before we could get a nice shot! Please appreciate my effort! :D

View of restaurant interior from the patio

Complimentary Tuna while waiting for our dishes. The pieces were chunky in a light sweet sauce. It was a little dry for me so I gave most of it to B.

The Sashimi Gosyumori seems to be Umu's most requested signature dish. Comprised of five different sashimi around a box of dry ice, its arrival is an event of its own. Since the sashimi are Chef selected, they vary from time to time.

We were looking forward to some uni but ours had grouper (or maybe red snapper) instead, along with salmon, tuna, kampachi and one more we couldn't identify. Presentation aside, we liked the freshness of all the sashimi.

This is Kaki-Furai or deep-fried oysters. There were three oyster shells, each sitting on their own bed of salt and containing two pieces of Kaki-Furai. Chili, tomato and an unidentified herb garnish the tempura dish and lend a spicy-tangy kick. The oysters did not have a funny after-taste to them, which means they were fresh.

The Miso Soup (not pictured. Hello, it's soup) came next and finally the Wafu Steak. After the meal, we took some pictures around the restaurant. Umu was actually nominated for best restaurant interior design in Asia some years ago, and we could definitely see why.

The hallway of the restaurant

I love the kimono-esque upholstery

Orchids

Some floral plant I see around in most commercial establishments

Yakiniku area

The staff even let us play around and took our picture :)

For more privacy, there are rooms like these which you can reserve. It opens up to the garden so it must be nice here during daytime. I was not able to take pictures of the pond but I'm sure it's nicer during the day too.

The only thing I can complain about Umu is that when you sit out in the patio, it becomes hard to get service because it's so dark that the staff can't see you from inside. It would be nice to put more lights out there, or at least have someone regularly check for customers needing a glass of water or waiting for their bill.

A four and a half star dining experience. Ohh that lip-smacking steak... Seriously, it's a sin to live in Manila and not try it.

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