Enoteca Galileo

Enoteca literally means "wine depositary" and Enoteca Galileo certainly had the feel of one. A smallish restaurant along Pasong Tamo Extension with unusually large tables, one is literally surrounded by wine and aperitif.

On to the food. I had the set meal of cold cuts, cheese, bread and dip, a choice of pasta, wine and coffee. It was a feast. I particularly enjoyed the cold cuts, cheeses (provolone and mozarella) and the pasta (aglio olio with pepperoncino). The bread and dip, however, were redundant since the restaurant does give you these as a free starter. They did change the bread and dip which was to have accompanied the set meal with mushroom soup. The white wine was also quite good; the first glass was not chilled but the server must have realized this as she offered me a second glass (chilled) for free! I managed to get quite tipsy this lunchtime.

My lunchmates ordered T-Bone steak which was not surprisingly not very good (we were in a italian deli). Others ordered the pasta genovese (pesto).

We finished with coffee and gelato. Coffee was excellent; good enough to take black. The gelato, however, was disappointing; it lacked the smooth, creamy texture of what i think gelato should have. Rather, the ice cream was quite frozen, studded with ice crystals.

Service was a bit inattentive; we stood around waiting for a table for a few minutes with servers running around us, basically ignoring us. Apparently, the restaurant was not used to having too many customers at one time. However, I must say that service did improve as the meal progressed.

Pricing was moderate (my set meal was P500, all in). However, my lunchmates felt the steak was overpriced (at P600), probably influence by their dislike for it.

Mickey's Deli

I should really call this series of blogs as the Lost Meals. Might be old age but I forget to write about meals I've had in a number of restaurants, this one included.

Anyways, have been to Mickey's several times and the dishes were consistently good (with the exception of an unusually textured meat loaf, evocative of pick firm tofu).

Must try are the Nurnburger sausage (actually all their sausages are good, no wonder given that Mickey the German chef, formerly of the Hyatt), the pates. Serving size is large and must be shared; same goes for the side dishes (I couldn't even finish half of the potato side dish I ordered).

The restaurant also has an excellent deli counter, wonderful for browsing, and better for eating!

BTW attached to the deli is the upscale French Baker (can't recall the name). Prices are a tad higher than French Baker but the breads are way better. Be sure to order a sampler of bread (comes with pate; ask for butter!)

People Palace three

Just had to update you guys on my third visit to People Palace last week. I was rereading my first article on the restaurant and I must confess, it was probably my orders which accounted for the unenjoyable experience.

Subsequent visits since that first time have been more than fine. Most dishes ordered were quite good, substantial, although prices remain quite daunting. And I think they have the best sticky rice with mango.

A Tale of Two Meals: Apahap sa Azuthai

The second meal was lunch at Azuthai, the new Thai restaurant at the ground floor of the Milky Way building along Pasay Road. I had also heard many good things about the restaurant, so I was pretty excited to try it.

I wasn't disappointed. We had the papaya salad, the pomelo shrimp salad, apahap in tamarind sauce, penang beef curry, morning glory (kangkong!), and the ever reliable, ever present pad thai. I loved the salad and the apahap. The sauce of the curry was excellent but the beef was rather tasteless. The kangkong was also a winner. I do recommend one orders plain white rice, better to sop up the sauces.

I just had to try the desserts. The water chestnuts in coconut milk was a streamlined halohalo with the dyed water chestnuts providing crunch. The mango with sticky rice was also quite good (but I thought the one in People Palace was a tad better). I didn't care too much for the Tako, but it might appeal to the less sugar-inclined.

Prices are on the steep side but not to heights set by PP or Silk. Service was excellent; but don't believe the nice serbidora when she says mild is spicy enough. I was skeptical but unfortunately, she did manage to convince us to stay on the safe side.

I almost forgot, we had Thai take out a couple of weeks ago; equally good and loads more inexpensive. More on the next blog.

Take Out Thai from SOMS

I had almost forgotten about our Thai take out from Soms (somewhere near the dog and cat hospital, going to Rockwell) some weeks back. If you are looking for five star taste at three star prices, Soms is for you.

We had a ton of food and I don't think it was all that expensive (sorry folks, libre kaya I don't know the actual cost). Two curries (beef and chicken), bagoong rice, kangkong, and the (oh no, its...) pad thai (dramatic pause), in a bilao!

Soms is supposedly a small carinderia-type, owned by a Thai transplant. I must confess I haven't been to the restaurant but I have heard it described as tables spilling onto the sidewalk and street. It's a BYOB kind of place, but the price can't be beat.

A Tale of Two Meals: Steak at Mamou

Had two very good meals recently. First off was dinner at Mamou; I had wanted to try this restaurant for a very long time now. Good reviews all around, and everyone recommended the steak. It didn't disappoint, the serving was substantial with five of us sharing the twin. However, I was not that impressed with the sidings.

We also shared two pastas, the alio with labuyo flakes (spaghetti al dente swimming in a pool of garlicky olive oil and specked with chili - my personal favorite) and the Batac Bolognese (also very good, tomato based with batac longanisa).

The desserts, however, were not up to par with the main courses. I didn't care too much for the pecan pie (the corn syrup center was too thick and gummy); the dark chocolate sans rival also didn't inspire. The key lime pie was okay, just a tad sweet. Desserts came with schlagsahne (german whipped cream); we failed miserably trying to pronounce the word correctly, but it did provide hours of entertainment.

The restaurant isn't very big so reservations are a must. On a Tuesday night, the place was packed. The owner did tell us her personal favorites, namely the steak (which we tried), and the roast chicken and pork. At least I have a reason to go back.

Fish out of Water

Fish Out of Water is one of the new restaurants in Greenbelt 5. As the name suggests, it specializes in seafood given new twists (fusion cuisine). The restaurant is part of the Red Crab group, of the famed crab buffet in Greenbelt 3. Apparently a good number of the restaurants in Ayala's new mall have more pedestrian pedigrees. Pia y Damaso is really Kookie Luscious in Rizalian clothing (I think the same desserts are available in KL at lower prices). John and Yoko is Sumo Sam all dressed up (I found this out when we passed by the restaurant just as the waitstaff were bringing out take-away in Sumo Sam plastic bags). Zuni is Duo.

We had danggit salad, stuffed kalabasa blossoms, lapulapu filet, and twiced cooked pork belly. Don't laugh, but the dish that stood out was the pork belly, in a seafood restaurant!

The danggit salad was an ordinary salad with danggit pieces thrown in. Cascada actually has a better version with tinapa and mango. The squash blossoms would have benefited from a lighter batter; as it was served, it was heavy and a bit oily. The lapulapu filet was roundly ignored (it was rather bland).