Monday 25 April 2011

Tikim5: Cheese anyone? L'entrecote, Fort

L'entrecote, such a fancy name for a good ol' French-Swiss cuisine. The word 'entrecote' is actually french in origin, which means a certain cut or portion of the anatomy of a beef, lamb or pork. Ribeye to be exact; if you wanna be anal about it. The restaurant is located in the area of Burgos Circle, which is filled with fancy restaurants and all. Initial glance at the restaurant from the outside gives a slight impression that this place is one of your typical French restaurant with a touch of Swiss in it. The establishment doesn't really dazzle you or anything but it's far from being one of those rip-off Euro-cuisines, and also it doesn't scream that it is an exquisite fine dining restaurant. However, be prepared to burn out some cash for some of their finer dishes. So on to the entre-cote..

 Fine dining at the L'entrecote

First part of the menu we ordered was a little special from the establishment, a little offer that is only available on Thursdays, good marketing idea from the owner on this one. There's a handful of food to choose from for the special Thursday treat. For us we picked the Swiss cheese raclette being the cheese lovers that we are. The other interesting tidbit in there was the swiss cheese fondue, but price was a bit too much for us, so maybe on our next visit then, mark it on a Thursday then. The cheese from the raclette was actually really delish, coupled with a few potatoes and some vegetables really a treat for all you cheese lovers. Serving size was a bit unsatisfactory though, but glad the taste did make up for it.

 Swiss cheese raclette: Bits of pieces

Second on the menu was the Pissaladiere Traditional, it's actually a pizza with anchovies black olives with smothered onion and garlic. These are some good pizza here, different from your typical fastfood type pizza. It was good food but nothing really special about this dish besides its fancy name.
 Pissaladiere Traditional: A different kind of pizza

Now for the main course, of course we had to have an entrecote, presenting you with Menu Entrecote, one of their signature dishes. US steak cooked medium rare (our choice ;-)) mixed with green salad toped with secret herb butter sauce with unlimited frites (aka fries). Yes you heard it right, unlimited fries for all you potato addicts out there. They serve all of their steak dishes with unlimited fries, another good gimik this restaurant has. The steak was actually something to look forward to, that special sauce they had was actually good and it was pleasant to see that the staff was kind enough to offer us some more additional sauce free of charge (we didn't knew then, wish we knew about it earlier) as we were dipping them fries in the sauce and eating them like hungry sharks.

 The main course with UNLIMITED FRIES! ^.^

 Steak is served and will be eaten hot!

Right after we finish the entre, we were so full that we didn't even ordered dessert anymore. Yes blame it on the fries and that special sauce, for a second there I'm starting to doubt if that gimik of unlimited fries was actually any good. But nonetheless the fries were something to look forward to in our next visit.

Overall, the food was nice, but it's not something that can make you jump out of your seat or something that can give you a tongue orgasm (for more subtle people). The concept is nothing new but I like the idea of having Swiss and French cuisine, but not a Fusion of the two. But in the end we have our stomach full and the owner was even kind enough to come out and greet us on our way out. 

Verdict: I give this a 3.5/5.

L’entrecote
Unit A Bellagio 2, Burgos Circle
Forbestown, Bonifacio Global City
Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No.: (+632) 8564858(+632) 8564858


This article is written by Evan Yeung.

Thursday 14 April 2011

Tikim4: Food Places you don't want to miss when in Tagaytay

Tagaytay is a nice place to go when you want to escape from the city stress. With cooler breeze and restaurants all over the area, you will surely forget about work! Whenever I go to Tagaytay it somehow equates to food trip! I have developed food favorites here and I am excited to try whenever I learn that there's a new restaurant in town. 

Pamana Restaurant for Lunch
As the name of the restaurant suggests, it serves Filipino cuisine. Nothing much spectacular about the food, the taste was normal for me. What was nice about this restaurant is the concept that followed through its menu, table setting, and interiors! The Taal Lake view is big plus!


 Unique condiment setting in Sungka style

 A nice view while eating

 Angus Beef Bistek: Not so tender :( but sauce is delish!

 3 Way Adobo: A must try for chicken lovers. 
I like the adobo style with the light colored sauce. 
The adobo flakes can be amazing if there's a dipping sauce or 
it can be something like adobo chips

 Adobo Rice: Yummy with the sauce but don't eat the fats! This is good for 2.

 Inihaw na Sugpo: A bit dry dor me. Not served hot.

By the way, you can only eat at Pamana restaurant by RESERVATION only. My tip is to reserve a table indoors, you don't want to get stressed [table cloth being blown now and then, flies buzzing around, and getting food cold easily]  by the wind when you eat outdoors.

Pamana Restaurant
Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City
Beside Boutique Hotel, near the Tagaytay Rotunda
For Reservations: +63920-8561970, +63920-8561970, +630-464132461,+630-464132461    


Bag of Beans for Dessert and Coffee 
Bag of Beans never lets me down when it comes to cheesecake and a relaxing ambiance. A definite date place for couples. Since last year, the main branch renovated to more seating capacity, so don't worry about not getting seats. They also have a better menu than before--- Yey!

 Main branch of Bag of Beans, this is the best branch

Don't leave Bag of Beans without tasting their cheesecake. I am not a fan of cakes but this particular cheesecake made me want for more! They have 2 flavors and both tastes great!

Strawberry Cheesecake: Not too sweet for cake, the perfect texture!

Bag of Beans
115 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West,
Tagaytay City, Philippines 
Contact Number: 6346-4134356, 6346-4132724, 63923-4544797, 63920-9546370
Website: http://bagofbeanstagaytay.net/

Buon Giorno for Dinner
An authentic Italian restaurant, you wouldn't be let down when you dine here. They serve colazione (breakfast), antipasti (appetizers), insalata (salad), zuppe (soup), pizza, pasta, paninis, and the best risotto in all the Italian restaurant that I tasted! 


 
Their signature menu
Spinach zuppe: perfect starter, warm and healthy


Chicken risotto: Not overpowering, texture is just right! 
I like to put some spice flakes to have some 'ummph!"

Taragon Ice-Tea: Nothing to rave about this drink just minty and refreshing


Call the restaurant to reserve the "swing seats" on their verenda. Buon Giorno has a beautiful Taal lake view :)
 
Buon Giorno
4 Cliff House
Tagaytay City, Cavite, Philippines
Contact Number: 6346-4832102


Sunday 3 April 2011

Tikim3: A fieldtrip at Best Food Forward Food Bazaar at NBC Tent

I have been seeing a lot of the Best Food Forward Advertisements in Lifestyle Channel; so me and Evan decided to check out what this food bazaar will offer.


The bazaar offered less than i thought it would. The last time I went to NBC tent, the place was like a maze of sellers but last April 2, there were less sellers especially on the right most of the tent. Even though there's a shortage of variety of food sellers; there are 3 things/factors that salvages the event from being "bugged". 1. They offer various activities at P50 targeted for the kids like bangle designing, face make-up, air play plen, and etc. Activities like these can let parents roam around the bazaar while their kids have fun as well...win win situation! :) 2.There is a free photo booth picture that comes with your P50 entrance ticket, this makes a nice souvenir! :) 3. Lastly, they have a  ventilated "picnic" or outside area for food concessionaires.There were also busboys that clean up the picnic tables after use so it's a plus points!

Here are my top finds:

Liqueur Bonbons by Joana
website: http://www.facebook.com/liqueurbonbons?sk=info
email: liquerbonbons@gmail.com
My first thoughts upon seeing her stall..."oohh this looks very interesting. Haven't eaten bonbons yet..wait what are bonbons?" Even if i didn't know what bonbons were i the 'liqueur' part got me to buy some, P190 for 6 pieces! haha!:)
I only searched what bonbons were after eating- according to freedictionary.com, bonbons are "a candy that has usually a center of fondant, fruits, or nuts, that is coated in chocolate"

 A variety of bonbons..very tempting

 Absolut Vodka Black Forest

These are my choice bonbons..I personally like the minty bonbons

Mochiko
website: http://www.facebook.com/mochikomochi?sk=wall&filter=12
branch: Cliffhouse Tagaytay


I noticed that mochi is getting popular! It now reached Tagaytay, this will be another food stop when I visit the area :) Mochis are nice to eat they are tender to bite and sweet in the inside. The rice glutinous, the outer layer of the mochi, is my favorite part because it gives a balance when eating it with ice cream. Mochi are somehow like bonbons except that it is covered or coated with rice glutinous rather than chocolate.

A variety of Japanese and Fruity flavors to choose from

Eat My GF
website: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187010068514&v=info
where to find them: food bazaars


For Potato and french fries lovers, Eat My Garlic Fries is an adventure! You'll need to like garlic before and after eating the fries 'coz all their flavors are garlic related! Their potatoes are cooked well --- not soggy and are prepared hot! :) I liked it that I ordered 2!

Virgin Chips: A garlic-ky take on mojo's style cut potato 

Pinoy Garlic Fries: French Fries with button mushrooms are fried garlic