Cafe Juanita

Before I arrived in the Philippines, one of the conversations I had with my mom via Skype was about a restaurant I absolutely had to try was Cafe Juanita. She recently had dinner there with 2 of my aunts. The owner, an old friend of hers, a retired doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. BoyVaszquez who she fondly calls Docky, welcomed them into his restaurant which he might as well call home. While Sandi and I were there, time went by too fast that my mom forgot to mention it again. My guardian angel reminded me to ask my mom about it, the afternoon before our departure back to Los Angeles. She promptly called Docky and though he was not at the restaurant, he informed her that he would stop by to say hello.

As we stepped in the door, Sandi and I were in awe of the whimsical decor. I have never seen anything like it in my life! Beautiful chandeliers, lamps galore,outlandish brightly colored fabrics, dolls, vases, baskets, colored lighting which showcased the numerous carvings and works of art. It had a mezzanine for private parties and a little indoor patio lit up with big pots, fountains and orchids. My mom informed me that one could buy some of the items. These are things Dr. Vasquez had collected from traveling all over the world.

Jun, a Jack of all trades; our server, manager and actor took good care of us. For appetizer, he recommended the Vietnamese Crispy Spring Rolls; wrappers are flown in from Vietnam. The rolls were stuffed with shrimps and crab meat and were delicious. He also suggested we order the 3 Way Pork Adobo. These were pork ribs stewed in soy sauce, vinegar and lots of garlic, served with crispy adobo flakes and adobong bisaya with banana on the side.  One of my favorite dishes is Laing, taro leaves cooked in coconut milk usually with pork and chili. I did not know what was in this particular laing and didn't really care as it was just great. The other dish we ordered was one of their best sellers; Lapu-Lapu, a fish from Laguna (a province), that was split open (Binukadkad) and fried. I just made sure the fish was not facing Sandi as this would have turned her off. The fish was served with a blend of calamansi and tamarind sauce. It was fantastic! Dr. Vasquez made his appearance and Sandi and I were delighted to meet our host. He was most charming. He looked at the dishes and decided that we needed Kare-Kare which is oxtail stewed in peanuts and vegetables. He asked Jun to bring us an order. The kare-kare was wonderful with the Bagoong Balayan which is fermented fish/shrimp, perfect with steamed rice.  Docky sat with us for a bit before he left for his next appointment.

We were all too stuffed to order dessert but since Sandi has not had the famous Halo-Halo (translated mix-mix) I had to order the mini version. Halo-Halo is a mixture of sweet beans, banana, jackfruit, and other ingredients with milk and finely crushed ice with or without ice cream. She liked it but couldn't eat too much since she is "lactose" intolerant. You can guess who sacrificed and finished the rest of it.

I am grateful to have "experienced" Cafe Juanita on our last night in Manila. I am sad that it was too late that I got to visit the restaurant and missed out on visiting his other restaurants. I would have loved to go back several times.

Thank you Dr. Vasquez for your hospitality and generosity. I look forward to returning to one of your homes the next time I visit the Philippines.

Chateau

We took our friends to this French restaurant for lunch yesterday. Chateau is located just outside Greenbelt 5 in Makati in the Philippines. I liked the decor, it had an open feeling.

There were 3 wine drinkers in our party. We wanted to order red wine but was not sure which to order. We narrowed it down to 2 kinds. We asked if we could try (a sip or two). This is never a problem in the United States. They are always happy to oblige. In the Philippines, it is a different story. Believe it or not, they charge for this sip of wine (almost $3.00). We were all absolutely shocked especially since this was a classy French restaurant. We tasted 2 kinds and they were both bad. So for $5.00 or so we actually saved money as we didn't order any wine. I am positive that if we did order the wine and didn't like it, they would still charge for it unlike the United States. I guess we're not in Kansas anymore.

The restaurant is supposed to be famous for the Tomato-Cheese Fondue; Gruyere cheese fondue flavored with tomatoes. We did try it and it was indeed very good. What could have made it better was the bread. The bread that accompanied the fondue was too soft, so when you dipped it into the fondue, you would be lucky to see your bread again. They should have used French bread or something a bit more dense.

For entrees, three of us ordered the Specialty of the House; Potence. Grilled beef tenderloin hung on a metal gallow flambeed with brandy with a choice of 2 sides and served with 3 sauces: mushroom, cafe de Paris butter and garlic sauce. This had an flamboyant presentation. It reminded me of the olden days, like someone being hung and burned to death (lovely thought just before dinner). My mom had the Stuffed Prawns which was absolutely delicious. Someone else had the Ravioli which was covered with healthy vegetables. Another friend had the Spaghetti Gamberini ( I don't remember the proper name for it).

The steaks came with choices of sides. I chose the baked potato and Cauliflower Cheese Gratin. I asked what the baked potato came with. Our server informed me that it comes with sour cream and bacon which I could have already on it, or on the side. I told him I wanted everything on the potato plus maybe extra sour cream if I needed more. The steak was cooked medium but towards the middle, it was rare. To be fare, Sandi's steak was cooked to perfection. The potato had maybe half a teaspoon of sour cream and a few microscopic pieces of bacon. I asked for extra sour cream and they gave me a tiny sauce bowl with this liquid white stuff. It tasted more like sour milk (not creamy). The cauliflower was creamy and cheesy yet lacked flavor.

Dessert was better. Sandi had the Lemon-Rosemary Sorbet. I forgot to try it but she liked it as it was very refreshing.  Two other people had the Creme Brulee which did not interest me because it looked too pale. I wanted to try 2 desserts so I ordered the Coffee Pie which they are known for and the Coffee Sans Rival.  I liked both desserts. The sans rival was crunchy and chewy at the same time.

I did let the server know that I was not happy with how my steak was cooked. He apologized and later informed me that he would not charge me for 1 dessert and coffee.

Comparing this French restaurant to the one we went to last week, L' Aubergine had better food and service there was impeccable.

Cafe Via Mare

If you have never had Puto Bumbong, a glutinous rice (puto) cooked in bamboo (bumbong), you cannot leave the Philippines without trying it. It is made with a blend of black rice, sweet or regular plain rice. The puto is done once the steam passes through the tube. This delicacy is usually served around Christmas time but at Via Mare, it is served all year round.  Purple yam powder gives it the purple color. Toppings for the puto are butter, coconut, muscovado sugar and cheese. I only like the butter and the muscovado sugar.

While still in the Philippines, my mom and I were determined to have Sandi try another Philippine delicacy. We stopped by again at Via Mare to order the famous Bibingka which is another rice cake traditionally made with galapong(milled glutinous rice) coconut milk,eggs, margarine and sugar. The bibingka is cooked in clay pots lined in banana leaves. There are many varieties of bibingka toppings. 

Our favorite is the one with queso de bola (aged edam) and quesong puti (white cheese made from carabao's milk). It was delicious. We couldn't really indulge as we were on our way to a big luncheon with friends. 

There area multiple Via Mare's in and around Metro Manila in the Philippines.

Lunch and Dinner at Wildflour

Since Wildlflour was close to our apartment in the Philippines, we kept going back to try the many other items on the menu that looked good. Our friend took us there to try the lasagna. Sandi and I split an order of the Lasagna and an order of the Wildflour Salad which had bacon, roast chicken, bleu cheese, poached egg, cucumber with a green goddess dressing. Our friend who was not too hungry ended up just ordering a Buko Pie (young coconut). The Lasagna Bolognese was almost as good as my lasagna; very thin aldente noodles and salty enough. The salad was interesting with the poached egg. We did enjoy the salad.

Three days later, my mom, nephew Brian and Sandi watched a 4-D movie and right after that, we found ourselves close to another Wildflour. I had the lasagna again. My mom ordered the same thing. Brian had the special Quiche which he seemed to enjoy. Sandi had the Sweet Corn Waffle, bacon strips, bourbon, blueberry maple syrup. This looked wonderful but unfortunately it looked better than it tasted. She could not finish the waffle so I had a bite and understood why; it was too sweet with the syrup and made parts of the waffle soggy.

Back to our apartment, we had a couple more light dinners at Wildflour since this was on the same block. One night, we weren't too hungry so we decided to just have soup with the good French bread they serve. Sandi had the Leek and Potato Soup with bacon whipped cream which was too thin and runny, unlike ones we have had in the past. I had the Tomato Soup which supposedly had sour cream and basil. I like the basil in the soup but the soup itself was too sour and acidic. I asked for sugar and must have put in close to a tablespoon of sugar. It still didn't taste good so I asked if they could give me some sour cream. I had hoped to make the soup a bit creamier. They gave me a "shot" of sour cream. It was almost edible but still did not enjoy the soup.

We gave it one more chance for dinner.  Sandi and I noticed people ordering hamburgers which looked good do we finally ordered the California Burger; Australian wagyu beef, cheddar with caramelized onions and tomato. We have had better burgers. The fries were very good though. We also ordered the Casarecce Caccio e Pepe. This was also a disappointment. It was too creamy and heavy. I know what a good caccio e pepe should taste like since this is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Aside from the excellent ones I have had in Rome, Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills still makes it best, at least in Los Angeles.

I was just recently informed that the owners of Wildflour are Walter and Margarita Manzke, the same owner of the famous restaurants in Los Angeles called Republique which I have been to. Though not everything at Wildflour is to my liking, I'm sure you will find your own favorites.

Cibo

This Italian restaurant in the Philippines has been in business for many years and for good reason. The owner/chef, Gaita Fores has been voted Asia's Best Female Chef in 2016.

I have always loved her pasta; consistently aldente and delicious. I remember her Tiramisu which was a bit crunchy. While walking along one of the malls, we bumped into one of the Cibo's. Hungry or not, we walked in, sat down and started studying the menu. We first ordered the Limonata; fresh lemon squash soda. This was so refreshing and enjoyable. For our pasta dish we ordered 2 pastas to share. The Penne All' Amado, braised beef ossobucco, parmesan and the Spaghettini Al Tris Di Formaggio Salsa Tarfufata; butter, fontina, goat cheese parmesan in mushroom-truffle and cream. Though the penne was good, the spaghettini was so good that when we went back a few days later, we each ordered one.

Since Sandi does not like Tiramisu, I didn't order one since I knew I would not be able to eat the entire thing. I still plan to go back one of these days to have the tiramisu. In the meantime, I came across and old email from my brother talking about the Mango Panna Cotta. This is another reason to go back.

Cibo has multiple locations throughout Metro Manila.

Toby's

Friends in the Philippines told us where to get the best coffee and it's not Starbucks or the other ubiquitous coffee houses. The best coffee can be had at Toby's.  That was good news but my first question was, what's there to eat with the good coffee for I cannot live on coffee alone. My foodie friend told me about the Calamansi Pie. Calamansi is the native cross of lemon and lime but with a distinct flavor.

Lucky for us, our apartment was on the same block. After our breakfast at Wildflour the day before, also on the same block, it was time to visit Toby's. I ordered the piccolo coffee and Sandi had the Chocolate Chai. We both liked it very much. We decided to split a breakfast and order the Calamansi Pie. We had the Brouille on Toast; scrambled eggs with wonderful sauteed mushrooms on top of a brioche. One order was perfect for both of us. FYI, pictured below is 1/2 an order. We both loved it. I would be happy if I could eat this everyday.

The Calamansi Pie was fantastic. If you like Key Lime Pie you would absolutely love this pie. If you are like my brother Gary or my nephew Brian, you would not like this as it is a bit tart. How I wish I could take a pie back to the U.S.

We later went back to Toby's for dinner as they had sandwiches. Sandi and I split a Grilled Cheese and a Chicken Salad Sandwich. We did not enjoy the Grilled Cheese. I guess we have had a good many wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches like the Ultimate Grilled Cheese we used to get at L'Amande Bakery. The Chicken Salad was good but not out of the ordinary. It could have used more texture; perhaps some chopped celery and raisins. The nice thing about the sandwiches were that they were served with lots of potato chips that went well with them.

I have to mention that the staff was so friendly that we felt like part of the family after just a few visits. The Coffee and the Calamansi Pie alone is reason enough to visit Toby's.

Breakfast at Wildflour Cafe

Wildflour Cafe and Bakery is located at the Frabelle Building, 111 Rada St., Legaspi Village in Makati City in the Philippines.  This was recommended to us by close friends. This is a nice bonus since we are staying at an apartment on the same street just a few doors down from the bakery.

Sandi and I arrived in Makati on the Thursday evening and our first breakfast the following day was a very short walk to the bakery. We could not believe our eyes as everything looked good. We wanted to try so many things but since that was not possible, the salesperson suggested getting 4 pastries for less than what we would pay if we bought them individually (500 pesos/ $10). That's all she had to say, never mind the fact that there were just 2 of us.

The pastries we picked were: Bacon Bourbon Sticky Bun, Mango Streussel, Kouign Amann and Salted Egg Croissant. The maple bacon which looked the best was too sweet, the kouign amann was o.k. The mango streussel was delicious, very light, crumbly and not too sweet with fresh mangoes. My favorite was the salted egg croissant. They used the yolk of the a salted egg to make the custard inside the croissant. The flavor was amazing on the crispy croissant.  The day before yesterday, Sandi went and got 2 more pastries: Apple Tart, Tomato Croissant which had meat in it and a something lemon.

This morning, Sandi and I ended up there again. This time I got a Pain Au Jamon (ham), which had a little kick to it, Cream Cheese Croissant, Potato Bacon Croissant and our very favorite, the Banana Nutella Danish.

Wildflour is also open for lunch and dinner with a good selection of soups, salads, sandwiches and pasta. We will have to go back to see what lunch and dinner is all about.