The 12-course, 5-hour long lunch at Bale Dutung

Yes, I'm a survivor of the cholesterol-rich but pleasure-laden lunch at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung.

The meal was unabashedly decadent from start to end.


It began with an appetizer of Skyflakes crackers with three kinds of dip: sauteed crabfat, balo balo (a beginner's buro, I am told, made of fermented rice) and pesto. Claude's wife, Mary Ann, suggested we try combining the pesto and crabfat, which was great at cutting away the wickedness of fat.

Pako

Lumpiang ubod

Cold sotanghon

The cold sotanghon and pako (fern) salad followed, the former surprisingly light and the latter refreshingly tart with its drizzle of vinaigrette.



I loved Claude's version of chicken inasal, marinated in boiled lemongrass. It was served with a small lump of crabfat rice. The chicken meat was moist and flavorful, and went great dipped in aslam albu, vinegar that Claude himself prepares.



What followed turned out to be my favorite among all the appetizers, the crisp fried catfish with balao balao wrapped in mustasa leaves. The crunch of the catfish mixed splendidly with the creamy consistency of the balao balao. It was a poetic bite.

The meal crested in terms of decadence even before the lechon (roasted pig) was served when out came what Claude called “The Bone Collector”, a casserole pot filled with bone marrow cooked adobo-style. Plastic gloves were given out to hold the bone in place and a straw for easier enjoyment of the marrow. I would have preferred to smear the marrow on some country bread tp cut away the richness but that would have sated me too quickly that I would have no space left for the lechon.

Whole Lechon

Lechon Skin

Pritchon

Sinigang

Grilled ribs

Asado

And of course, the lechon was what I came here for. It was served five ways: the skin, which can certainly hold its own even without sauce; pritchon, which was my favorite, the strands of meat cooked to a crisp like pork floss; sinigang, using kamias as souring agent; grilled ribs, a close match to the skin for second place; and, finally, asado.

Paradiso

Claude was not about to close the meal in a hush. In fact, he took it a notch higher by combining sugar and fat. He served two desserts: tibok-tibok, soft and velvety and generously topped with latik, and Paradiso, a brulee of macapuno, halayang ube and pastillas balls on a bed of silken panna cotta-like cream made of carabao’s milk.

KKK

I had the chance to try this restaurant when one of my nieces celebrated her birthday this month. It's located in SM City Annex. The resto serves good Pinoy bar chow. I particularly loved their binagoongang baboy.

Arya One More Time

A delayed post.

Sometime this December, Mr. G and I went back to Arya for dinner. This time, I had dessert. I chose their date cake. Served warm and sitting on a bed of honey, it was moist and delicate. It hit all the right spots.

Jalapeño

I love Mexican food, be it the authentic kind or the Tex-Mex variety. It's one of those things I crave for every once in a while but never really get to indulge in as often as I'd like because Mr. G is not particularly fond of it. I still mourn the decline of Tia Maria's. I miss their flautas, pizza and falling-of-the-bone pork ribs.

Nachos with baked jalapeno cheese dip (P150)

I had been planning this visit to Ortigas Home Depot for some time because I heard it's a burgeoning foodie's haven and I wanted to go to this particular restaurant, Jalapeño Cantina Mexicana, because I'd been hearing good reviews.

Steak and cheese quesadilla (P240)

The nachos with cheese dip wasn't bad but the Mexican nachos was better. We ordered two kinds of quesadilla, steak and cheese and chicken and cheese. Everything was smothered in cheese as expected but I wasn't fond of the brand they use. It tasted like the local cheese whiz. I wanted something with more tang.

Mr. G ordered grilled Cajun pork chops (P210). I didn't get to taste it but I can only surmise that it was good because he wiped his plate clean.

I was craving for the sweet-piquant taste of buffalo wings so I ordered from Buffalo Wings 'N Things next door. I didn't get the lip-puckering sourness that I expected.

Healthy Shabu Shabu

Waiting for the waiter to pour stock into the hot pot

Mr. G was craving for Spanish but the Spanish place near Oyster Bar in Powerplant has closed down. I thought he would drag me to The Fort or elsewhere for a paella. Instead, he settled for shabu shabu.

Waiting for the stock (called dashi) to boil

I'm of the belief that eating at a shabu shabu restaurant is less about the food and more about the experience. But I always wondered whether I did things right (more about that later).

There were controls on the table to regulate the amount of heat

It didn't take long before the broth was in full boil

I flavored the broth with ginger, scallions, bird's eye chili, and shrimp paste

Mr. G ordered a mix of meat (US Angus) and seafood (group B on the menu, the one with prawns, salmon, scallops and green mussels). I opted for the same combination but with a different meat (beef tenderloin).

The ponzu, which I poured into the broth

Our orders came with the standard serving of greens, tofu, kani, corn, shiitake mushroom, udon noodles, squid and chicken balls, and egg.

According to my research, we did most things right, except for the ponzu, which is usually used as a dipping sauce. You can season it to taste with the serving of scallions, chilli, and ginger, and even combine the egg with the dip to make a more unctuous sauce.

You can then fish the meat and veggies out of the broth and dip it in the sauce. Oh well. Next time.

Packo's Grill

Laing - Not bad but nothing special

Tortang talong

This is one of our go-to places for a late dinner because it's very near where we work, it closes late, and the food isn't bad, not to mention affordable.

Rellenong pusit

The rellenong pusit is our perennial favorite. We usually pair it with either tortang giniling or tortang talong.

Murray & D'Vine

Mr. G's Kobe burger

My wagyu burger

We wanted to try out Chelsea Place but it was about to close by the time we made it to Serendra. By then, we were so famished we were ready to try just about anything. Gourmet burgers seemed like a good idea so we tried out Murray & D'Vine. Mr. G ordered the Kobe beef burger while I chose the Wagyu variety. We split each in half so we can have a taste of both. Mr. G's made the better choice but we both agree that we've tasted better burgers.

Taste of L.A.

Beef fondue

The fantastic olive rice that is served with the beef fondue

The calorie-laden pleasure-in-a-wrap, Pritchon

Old favorites seem to be haunting me the past few weeks. Here's another. We used to frequent this place--until we started running and found that our nocturnal lifestyle didn't go well with our new sport.

I. Covet.

Saw these items in Travel+Leisure's Best Travel Gifts 2009 article and I can't help but WANT.

Water-resistant watches, Nixon

Leather boots from Tsubo

Hermes notebooks

Best-selling 1932 French cookbook by Ginette Mathiot, now in English, Phaidon.

14-karat-gold necklace with N.Y. initials, Ginette NY

Handbag-clutch from Cartier

New Bombay

The Menu

Chicken Tikka Masala

After attending an event at the Podium last Friday, I found my tummy craving for "real food" after the palate-stimulating hors d'oeuvres. My friend B has heard of a new Indian place in the building that was supposedly good. We asked the Concierge about it and were led to the New Bombay restaurant on the fifth floor near the cinemas.

Chapati

I wasn't particularly craving for Indian food but I was sooo glad we went there. The food was rich and flavorful, the kind that sticks to your stomach. We called a friend who has been there to suggest to us what to try. He recommended the chicken tikka masala (Php195) and mushroom greenpeas masala (Php185) and the chapati (php30 each). So that was what we ordered. He later texted to further suggest the biryani but we doubted whether we would consume that much food between the two of us. We saved the other specialties for another time.

Mushroom Greenpeas Masala

I was very pleased with what we ordered, particularly with the greenpeas masala, which I haven't tried before. I loved biting into the chunks of cheese mixed in with the savory sauce.

Arya

Beef koobideh

Mr. G and I have always loved this Persian restaurant at Greenhills Promenade. The food was good and the service even better. The owner makes it a point to greet every diner and, when we became regulars, he'd give us a nod of recognition and approach our table once in a while to check on how we're doing. But after a succession of shawarma and kebab dinners, we temporarily lost our taste for Persian food and turned our favor on Asian.

Mourg barg (chicken)

Hummus

Last week, when we got off early from work, we decided to revisit this old favorite. We weren't disappointed. In fact, we were surprised that the food tasted even better. I couldn't get enough of the hummus and the mourg barg had a lovely smoky taste.