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In this second installment of her three-part series on
restaurants to visit and revisit in the new year, Stella
Arnaldo dishes on even more yummy things.
barLO
Resto Lounge, Two Seasons Beach Resort, Station 1,
Boracay Island, Aklan
barLO
offers an exciting blend of European and Asian flavors
created by the father-and-son team of Gene and Gino
Gonzalez. Frankly speaking, I didn’t have high hopes
about the cuisine, considering that the last time I ate
at Café Ysabel in San Juan, I came away very
disappointed with what I had eaten. (True, this was many
years ago, but it was so bad I vowed never to set foot
in the place again.)
My sad
experience with Café Ysabel, however, was completely
blown away when I got a taste of some of the items on
barLO’s menu. The Crispy Pork with Char Siu Rice alone
is to die for. While I usually abhor eating pork dishes
when I’m on a beach vacation, this dish was simply too
delectable to resist, especially when dipped in the
raspberry sauce that came with it.
Another
fabulous find was the Chef’s Angus Beef Burger, which
was supertender and juicy and cooked just right.
Consider this the king of all Boracay burgers.
For
dessert, you can’t go wrong with the Molten Chocolate
Cake dusted with some caster sugar, and served with
pine-vanilla ice cream. The cake isn’t too sweet and the
ice cream and raspberry compote just gives the dish that
extra kick to make this chocolate dessert totally
exciting.
And I am
happy to note that barLo is so the only restaurant this
side of Boracay which serves crispy fried danggit for
breakfast. It serves comfort food with a twist. And who
can go wrong with that?
Cyma,
TriNoma,
Quezon City
WHILE
Cyma has been around for awhile, this is Chef Robbie
Goco’s first outlet in Quezon City. Cyma’s fans are
flocking to this new location and packing it in
especially during the evenings and weekends. (We’re told
that many of the TriNoma patrons have been regular
diners at the restaurant’s Shangri-La Mall outlet like
myself.)
But we
also noticed new diners, mostly Filipino-Chinese
families, trying to get a feel of the Greek selections
and, sadly, they sometimes stick to the familiar, like
pasta, pizza and osso buco—basically Italian fare—which
are also available on the menu.
We hope
they try our favorites, such as the Roka Salata (P245
for the solo size but still enough to share with two
other people), a typical Greek salad with a delectable
blend of arugula, Romaine lettuce, candied walnuts,
sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan cheese, kalamata
olives tossed in lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil.
Sweet. Crunchy. Refreshing.
There’s
also the really hefty Moussaka (P235), made from
Japanese eggplant. Truthfully, I don’t like eggplants
because of its mushy taste, but I make an exception when
eating moussaka—Greece’s national dish—and just think of
it as lasagna (which I love!) with layers of ground
beef, tomato sauce and loads of mozzarella cheese with
béchamel sauce (minus the noodles, of course).
The lamb
gyros (no snickering about Greek shepherd boys now) is
also a must-try. It is marinated lamb sliced into
bite-sized pieces, with tomatoes, red onion, tzatziki
and wrapped in a pita bread. Tzatziki is a classic Greek
dip made of cucumber, garlic and yogurt which gives the
lamb gyros a light cool taste and feeling despite the
sizable amount of meat. Only P150 and filling enough for
a quick lunch.
“Always
leave room for dessert,” is my favorite motto. What’s a
meal without a sweet treat? You should not miss the
Skolatina, the most evil! dessert ever created on this
good earth! It’s that sinfully good! It is a chocolate
cake that just oozes with warm chocolate syrup when you
spoon into it, and which you have to eat with the warm
chestnut syrup and vanilla ice cream served on the side.
What a pleasure it is to savor that warm chocolatey
goodness and chilled creamy vanilla ice cream playing on
your taste buds. It is like the best orgasm you’ve
experienced in your entire life! Mmmm....
A piece
of advice, though: if you are going to order the
Skolatina, do so as soon as you sit down and order your
appetizers and main entrées, as it takes about 30
minutes to bake. Also, for the good of your hips and
blood sugar, do share it with someone. Unfortunately,
Cyma doesn’t serve coffee, which would really make the
perfect ending to the dining pleasures offered in this
place.
A
typical meal at Cyma would probably set you back at
least P700 per person for three courses—appetizer/salad,
entrée, dessert. But most of the dishes, even in solo
size, are good enough for three people to share, so it’s
money worth well spent.
We
conclude this delectable journey next week.... |
