IN dining parlance, a Tasting Menu is a special menu that showcases a restaurant’s best dishes.

Based on the traditional degustacion (meaning “a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods”), which originated in the kitchens of 20th-century France, nine restaurants in Greenbelt, Makati—Mezze, Bed Space, Capricciosa, Max Brenner, Fuzion, Bubba Gump, Mr. Rockefeller, Kai and Bizu—will offer Tasting Rooms with menus prepared by some of the most artistic culinary experts in the Philippines until December 31.

The event, which is organized in cooperation with Citibank World Privileges, 2nd Avenue and Appetite Magazine, is the first of its kind to hit the metropolis’s food-savvy scene.

The Tasting Rooms will give gourmands the chance to embark on a culinary adventure without putting a dent on their holiday budget.  Citibank cardholders can also avail themselves of the various discounts and special treats offered by the participating establishments.

Mezze offers a delectable collection of appetizers (tapas, petit plats and cichetti) paired with a glass of wine. Chefs Aldo Maria Lucero Fernandez and Rexon Pacao have drawn up a special menu for P1,000—a trio entrée (potato leek, tomato and French onion soup); the main entrée of smoked salmon caviar, salad fresh, Chilean sea bass and lamb tangine. For desserts are Panna Cotta, Apple B’Steeya, Falling Cake, Classic Crème Brulée, Torta Limone and Chocolate Indulgence.

A dine-in-bed experience is available any time of the day at Bed Space, which offers a five-course menu for only P350. The menu includes French onion soup, crispy California spring rolls, baked chicken Cordon Bleu with vegetables and bacon served with rice, Molten chocolate lava for dessert, and the signature Bed Space red berry iced tea mocktail. 

At Capricciosa, one will get authentic, delicious and freshly cooked Italian dishes prepared by Will Tan and Engilou Lee Vy, which form a special full-course meal in hearty servings good for two to three people for P1,200. On their menu: smoked salmon spring roll and rice croquette, Italian mixed salad, special meatballs spaghetti, calamari and onion squid ink sauce and Tiramisu.

Chef Louie Jurilla, on the other hand, wants diners to taste something that is rarely served at Max Brenner. The establishment encourages patrons to go crazy with the five-course meal. The first course is mushroom cappuccino and shitake purée topped with spiced paprika foam. The second course is Asian-style crab cakes served with coriander lime aioli. The third course is crispy duck salad with Hoisin dressing. The fourth course is potato-crusted salmon on crisped ginger rice with red bell pepper cream sauce, and the fifth is a shot of maragnan (Irish cream, milk chocolate and espresso shot) for only P750.

Fuzion, on the other hand, offers desserts and healthy dishes, as well as its signature smoothies with no sugar and ice added. Fuzion has prepared crispy calamari as an appetizer, a meat lover’s pizza or garlic chicken mayo sandwich for the first course, Carbonara Roma or South Beach Smoked Chicken for the second course, and a Fuzion smoothie or mango tango crepe for dessert.

Bubba Gump, meanwhile, has prepared Ping Pong Chicken, Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi or Steak New Orleans with shrimp shack pasta as the main entrée, and Alabama mud pie for P500.

Mr. Rockefeller’s is known for fresh and rich oysters but also specializes in steaks, ribs and seafood. Its Tasting Menu will start with fresh oysters topped with peach purée and caviar, as well as the soup of the day, baked Alaskan sole fish with buttered rice as the main entrée, and end sweet with ice cream, diced bananas with chocolate syrup, priced at P1,000.

At Kai, traditional Japanese cuisine lovers will get a unique modern twist of tastes with Executive Chef Gilbert Pangilinan’s kanpyo crispy tofu wasabi oysters, yuan-marinated tuna with edible gold leaf, mixed greens, pan-seared sea bass, Asian scallop tempura with red pepper dynamite, inaniwa sichimi pasta (noodles sautéed with shitake and asparagus), buta kakuni (Nagasaki-style braised pork belly with saffron rice cake), miso soup and tofu cheesecake—an 11-course meal for only P1,000.

At Bizu, one can have coffee or tea, as well as dinner dishes with the finest French pastries and cakes for P555 such as Crème Brulée Napoleone with caramel sauce and fleur de sel, spiced hot chocolate in demitasse with fresh plump strawberry, lemon mousse cake with raspberry coulis surprise, bittersweet molten chocolate soufflé cake with crème anglaise, and fruit pavlova with crème chantilly.

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