Valentines

It has been awhile since I went on a Valentine's date or received flowers for that matter.....This year, thankfully, I did both.

My husband bought Ecuadorian Roses (huge ones that are quite expensive)... surprise!!!--  I, on the other hand, booked a dinner at Diamond Hotel (a hotel facing the bay..) .
The fine dining restaurant is named Le bellevue, situated at the 27th floor of the hotel and it had a wonderful view of  Manila bay.

We arrived quite early at the venue. Both of us dressed for "the date". The sun was about to set as we were being seated and the table the restaurant gave us had a sweeping view of it all.

That day, the restaurant had a special "set" Valentine's menu with complimentary Moet and Chandon champange. (oooh lala!)...
My husband convinced the waiter later on to extend another serving of the champange.....(he slipped the maitre 'D a few)

Our first course started with a salmon-oyster w/ vodka granita / shrimp ceviche. I usually don't eat raw oysters but I made an exception this time just to try if the food was good. The oyster was very sweet (to my surprise) and the granita (vodka infused crushed ice on top) really helped tone down the "sea" taste of the oyster.

Next course, I opted for the scallops while my husband chose the foie gras (duck liver)... I would have chosen the same but I wanted to taste the other appetizer (and we could share of course!). The scallops were ok, but I must say, the foie gras was truely divine! The buttery texture combined with the brioche and sweet chutney...! To die for.....
The scallops we shared and it served as a counter to the richness of the foie gras and it balanced everything so well. (I am still salivating just thinking about it.....)

The soup was a choice of either a roasted red beet soup or a  cold melon soup... (the melon soup was not as good so we both asked for the red beet-- ) The red beet soup had some blue cheese ravioli swimming in the middle.. tangy and tasty! The "refresher" came after.. a candied rose petal topped passion fruit sorbet... which I found surprising in that the rose petals, if I hadn't known they were rose petals, tasted like chewy candy.--- really good.

The main course choices were: lobster or angus beef tenderloin or lamb loin or veal cheeks  (all of which sounded good to me that I had a hard time choosing) I finally decided to get the angus beef while my husband got the lamb loin (and we would share- of course).

The angus beef was cooked medium well as was the lamb. It was tender and juicy topped with red peppercorns and with a side of asparagus and artichoke. The lamb had a siding or tempura fried french bean (my favorite kind of bean) and it was so delicious.

By this time, I already was feeling a bit full and was thinking if I could still manage dessert. But, what the heck, I only get to do this once in a few years... dessert was a choice of molten chocolate cake and pineapple ice cream.  (got one of each to taste) I didn't like the  molten chocolate cake so much. I rather preferred the pralines that came after (chocolates with fillings)--

The evening went well... although the one and a half glass of champange got to me later on.. (I got really red and reaked of alchohol).. We thouroughly had a wonderful time. I would recommend this place to my friends and would bring some family next time I come.