Terra Marre pop up dinner

 

Terra Mare- meaning land and sea- very apt title for a limited pop up dinner by visiting chef John Buenaventura. Trained in CCA and currently working in Dubai for the royal family, he really excludes a passion for cooking. I am glad we got to taste some of it during this pop up.

I loved the open kitchen and the intimate setting of the venue (one world kitchen) . We went early and did the 5:30 seating because we don’t like late dinners and afraid of parking problems if we do the later seating. The menu was interesting and I loved the mix of Japanese and Peruvian (with the incorporations chilis)

Hamachi tira dito

Lying on a bed of yuzu , the hamachi was really fresh and a great start, it wasn’t too tart and the chili on the side wasn’t too spicy. Caviar on top was a nice addition and they even have some crispy quinoa for the crunch element.

Salmon ceviche

The salmon was lying on a bed of mashed avocados (toasted in the burner and mashed with lime), it also had 3 kinds of corn (which the chef hand carried in his luggage to Manila). The white one is called chulpe corn, plus choclo corn *the big kernel on the side, and some roasted baby corn (which  I thought was a nice  visual). This dish had more of a kick- citrusy and spicier than the first, which was nice follow up second course to elevate the dinner. 

Dry aged beef tostada

The beef was super juicy and tender and the aji panca sauce (which had murita chiles *also hand carried, ) was great. Spicy but not too much (not like some Indian food I have tried… which was too busy taste wise  for me…heavy on the palate)

I loved the fact the chef was the one serving and explaining the dish and we can ask questions about it. He gamely engaged us in banter which was a plus. First time to try aji panca (which is roasting peppers, blitzing it and combining it with Japanese mayo.)

Murita chili- if you smell, it had a Smokey aroma. Quite interesting!

The tostada was crunchy (which I loved) and had to carefully eat it lest I drip the juices on my white shirt… which I tend to do all the time. Hahaha. Pickled onions was also nice. 

mud crab broth Nikkei

They poured the broth after I took that picture… so there is actually more broth.

The broth was made from the shells of the mudcrab (which they parboiled and took out the meat) and then made into dumplings. We were the first served and we felt our soup was under seasoned and not hot enough. We conveyed it to the chef and he quickly remedied and adjusted it for the other diners who were being served after us. He also gave us another cup of soup (adjusted taste) and it was just right. The umami of the crab finally coming through after the right seasoning. Loved that he took our feedback and was happy to adjust.

Pico sour sorbet

- palate cleanser. Loved it. 

Inca prawn halea

We were joking that we might mistake the black coals and dip it into the aji Amarillo (another mayonnaise infused with chili). The prawn was battered with activated charcoal and squid ink. It was served piping hot and I loved that we used our fingers to eat it. Finger linking good. 

Taco de Juan 

The taco was soft and lengua (you drizzle the lime on top) was nice. Although I liked the tostada better… I like crunchy more than soft tacos. But hey, that’s just me, there was also some pineapple on the side to balance the taste of the tacos. (Which the chef said they did in house)

Cazuelas

The highlight!!! COD in a bed of mud crab risotto! The risotto was cooked with the soup of the mud crabs and shells of the prawns. (Yum). The cod was just pan fried. Simplest cooking but delish just the same. The balance of the items in the menu was good. This was just the right amount to end our tummies with a BURP. 

Picarones 

Tres leches ice cream on a bed of cookie crumble. With picarones (looks like beignets but made out of pumpkin). Loved the tres leches (I asked what milk was in it… and the chef aside white chocolate, Carabao’s milk, condensed milk)… was so yummy had to ask the chef for one more serving sans the picarones. There was a passion fruit syrup on the bottom that was sour… so you had to put the tres leches together with the picarones so as not to get a mouthful of sourness. But my second serving of ice cream was just right for the coffee I ordered.. (full crema and with a kick) 

Overall, we loved the night and the experience and would love to try another pop up in the future. I would not hesitate to book the space for an intimate dinner with friends too ( I think the place just seats max 20… 12-14 on the counter and a few tables on the side.

Kudos to chef John for a great menu! Would love to try his pop ups anytime he’s in town!

Le petit Chef dinner

 

I had the chance to book a slot at Grant hyatt for the Le peti Chef experience. I say experience because that what it exactly was. Food theater if you can call it that.

We chose the premium menu.. although I think you can opt for the classic one too (P5800). The animation is the same, the difference between menus is the soup and the grade of steak, (all others are the same)

A host came out to introduce the whole set up… hew reminded me of the engineer from Ms. Saigon. LOL.

We were seated with another couple and they commented that it felt like a double date. Hahaha

This started us chatting with them the whole night.

First course: Italian burrata

This burrata with arugula, balsamic vinegar , some pink grapefruit and mandarin oranges. It was light and I enjoyed it. (8:30 seating and hubby was ravenous)

Second course: lobster bouillabaisse

The animation was great… I am just disappointed I don’t get to upload it here on the blog. It had sea bass, avruga caviar, scallops and mussels. Balance flavor throughout. Classic French soup.

Third course: Smocked chicken foie gras ballotine

The foie gras was in the middle with the smoke chicken surrounding it. For me, this was just ok. Couldn’t really taste a lot of the foie gras. Hubby by this time was still hungry. First two courses didn’t do it for him.

Main course: Char grilled Australian Wagyu Beef tenderloin (marble score 6++)

This was really hearty and we asked for medium doneness - it was cooked perfectly!. The carrots were so cute. The sauce complemented the beef really well. Gave hubby some of mine since I got full already.

Sweet treat: mascarpone, crème brulee

 It has berry compote in the middle and rice pudding on the bottom. Of course the crème brûlée I loved.

Dessert: Royal Baked Alaska 

22k gold foil , Italian meringue, chocolate balls and chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the middle. I couldn’t finish this one since I was too full already. Taste wise, I liked the chocolate balls. This dessert was just ok for me. ( my seatmate finished hers )

Overall, it was a nice experience and a nice night of conversation with some new friends. (Our seatmates) Although the 8:30 seating (they have a 6pm earlier one) was a bit late for us and we finished nearly at 11pm. I  haven’t had a heavy meal at that late an hour for a long time since we have dinner at 6pm and sleep by 9pm! So it was a full late night for this oldie!!!

Some things to note: they have a choice of free flow wine (one choice of red and one white which you can consume throughout the meal priced at 1200/ person) this is worth it if you can DRINK. For me, I am not good with holding my alcohol. 

Also, the offer water (Perrier) with charges. I got embarrassed to ask if that have tap water - Sosy yun seatmate ko, kakahiya. LOL tinipid ko na lang inom ko ng tubig. Hahaha

If you want to experience this kahit once, worth it naman. It’s like the dinner in the sky., I’ll upload some videos of the dinner in my facebook. 

Let me know if you tried this and what you thought. 

Kazunori omakase meal

Being locked up for so long made me want to eat. Of course I missed a lot of the fine dining restaurants that I asked that my birthday be spent on a omakase meal.. I have always loved watching sushi chefs work on the sushi table... 

The fine dining group in facebook raved so much about this kazunori meal and I had to try it

We got the 6,000 peso “basic” 15-17  course meal. ( depending on the mood of the chef ) There is also a 8000 and 10,000 peso meal which features more dishes

1. Ebi salad starter: seaweed , prawn, radish with a little onion vinaigrette. It was quite refreshing

We ordered sake to accompany our meal—-

2. Kampachi- amber jack- fresh and good

3. Koe- grouper. (So-so but still fresh)

4. Hirame- flounder.. quire similar to the amber

5. Otoro 

6. Salmon belly with ajitami (a kind of ginger). Ite was served piping hot. And was really good.

7. Mini Saito (the name of the chef) special- mixture of uni (sea urchin), otoro and ikura (salmon roe)

You need to roll it up into a cone like this.....

Perfect!

8. Sawara- Spanish mackarel

9. Butas ebi.. one of my favorites because I like crunchy things! And the head was so nice and crunchy

10. Tamago 

11. Otoro aburi 

12. Chawan mushi- upgraded version with uni, crab and ikura

13. Magura otoro- not one of my faves because i don’t like tuna in cooked form and it was like stewed

14. Unagi dish (yum)

15. Uso maki- otoro, egg pickle cucumber ( by this time i was already starting to get full)

16. Miso soup ( they told us this is the last dish... but)

17. Crab claw- the chef decided to give us a bonus) yummeh 

18. Highlight is the dessert, sesame panna cotta and coffee jelly. From the two I prefer the coffee jelly which really went well with the vanilla ice cream - the coffee jelly was really sharp coffee flavor. Just the way I like it - no added sweetness at all except for the vanilla ice cream ) I highly recommend this one when trying the menu.,

Some torching was involved too

It’s always fun to watch chefs work live. Although we initially thought we had a shorter meal.. the 6,000 price was just enough for us. We can’t imagine finishing the bigger set meal. ( the other couples with us were still eating when we paid and left ). If you are wondering what they had extra - i saw some snow crab legs that was torched and a scallop sushi . Other than that we had the same. It was really good but my tummy can’t stand a heavy meal during the night anymore... so maybe I’ll opt to get the heavy 10 course or more meal during lunch. BURP!

PILI beauty box unboxing

Women of a certain age really need to keep a beauty regimen. Maintainance is really key to keeping your skin healthy.

I am by no means a beauty blogger... but yeah, why not review a beauty set? There is always a first time.

I have a great friend who sent me her PILI ANI beauty box. Yes, this is a sponsored review. Hahaha

First off, the box was really great, with magnet closure like the ones I get from Kiehls.

I got really excited to see it came with a jade roller. To tell you the truth, I haven’t tried using a jade roller even though it was so popular last year. So it was quite exciting to get one to try.

So first off, I did the initial cleansing (using my current facial wash- innis free green tea)

The cream was really cute and it came with a acrylic spoon to scoop out the product. The consistency was creamy and not watery. The one in the set  is the youthful glow anti aging cream

You can get it HERE.   I applied a dollop on each cheek and spread it.

Next, I opened the facial oil -(containing  pili oil and Elemis oil extract) - ageless concentrate

This actually reminds me of olive oil, maybe since it’s also plant based- I put a few drops on my hand and rubbed and then patted it over my face. - The I did the jade roller

It was cold to the face which was great (note to self: keep the jade roller chilled in the ref for next time) the oil absorbed well and did not fell sticky — ( I hate sticky products on my face)

Roll.. roll... roll...

And here is my face after 5 minutes.- the roller kind of gave me a red flush ( I guess it got the blood circulating)

Total effect on my skin will have to come after two weeks, but my initial thoughts on this is... NOT BAD at all. We have to support local products for our economy and I find this as a great alternative to the imported brands I am currently using. My face was massaged really good and it felt really soft from the moisturizer and oil.

So, as per the box hashtag... do I look #IAmAgeless?