Brunch: Dimsum Plus

Mabuhay!

For soshal authentic flavors of Cantonese cuisine the place to go to is the Shang Palace at Makati Shangri-la Hotel.

Shang Palace, Makati Shangri-la Hotel

It's is one of my favorite brunch places because of the Dim Sum Plus promo of the hotel. For P888+ per person (new price), you can eat unlimited dimsum++!

Tom surprised me with a lunch date at Shang Palace this week and I realized that this was the first time we ate together at the restaurant! I usually go with friends or with Aryanna because we have the capacity to stuff ourselves with Chinese food till we're blue in the face! Haha! Tom, on the other hand, is not pang-buffet—he only eats just enough to fill him up, never patayan. LOL

Anyway, I tried to order as many of my favorite dishes as I can without Tom giving me the evil eye. In the end, I'm glad I left the restaurant feeling full but not bloated.

The menu:

The table setting:

Foodam:

The secret to eating Chinese food and digesting it quickly is to only drink hot tea with your meal.

Appetizer: Sweet and spicy tofu cubes with shallots. OMG. I can eat a big bowl of this! I hope I'll be lucky in getting the recipe from the chef. Tom is pulling some strings for me. ;D

Soup: I ordered the hot and sour soup while Tom had the minced beef with cilantro. I wish I had his soup. I still prefer Luk Yuen's hot and sour soup.

Because I'm with Tom, I only ordered two steam baskets of dimsum (4 pcs/basket). We had hakaw and vegetable dimsum.

Listen up! You must order this! It's called the barbeque pork pie. It's barbeque pork with apples wrapped in puff pastry. It's not on the menu so you have to ask for it. They are still part of the Dim Sum Plus promo. So yummy!

I have to thank my "sister" Cindy Yang for introducing me to Shang Palace's X.O. Sauce! I cannot eat the barbeque pork pie without this condiment. You have to pay extra for this though.

Barbeque pork pie + X.O. Sauce = Heaven!

Glazed pork

With the Dim Sum Plus, you can order one main dish. I ordered the hot prawn salad. I love the crunchy pork stirred in cream and fruits.

Tom ordered the scallops with broccoli as his main dish. Warning: The serving is little so don't expect to share this dish. This dish is delicious, you might end up ordering extra.

Chandelier love

Visit Shang Palace now!

Phone
(63 2) 8138888/ 840 0884

Hours
Dim Sum Plus : 11:30am - 2:30pm, Mon - Sat, except holidays


Shoppingero/shoppingera, what's your favorite dimsum?

Brunch: Shakshooka ala Jenni

Mabuhay!

Have you heard of or tried shakshooka?

Traditional shakshooka looks like this.

Shakshooka or shakshouka is a dish consisting of eggs cooked in a tomato sauce sometimes with peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, turmeric, and chillies), and usually served with white bread. The name shakshouka in Tamazight means “a mixture”.

I love this dish! It took me a while to "perfect" it to my liking, but I finally had a breakthrough last Friday! The secret was to use dried basil leaves instead of fresh ones. The traditional recipe also calls for turmeric and cumin, I prefer the sauce without them.

Shakshooka is a healthy alternative to Eggs Benedict and it's the perfect hangover dish too!

Shakshooka ala Jenni is with crispy fried eggs instead of poached eggs in the tomato sauce.

Whatchunid:

EVOO

1 tsp. Moscovado sugar
Himalayan pink salt

Freshly ground pepper
Dried basil

3 fresh tomatoes; 3 whole, peeled tomatoes (canned); 1 tbsp. tomato paste

Eggs

1-2 cloves of garlic

Your favorite hot sauce

Wheat bread. I recommend French Baker's Whole Wheat Bread

Easy peasy:

Step 1: Sauté garlic in  2tbsp. of EVOO

Step 2: Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, hot sauce, dried basil, Moscovado sugar,  salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then simmer in low heat for 5 to 8 mins.

I used the tamagoyaki pan I bought in Muji to cook the fried eggs!

Step 3: Fry the eggs in 1 tbsp. of EVOO.
Rectangular crispy fried eggs have become my signature dish at home! Kyoot, di ba?
Tip: I cook the the egg in medium to high heat to crisp the eggs.

Step 4: Serve with a smile!:D

I basically massacred the eggs and scooped them with bread.

The perfect Sunday goo!

Shoppingero/shoppingera, what's your favorite Sunday goo?

Brunch: Sustainable food

Mabuhay!

I should really scope out our neighborhood for more places like Le Bistro Vert. It is one of the coolest restos in town!

The French name, Le Bistro Vert, translated in English as “The Green Bistro” is inspired by the center of cuisine excellence which is France. What is offered is a mix of culinary influences culled by Chef Sau del Rosario, who began his international professional experience in Paris and Nice in France and has come full circle with his experiences in Asian countries.

Le Bistro Vert Sustainable Foods has at its core direction, the support of local farmers and small communities who produce artisanal food specialties, as well as healthy yet tasty cuisine. The menu’s local flavors are given a twist as Asian culinary culture comes to meet European rich tradition of cuisine.

This is the future of the food industry.

Foodam:

I ordered the Eggs Benedict. Instead of the usual spinach and English muffins, they used bokchoy and wheat pandesal. I love the combination! The bacon was crisped to perfection and the Hollandaise sauce was light and tasty. Two thumbs up!

Perfectly poached eggs should ooze! So yummy!

Tom ordered the French toast with fruit compote and maple syrup. He said that the use of raisin bread was not the best choice as the bread was doughy. I tried it and I have to say, I agree. In our opinion, it's not the best dish on the menu.

Tom and I went back this morning to have breakfast again at the bistro. This time, I ordered the LBV Filipino breakfast with chicken longganisa. It was delicious but the longganisa to rice ratio was too little. For almost P300, they could have served three pieces of the longganisa. I was still hungry when I left the joint.

You have no idea how much Tom and I wanted this Berry Pancake to taste good, but unfortunately, the pancakes were dense. We're breakfast people and we make mean flapjacks at home, in our opinion, pancakes should be light and fluffy. Anyway, we told the staff about it and they were very accommodating.

The bistro's specialty dessert is the calamansi pie. It's their version of key lime pie. This is a must-try! It's got the right hint of sourness from the calamansi and the cream cheese just melts in your mouth! I would improve though on the crust as it was too crumbly. I want my crust to hold up to the filling.

Coffee was good. Love the foam!

You can buy local products at Le Bistro Vert's Echostore.

Sample some of Chef Sau's concoctions!

Architect Dan Lichauco, known for his green buildings and who teaches sustainable green architecture at the University of Santo Tomas stepped in to create an interior reminiscent of a green glass house. A large whimsical mural of symbols representing the underwater world and treasures of the sea dominates the first floor. The mural is set against stark white walls.

Warning: Closed on Sundays

Le Bistro Vert (former Capone's) is located at Fraser Place, GF, Forbes Tower, Valero st., Makati City. Telefax 403.1841

Le Bistro Vert serves all-day breakfast, lunch, snacks, cocktails, and dinner.


Shoppingero/shoppingera, have you heard about sustainable food?