Quality Filipino Feasting

If you're looking for some Filipino food to make your stomach and palate happy while impressing your sense of sight, Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino is the place to go.

The a la cart menu is always available if you're not looking to gain a pound.  But, if you don't mind throwing in an extra workout the next day, the A La Carte All You Can is best option for feasting.  It's a "clean plate" policy, so choose wisely.

My choices for this particular evening included 8 selections.  The appetizer bites start the evening with an excellent first impression.   Smartly plated bites of classic dishes revamped in such a fresh manner.  The subsequent dishes all followed suit.   My eyes were attracted to every dish which made my stomach open up and eager to taste it all.

The menu is quite extensive which encourages me to always go back for more and to try out all of these beautifully crafted dishes.

Place your cursor above "Notes" below to read the captions for each photo.

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A Night with Ernst Loosen at Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino

After receiving another email about a wine night, we again jumped at the opportunity to dine at Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino. This time, we would get to meet the winemaker, Ernst Loosen! We first tasted Dr Loosen Wines when we ate at the Peninsula Hotal in Shanghai. We instantly fell in love with the wine, and we had high hopes for this evening.

Overall, we left more than impressed with both the food and the wines! Chef Laudico's cuisine can easily make waves, and even bring Filipino cuisine to a respected mainstream, if it were in food cities like San Francisco or Manhattan. Loosen's wines paired so well with the food! It's great to find wines that can be paired with Filipino cuisine. And, it was so great spending time and conversing with the winemaker himself. We were so impressed that we even made plans to visit his wineries in Mosel Valley in Germany.

Here are pictures of the wines and the cuisines. Place your cursor over "Notes" to read more about each picture.

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Wine Pairing Night at Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino

Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino has definitely turned into one of our favorite restaurants. We received an email from their mailing list regarding a Wine Pairing Night. We jumped on the opportunity! The wines were all French, a part of the Sommelier Selection. The food was excellent, as we had a nice variety with the four course pairing menu; and the wines paired nicely with each course.

Here are pictures from our Wine Pairing Night. Don't forget, place your cursor on "Notes" to read more about each picture.

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Brunch Buffet at Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino

For a weekend lunch, my parents and I went back to Chef Laudico's Bistro Filipino. Each time we go, we get more and more impressed with the creations, the taste, the presentation, and the execution. In my opinion, he's like the David Chang of the Manila. He's setting the trend and inspiration for modernized Filipino cuisine, much like how Chang has been in the forefront for modernized Asian bites these days.

The brunch buffet is so generous for 788PHP. You get to order (as in a buffet, but it's made fresh to order) from the menu which puts together most of the main menu in half portions. Plus, there are silogs (Filipino breakfast that has meat or fish with rice and an egg). The portions allow you to order a lot and have a variety of plates for lunch. I can't wait to build up an appetite again and go back!

I just took a picture of the silog and the desserts I ordered. If you want to see examples of the other dishes, click on the first link in the paragraph above. Also, place your cursor above "Notes" to read more about each picture.

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Modernized Filipino Cuisine

I love it when restaurants properly sophisticate Filipino cuisine. When it is done well, Filipino food has great potential to be as mainstream as Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. In a second visit to Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino, the restaurant proved to be consistent. We even had the fortune of meeting the husband and wife chef team.


Prito Trio
Crispy Fish, Shrimps and Squid served with 3 Dipping sauces (Garlic Aoili, Pinakurat Soy Glaze and Crab Roe Cream. Definitely an appetizer to share. Tasty and full of bold seafood and acidic flavors!

Ubod Spring Roll
Crispy Lumpia Cone Filled with Chorizo, Prawns and Ubod topped with Spicy Vinegar Sorbet. Yum! Crispy on the outside and great full tastes inside. The vinegar sorbet provided great contrasts of acid and chill.

Milk Fish Souffle
Smoked Milk Fish and Keso de Bola Souffle in Whole Tomato served with Salad Greens in Paksiw Vinaigrette topped with Fried Bangus Belly. Delicate flavors of milk fish.

Trio of Soups
Prawn Sinigang Martini - Cold Prawn Sinigang Gelee poured with Hot Lemongrass Coconut Cream garnished with Seared Prawns
Paella Arroz Caldo - Saffron Rice Porridge garnished with Grilled Chicken, Squid and Chorizo
Shiitake Mushroom Cappuccino - Adobo Shiitake Mushroom Puree topped with Creamy Garlic foam drizzled with White Truffle Oil

US Angus Beef Kare-Kare
Slow Roasted US Beef Short Plate in Kare-Kare Sauce with Stuffed Banana Heart, Grilled Eggplant Chutney and Steamed Petchay. Tender beef and a tasty peanut sauce! I love the plating, too!

Binagoongan Crispy Pata
Boneless Crispy Pork with Creamy Bagoong Sauce served with Grilled Onions, Tomatoes and Asparagus with Garlic Turmeric Rice. My brother was still in town, so this was our continuation of ordering crispy pata. A solid plate of pig knuckles, but still not as good as Azuthai.

Halo Halo Napolean
Layers of Ube Tuille and Poached Native Fruits and Beans in Fresh Carabao Cream Sorbet. I love this twist on classic halo halo! The tuille layers and the carabao cream sorbet are delicious. I only wish that there were more native fruits and beans.

Deconstructed Sans Rival
Layers of Dayap Meringue and Pastry Crème on Chilled Mango Soup Splashed with Grand Marnier Orange Liqueur. The meringue was like a large, chewy French macaron. That was tasty, but the rest of the dessert was too sweet for my palate.

Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino

Located in Fort Bonifacio, Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino is a modernized Filipino restaurant. The dishes are nicely plated, and the modernized twist is well-executed.
Bread Basket
Pan de Sal. The size was nice and mini, but it was a bit on the dry size.

Kankong Crisps
Kangkong and Kesong Puti (white cheese) fried into a dumpling. A nice start!

Ubod Spring Roll
Crispy Lumpia Cone Filled with Chorizo, Prawns and Ubod topped with Spicy Vinegar Sorbet. Another great starter! The plating was designed to let the excess oil drip out.

Shiitake Mushroom Cappuccino
Adobo Shiitake Mushroom Puree topped with Creamy Garlic foam drizzled with White Truffle Oil

Grilled Eggplant Torta
Baked Eggplant Torta with Chili Crab Meat on Mix Greens in Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

Paella Stuffed Squid
Paella Rice with Chorizo stuffed in Grilled Squid served with New Zealand and Clam Fritters in Roasted Capsicum Sauce. The fried mussels and clams had a bit too much batter, but other than that this was a successful dish. I love stuffed squid.

US Angus Beef Kare-Kare
Slow Roasted US Beef Short Plate in Kare-Kare Sauce with Stuffed Banana Heart, Grilled Eggplant Chutney. Very nice presentation and the flavors of everything are excellent. This was a great, solid dish!

Halo-Halo Napoleon
Layers of Ube Tuille and Poached Native Fruits and Beans in Fresh Carabao Cream Sorbet. The carabao sorbet was delicious! I was looking for more fruits and beans, though.