Off to Discover New Cities!

I'm off on my next trip, and I think this trip can change my top ten favorite food cities. This time, I'm checking out Taipei, Taiwan (which I'm anticipating will make it on my top ten list) and Guilin, China and it's surrounding towns. I'll be back in the beginning of August. Until then, I'll be uploading mobile pictures on my Facebook and Twitter pages featuring the foods I'll encounter during my trip.

Here's my current Top Ten Favorite Food Cities:
1. Hong Kong
2. Madrid
3. Tokyo
4. Bangkok
5. New York City
6. San Francisco
7. Paris
8. Ho Chi Minh City
9. Los Angeles
10. Manila

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.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

More Dim Sum

When you go to a restaurant for a specific craving and the food is just average, you are left with craving that food even more. That was the case for our dim sum craving. So we ventured to Peking Garden in Greenbelt 5. Unfortunately, we found it to be another average dim sum meal. With all our traveling and fondness for good quality food, we do set our standards and expectations high. We're looking for quality, fresh ingredients, and authenticity (though there are those chefs and restaurants where creativity successfully modernizes authenticity). I loove food, but I'm also a conscious eater with my health and weight in mind - I'm not going to waste my calories for average food.

Here are pictures from our meal:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer