Truffle Degustation Dinner at Red

Every now and then, Red at Makati Shangri-La has special tasting menus for certain occasions or for certain ingredients.

Recently, Red had a special Truffle menu for a limited time. Degustation and a la carte truffle selections. For a little splurge, we tried the 8 course degustation menu. Each course had black truffles shaved on top of it. Some had truffles cooked into the dish. For the most part, the truffles worked really well with each of the dishes. They maintained an earthy taste, while not overpowering.

The entire meal had a total of 14 grams of black summer truffles. If we had this meal in the states, or almost anywhere not in the Philippines, it would have been well over $100 per person. Here, it was $85. $85 for 8 courses with truffles. Pretty good for all that you get.

Overall, the meal was enjoyable as it always has been. Whenever there are menu changes, it's nice going back to Red to see what else they can create.

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

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check our my Flickr album: Red

More from Makati Shangri-La: Inagiku

These days, when I crave for Asian food my stomach is either thinking about Japanese or Thai cuisine. Lately I've been really craving sushi and sashimi. My body must be needing some refreshing omega-3s.

To enjoy some fresh, quality sushi, we returned to Makati Shangri-La. This time, we went to Inagiku.

It's not a place to expect value for your money. The prices are hotel high, and for some orders it kinda feels like they are charging even more than hotel high. The quality of the ingredients are excellent, though.

The one real downside about the restaurant is that the smell and oily feeling from teppanyaki frying station which spreads throughout the whole restaurant. You leave the place smelling like you ate Korean BBQ. When you want eat sushi, the environment is supposed to feel clean.. as clean and fresh as the sushi you are eating.

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

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Inagiku

A La Carte Dining at Circles Event Cafe

Now that I'm back home in Manila, I've been in the mood to visit restaurants that are old favorites, and to discover new favorites. For this week's Monday, Wednesday, Friday entries, I'm revisiting a few restaurants from the Makati Shangri-la Hotel. Every time I'm in town, I frequent the restaurants in the Shangri-la because of their proximity and because they use quality ingredients.

First up this week, Circles Event Cafe. This is the international buffet for the hotel. They also have themes for certain nights. Wednesday nights are Filipino Nights, with a great Filipino spread and some cultural music and dance.

Coming from the U.S., we always face some jetlag for the first few to several days. That also means our eating times are all messed up. So a hotel cafe is a great place to enjoy all day dining. Instead of indulging in the buffet, we ordered a la carte off the menu.

The menu items can be hit and miss. We learn from the "misses" like the pizza and avoid them on our next visits. It's the "hits" like the pancit, and the hotel atmosphere, that encourage us to keep coming back.

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

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Circles

Favorite Travel Photos

Apart from my collection of food photos, I also have a growing number of travel photos. It's truly been an incredible year and a half of almost constant travel. There are so many beautiful sights in this world to discover.

I loved living in the U.S., but travel around the states can become..boring. I mean, each city has its beauty.. but everything and everyone is American. You travel 1 to 6 hours, and you get the same culture, more or less. Here in Asia, you travel less than 2 hours, and you're in a completely different culture, language, everything.

Here are some of my favorite travel photos from the past year and a half. I can't wait for the next months and years of more travel!

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Favorite Travel Pics

Favorite Food Photos

Can you believe that more than half of the year has already flown by? It feels like I arrived in Manila just a few weeks ago... Well, I sorta did. I did just come back from the states for the third time this year. Traveling makes time fly!

It's been an incredible year and a half living in Manila and traveling to new places. The food everywhere has been amazing! I can't wait to travel some more to discover new foods and to travel back to my new favorite cities to eat more of the good stuff.

Here's a look back at my favorite food photos from January 2010 to the present day. On Friday, I'll be posting up my favorite travel photos from the past year and a half.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Favorite Food Pics