GETTING MAJORLY LOST AT ISABELO'S (SECRET) GARDEN

G.U.S. NITPICKS!! (v. 21)

ISABELO GARDEN RESTO




Actually, i had sworn off writing restaurant reviews, since so many other bloggers are able to do this much better than i can; and i just reserve my efforts for the out-of-town, so-called "destination" restaurants (think Antonio's Tagaytay).

But then Isabelo's was located in the shoe city of Marikina, which, for me, might as well be at the ends of the earth, since it seems so remote and far, far away like a distant galaxy.

Add to this the fact that my wine-swilling friends, D. and Jbs., waxed rhapsodic about the food and ambiance of the place, so it was a go.


Before we get on the car and drive off, here's a few things one should know about Isabelo Garden resto:

1. They are open for DINNER only (6 PM onwards).
2. One has to make advance reservations. No reservations, no food for you!
3. One also has to order from the menu in advance.
4. The owner-chef, Portia, generally does the cooking of the food herself.
5. They will give you the exact address and location map, only AFTER you make a confirmed reservation. Ergo, curious sightseers aren't exactly welcome! :D


So, off the three of us went for our foodie excursion. Unfortunately, the girls neglected to print out the map, relying instead on their memories of the directions from their previous visit.

This resulted in us getting lost in a major major way, and we tried asking policemen, a hospital doorman, tricycle drivers, etc. for directions, to no avail. D. called the resto, but their landline was not working.

"The food had better be worth all this trouble," i muttered grumpily, whilst entertaining thoughts of ejecting Jbs. from the car.

Finally, we turned into the small, extremely narrow Isabelo St. and honked at the slightly rusty, totally non-descript, grey-colored and unmarked gate of Isabelo Garden resto.


First, a brief word or two about the place. Isabelo aims to project a rustic, "feels-like-home" garden setting, and i'd say it overwhelmingly succeeds in this aspect. With the ancestral trees and assorted plants and cool breeze, one could very well forget that just outside the gates is a booming, industrial city with concrete roads and new commercial complexes.

There are various seating options, depending on the size of the group. One can dine on the garden, alfresco-style, or inside the equally-charming wooden house, which
doubles as an art studio/gallery.








Now, on to the FOOOOOOODDD! :D We had pre-ordered the following:

Creamy Italian Paella (PHP550.00)



This paella was a bit moist and soupy, i had thought it was almost like risotto. Creamy risotto at that, with sausage, chicken, and more than a hint of cheese.

Ultimately, it didn't matter what shape or form it was; this paella was simply packed with flavour, rich and delicious, albeit a bit heavy on the stomach.


Orange Herb Chicken (PHP660.00 for small size)

This is Isabelo's signature dish - one whole chicken, stuffed inside with orange peels and roasted for 4 hours. It comes served with squash, potatoes and carrots.





Moist, tender and juicy! I could have inhaled the entire chicken all by myself, come to think of it :D


Pizza Rustica (PHP430.00) - thin crust, with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese, and roasted veggies (zucchini, mushrooms, etc.) on top.

I was initially leery of this dish, being a major carnivore; but after two bites of the crunchy pizza, i was sold! Great way to eat veggies.





Mango Float (PHP110) - Isabelo's ice cream cake. This was good, but maybe because i had already eaten too much of the other dishes, it wasn't anything fantastic. Passable.




So, obviously we have a happy, positive verdict: The food at Isabelo's not only lives up to the hype; coupled with the nice, relaxing ambiance, it is worth all the trouble getting lost in the (dare i say it) boondocks of Marikina!

I'll leave you all with this nice table accent. It's small, deft touches like this that make all the difference, no?




A return trip is in the cards, indeed-y.


Photo credits to MBismonte.

(For more details regarding menu and reservations, please check out Isabelo Garden's website. I will not publish the exact location, but here's a hint: It is very near the Marikina Shoe Museum)

The Slanted Charm

**(GUS) I'm temporarily turning the floor over to my friend Sunshine Nugget, who wrote about our fun, fun dinner together recently. Thanks, Fenny, for the wonderful pics! **

Grumpyurbanslacker said that he wanted to try Vietnamese when he comes to visit. After much planning and research, he decided that he wanted to try The Slanted Door. Right after he decided I called up to make reservations. It was a month ahead but all the preferred time were booked so we settled on a Sunday night at 7:45pm. We couldn't believe how packed the place was! GUS joked that the place resembled a bus transit station. As usual, I couldn't decide what to eat so he made all the decisions.

**Note from GUS: I think the reason you couldn't decide what to order was because, in your words, the menu was more French than Vietnamese!**

We started with the appetizer, the slanted door springrolls.

Then seared dayboat scallops with mango, toasted lemongrass and spicy fish sauce. I really liked this one very much! The scallops were cooked just right and I really liked the fresh and pickled mango. Was so glad that we ordered this over the others!

For the main course we tried the grilled ranch brother's berkshire pork chop. I know GUS loves pork! My oh my, it was really good, I really like chewing on the ribs but I don't know what GUS thought of my dinning etiquette and I didn't care to check with him and used my hand. Haha..

And the grass fed estancia shaking beef. We have no idea why it's called the shaking beef and we forgot to ask the waitress. But the beef was good and I really enjoyed the watercress in lime sauce! Haha.... I was ready to go to bed after being so contented with the meal... Hehe..

But we couldn't leave just like that, so GUS ordered the Vietnamese drip coffee. It was a tad too sweet for me but he loved it. **Note from GUS: It was fantastic noh!! :D**

I was really full and we couldn't even finish our main courses but GUS had to entice me into ordering a dessert. Good call GUS, because we orderd the almond milk tapioca. Oh my god, it was really awesome. I could just come to this place again just for this dessert and nothing else! The brown thing is puree kabocha and the white part is tapioca in almond milk and the grapes were garnished with caramelized almond I think. Bottom line is I like this dessert! Yummy!

I had such a great time and towards the end of the meal I was laughing so much, I hope the food wasn't spiked with happy substance that's why we all loved it so much! Hehe...

Thanks GUS for the wonderful time!! :)

**The Slanted Door is located at 1 Ferry Building, #3 San Francisco, CA 94111. Tel 415.861.8032 for reservations**

Philippine Pavilion doesn't cause palpitation

Yours truly was in Shanghai recently, and decided to check out the World Expo 2010 and see what the fuss was all about.

For a very brief backgrounder, the World Expo is a six-month long event hosted by one city every 5 years. The central theme for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai is “Better City, Better Life,” focusing on sustainability, green products, and urban planning.

I had decided to focus on the Asian and European pavilions, and duly checked the map to find out which gate (and subway stop) was most convenient. Getting there via the Shanghai Metro system was a breeze, although the walk to the Expo gate was on the longish side.

As luck (fate? pure chance?) would have it, after entering the gates, the first pavilion i saw was the Philippine pavilion. So, let's see what our dear countrymen can expect from visiting it.

Check out the facade above and below:








Pretty creative and colorful design, although i'm not quite sure about the symbolism. That boxer glove, though, surely must have been sponsored by the Pac-man. :D

There was a fairly long queue to enter the pavilion. I had heard that if you were a Pinoy, they let you bypass the line, and enter instantly. Not sure if this was true. If it was, i surely would have availed of it. Finally, after 20 minutes or so, the entrance opened, and we surged inside.

And what exactly is there inside the Philippine pavilion? Well....let's see. There is a food court-type of snack area that takes up around 40% of the total floor area. Here, you can order such Filipino delicacies as ensaymada, leche flan, turon, and the like.





RMB25 for a small piece of leche flan? Rip-off!

One can also book an appointment to avail of a free ten-minute hilot massage (see below):





If you're up for shopping, you've come to the right place. One would think the Greenhills tiangge was transplanted to Shanghai, with various stalls selling trinkets, jewelry, souvenirs and what not.





Fancy that ubiquitous polo shirt with the Philippine map embroidered? The poster of Dingdong Dantes (partly hidden) beckons you to buy one pronto.





And of course, a big stage was set with performances from various Pinoy bands. When i was there, the repertoire consisted of classic love songs, which was well-received by the mostly Chinese audience. Hmmm, maybe if they brought over Mocha or some other girl show bands, the locals would be doing the macarena pretty soon.

Oh, there were the de rigueur wooden artifacts and tribal handicraft-type of things, courtesy of the National Museum, maybe? Nobody gave them much of a second glance, though.





So, to conclude, going to the Philippine pavilion is pretty much like going to the SM Megamall. Except that going to Megamall is actually better, dahil mas mura dun ang leche flan!

To whoever conceptualized this debacle of a pavilion, leche!



For more extensive blog posts regarding the World Expo 2010, check out the ff. blogs:

The Blooming Pen
The Road Forks