I have got to see a Filipno restaurant that is close enough to competing with Asian counterparts in terms of presentation and ambience of fine dining. Let’s face it. Conditioning has cause many filipinos to salivate when they see a golden lechon sitting on a wooden tray beautifully adorned. But show that to a 7 year old caucasian and you’d get a reaction of, “is that a dog? why do they eat that?”
Nothing comes close to the freshness of Vietnamese spring rolls or the savory crispness of the Pad Thais’. I have concluded that most of the food that we have are cooked. Even the ‘fresh lumpia’ we crave with it’s garlicky gravy and peanut garnishes are cooked on the inside before being wrapped by a covering made out of cooked batter.
About two weeks ago, we went to a resto called ‘Kuma Inn’ which was suggested as close to a Filipino fine dining. I was disappointed. The place was dim, therefore I only saw a glimpse of a nice presentation of a dish. I am suspect to dim places because I would never really know what they put in my food. Tastewise, it had more of the chinese flavor than that of filipino. The service needs improvement as there was only one waitress in the place that served a seating capacity of roughly 30 people. I wouldn’t go back unless I was invited.
Last weekend, hubby and I were on a ‘ramen rage’. Not intentionally, but because the weather just pushed us to eat something warm, we had to look for some Asian flare. We were tired of having spicy Korean chigaes or gook soups, that we decided to try the Japanese Ramen House near Union Square. We were not disappointed. Very simple, flavorful and reasonable on the pocket.
It was the next day , when my hubby and I attended a drum circle where we beat our drums with other percussion enthusiasts. Hubby has a doumbek while I have a djembe. Believe me, it was my first time to join and I didn’t care if I had the wrong beat because my sound was overpowered by my playmates who had bigger drums compared to my tiny baby one.
Anyway, after the play date, we ended up in Momofuku, one of the busiest and most talked about ramen restaurant. Owned by Dave Chang, a famous celebrity chef/restaurateur, his restaurant is simple and has that homey ambience. Because there is a constant flow of clients waiting to be seated, his staff is always on the move ( front of as well as back of the house). His dishes are simply presented, having that savory taste but bordering on saltiness. The prices are overrated for the food portions. Maybe he has no choice considering his high overhead- numerous expansions and high skilled personnel. But that’s another story. But between Momofuku and Ippudo (another ramen place), the latter is still my choice. The only problem is, I don’t like waiting 2 hours to be seated---that’s how good Ippudo is! And that’s a New York secret place!
it was like eating in your own kitchen with your own cook....momofuku
