A Little Formal at Aubergine

My Mark and I went out for dinner one week night, this time with his mother, where we chanced upon Aubergine at The Fort.

We were a little intimidated by its classy interiors, but food is food! We just wanted to eat good food, and felt better after thinking that. We were first seated at a table near the kitchen glass windows, where we could see the action. But alas, the chairs were too soft and were too low for the table so it didn't make for a very comfortable eating position. So I bade goodbye to the good kitchen view, where we saw the pristine white chef's uniforms together with ISCAHM students, and the stainless steel counters. Sigh for the view :) But it was indeed better to eat at the second table, which was situated right beside the floor-to- ceiling glass-covered wine chiller, another sight to behold.

I dare say the food we ordered for the evening was good. Expensive, but good. I loved the tableware and service was mainly good. Let us get on to the most important part... the food! We had the following:

Tuna Tartare
This one was compliments from the chef,
since my Mark ordered one of the evening's Chef's specials.
All three of us had a serving of the tuna tartare. The tuna was soft and fresh. It was a lovely start.

There was yummy bread (although I wasn't able to take a picture of it),
which was accompanied by a duo of fresh butter and a pesto cream sauce.
The latter was really creamy.

Mark likes oysters a lot, and cheese a lot...
so he ordered these Baked Oysters (P480).
I liked them. They were good!
I actually prefer my oysters grilled with lots of garlic...
but the cheese they placed here were not too much,
and complemented the spinach leaves inside it.
My mouth is watering now, just by remembering it!

Grilled Fillet of Chilean Sea Bass (P980)
This was my order. I wanted something different from the usual steak, and ordered this nice, and creamy fish dish. MunchPunch provides a menu for Aubergine, and the menu describes the sauce accompanying this as tomato fondue and boullabaise broth. The mashed potatoes were also incorporated in the broth... so what may seem as a light dish.. was actually quite heavy!

Chef's Special
This is one of the three Chef's specials for the evening, which the waitress offered
to us on a blackboard menu. Hehe. I couldn't quite remember the dish's exact description but I remember it having some Wagyu steak, Prawns and Foie gras. The foie gras, my husband enjoyed very much. It was creamy and well cooked, but not dry. It didn't have any bitter liver taste and was actually quite sweet. He's a fan now of their Foie gras, which I read somewhere is actually one of Aubergine's specialties! Yum!

My mother-in-law ordered this yummy Angus Beef Rib Eye.
It was good and well.... I love beef!
So I wish I ordered this too.
But I luckily got a bite of it! Thanks Ma!:)

They also served us a complimentary dessert from their Patisserie.. a trio of macarons in lemon, cherry and chocolate flavors. I think they need to improve on their macarons though. I've tasted Bizu's and I really love their macarons.

So there.. we were in la la land for an hour or so, eating lovely food in a lovely setting. The interiors were very classy, and the location is not that easy to access, as it is located at the 2nd floor of the 32nd&5th building at the Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City. Most of the people there were foreign businessmen, so I suggest you dress properly in going there to avoid the discomfort I felt when I was there! Hehe.

Thanks Ma! Hehe.

Classy Eats

Located at Greenbelt 5 in Makati City, Chateau 1771 oozes with classiness. What do I mean by that? Although it had a country American theme all around ( which is really supposed to be a more laid-back and homey style), they set-up the place like a French restaurant. Very formal and organized.

We went there at noon, which made for a very bright and happy atmosphere inside the dining area.

There were a lot of bright and colorful prints all around.
A lot of yellows and pinks, browns and whites.
Pretty. ;)

While waiting for our orders, they served us bread for appetizers:

Bread

We also ordered the Eggless Caesar Salad (P320). It was very light and tasty. The lacking creamy sauce was not sorely missed, because the anchovies and cheese made very good substitutes.

Eggless Caesar Salad

And because my Mark loves appetizers, we ordered the Beef Bracciole (P380). The beef was so tender and tasty. These are actually tender beef strips rolled in mozarella cheese. It literally melted in our mouths! Each bite was filled with earthy herb goodness and cheese. I have never tasted anything like this before.

Beef Bracciole

Next stop, was the Butterfly Prawns (P480). These were also good :)

Butterfly Prawns

Last stop, the Grilled Salmon (P580). Yummy fish. The dark sauce really distracted me at first, but it tasted good. It was also accompanied by a side dish of mashed potatoes and ratatouille.

Grilled Salmon

And the silky, thick mashed potatoes


The place is pretty, the food great, and the service- good too. They offered to divide the salad for three, when they saw we ordered only one salad for three people. Very thoughtful. I hope to be back :)



Post Script: They charge for service , plus VAT and local taxes. So be prepared to bring extra.

Fish and More

I fell in love with the Fish& Co.'s "The Best Fish & Chips" when we first tried it at their Trinoma branch. The place was great, the service was good, and the food- the best! They serve the crispiest, most tender fish fillet.. with three kinds of dip on the side. Yummy. The bread that came with the dishes were also very very good.So, when we were out with Mark's Pa again, we knew we had to take him out to try this great restaurant.

They have a branch at the Greenbelt, and so since it was nearest to our place, we decided to take him to this branch. When we got in, we saw that the Greenbelt version was much smaller, crampy, and obviously "older." It didn't have the spick-and-span feel of the Trinoma branch. We decided to get on with the orders anyways.

Of course we had to have The Best Fish and Chips. Sadly, the fish was not as fresh as the first time we tried it.

We also tried the Filet Mignon, and this is how it came out. It had a side dish of broccoli and shrimps. The steak was cooked medium well, and turned out very well.

We also tried a seafood pizza, the name of which I forgot again. The crust was the flakiest, thinnest crust that I had ever seen. It was apparently a phyllo pastry dough spread out to a square shaped pizza to catch all the mozarella cheese and shrimps on top. It was good!

We were just so sad for the fish and chips. The bestseller turned out to be a dud on this particular day, and we had built it up so much naman. So embarrassing, and so expensive. Oh well. Guess we'll just have to go to Trinoma for The Best Fish and Chips then.