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A Bouche Amused

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Oh, Toro!

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by a_bouche_amused in Food Glorious Food

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Azami Japanese restaurant, otoro

Toro means a live sex show, in Filipino slang. In foodie language, though, Toro is the Japanese word for the fatty belly of the tuna. And is it better than sex? Hm, I don’t know about that but it sure can come as a close second!

Otoro — cut from the lower belly of the tuna towards the head. Priceless!

Otoro — cut from the lower belly of the tuna towards the head. Priceless!

The toro is traditionally classified into grades, depending on the marbling of the meat, in much the same way that beef is graded. And the most premium, most desired, and most expensive part of the toro is the otoro, which is cut from the underside of the fish close to the head, preferably taken from the bluefin tuna. It is so expensive that otoro is seldom found in the menus of local ordinary Japanese restaurants. I first experienced the divine deliciousness of the otoro at Azami (on Pasay Road, Makati). One order of it, which is only about 5 pieces of sashimi, can set you back by around P2,000.00! Each pop in your mouth is 400-bucks! But, omigod, I say it’s worth every peso! Otoro is so creamy-rich and delicious that it epitomizes that incredible melt-in-your-mouth yumminess. The texture and the flavor are so far from the typical tuna sashimi you’ve ever tasted, trust me. The difference, of course, lies in the fat. Otoro is pink (not red, like the akami or maguro cut), with discernible white lines of fatty tissue cutting across it. Think liempo with layers of belly fat in between the meat. It is definitely worth experiencing, even just once in your food-loving life.

Akami — less marbled and firmer in texture, it comes from the area around the tuna's spine and tail. It used to be the most prized cut around 90 years ago ... until OTORO!

Akami — less marbled and firmer in texture, it comes from the area around the tuna’s spine and tail. It used to be the most prized cut around 90 years ago … until OTORO!

Spicy Tuna Sashimi

Spicy Tuna Sashimi

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Amazing Grace Park

20 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by a_bouche_amused in Food Glorious Food, Restaurants

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farm-to-table fare, Gaita Fores, One Rockwell

Grace Park, named after the family compound in Caloocan City, is located at One Rockwell, Makati

Grace Park, named after the family compound in Caloocan City, is located at One Rockwell, Makati

I usually avoid posting my takes on restaurants, mainly because most of the restaurants lack consistency — whether in service quality, in food taste or preparation, or whatever. One time my dining experience would be faultless, but the next time if it’s not one downer, it’s another. Consistency in delivering the best of their food with irreproachable service is a quality seldom found in many restaurants these days. But there is one restaurateur whose standards in cuisine, service, and restaurant design have remained impeccably consistent through all her many restaurants and through her many years in the food business. That’s Margarita Fores. And her latest restaurant endeavour, Grace Park, did not disappoint or falter.

2nd floor Interiors

2nd floor Interiors

Grace Park is located on the ground floor of One Rockwell, along Rockwell Drive at Rockwell Center in Makati. Its name comes from a once-posh area in Caloocan City where Gaita’s grandfather had their family compound and where the family would gather ’round on Sundays for leisurely meals together. The cuisine has been described as farm-to-table, artisanal Italian. In one Inquirer article, Fores says that “Grace Park is a back-to-basics concept. Aside from picking things from seed to plate and from earth to fork, it celebrates the organic produce of our farmers and artisan producers here and abroad. It honors the old ways of doing things, like slow-food cooking techniques.”

Deep-fried Squash Flowers wrapped in Prosciutto

Deep-fried Squash Flowers wrapped in Prosciutto

Baked Scallops from Capiz. So fresh, it's sea-sweet!

Baked Scallops from Capiz. So fresh, it’s sea-sweet!

Spaghettini with Uni, Live Shrimp, Wine Tomatoes, and Rucola (Arugula)

Spaghettini with Uni, Live Shrimp, Wine Tomatoes, and Rucola (Arugula)

Roasted Bone Marrow, made famous in Gaita Fores's Pepato

Roasted Bone Marrow, made famous in Gaita Fores’s Pepato

Grilled Lamb Ribs

Grilled Lamb Ribs

Roasted Apahap (Philippine Sea Bass), the fresh catch of the day

Roasted Apahap (Philippine Sea Bass), the fresh catch of the day

The OMG Burger! Humongous! With two premium-beef patties, crispy bacon, cheese, and caramelized onions.

The OMG Burger! Humongous! With two premium-beef patties, crispy bacon, cheese, and caramelized onions.

OMG! It's so gigantic, you could share with 3-4 people!

OMG! It’s so gigantic, you could share with 3-4 people!

It goes without saying that you can expect a restaurant this great to be fully booked at most times, so be sure to reserve a table. Call the cellphone number +(63 939)-9347223 or the landline 843-PARK (7275).

My one question about the design, though, is … “What’s with the black cats?”

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The Discovery of Recovery

15 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by a_bouche_amused in Restaurants

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Malou Fores, Pinoy comfort food, Recovery Food, rice toppings

Recovery Food at the Fort

Recovery Food at the Fort

Hey Jude Paksig

Hey Jude Paksig

Tapa De Morning

Tapa De Morning

My late evening "breakfast"

My late evening “breakfast”

Everyone had each had a long day at work and simple, tummy-satisfying, good and delicious Pinoy comfort food was what we all wanted. And that’s what you get at The Recovery Food — at the ground floor of Crossroads Bldg (across MC Home Depot), at the corner of 32nd St. and 8th Avenue at the Fort.

Owned by Malou Fores of Mamou fame, the Recovery Food is what you could call a modern and upscale carinderia, with its no-frills menu. The place is pretty tiny, very simply and sparsely interiored, but the food is big in flavor. Open 24/7, it was originally conceived to cater to late-night salarymen and habitués who are looking for good Pinoy comfort food to help them “recover” from a long stressful day or from a night of alcoholic binging. A few may even want to call it “stoner food”. Of course they have rice toppings — such as Ah! Dobo! (adobo, of course), SST (spicy-sweet tuyô), Tapa de Morning (special tapsilog), all served with organic rice — your choice of brown or white — and egg — your choice of how you want it cooked. If you’re feeling fearless, choose talangka rice. But they also have noodle soups, sandwiches, and desserts. Unfortunately, they do not accept reservations, so be patient if you have to wait for a table. There is almost always a long queue, even at midnight, so you simply have to trust your luck to get a table right away. But the food is well worth the wait.

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To Marrow, To Marrow, I love ya…

12 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by a_bouche_amused in Food Glorious Food, Restaurants

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bone marrow, bulalo, El Circulo, Grace Park, Roasted Bone Marrow, Sarsa Kitchen + Bar, Sizzling Kansi

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Bone marrow! Yes, that creamy, silky-rich, slightly sweet treasure made up of fat and collagen that’s found inside the bones, preferably long and large bones. Filipinos are partial to beef bone marrow and call it bulaló. The shank bone, with meat still clinging to it, is boiled for hours until the beef broth is rich and flavorful. The marrow nestling deep inside the bone stays firm yet it is so soft that it melts in the mouth. I learned to love it when my family would visit our relatives in Tanauan, Batangas. My brothers and I, to this day, fight over the bone marrow in the Nilaga, despite the spikes in our cholesterol levels.

I did not think that bulaló or bone marrow could be even more addicting and delicious until I discovered Chef J Gamboa’s Roasted Bone Marrow at El Cirkulo. Smear a good dollop on toast, then drizzle with rock salt and parsley and pair with an amazing beef molé asado. Oh my Lord, that was an exquisite Eureka moment for me!

And recently, I tried Gaita Fores’s Roasted Bone Marrow — it was sooooo divine, I could have died from the cholesterol and gone to foodie heaven! The bones are cut vertically (the more easily to scoop you up, my dear) and served with toasted herbed ciabatta. I would have preferred a slightly thinner, blander toast — the better to savor the buttery umami of the marrow to the utmost. But I did love it paired with the siding of portobello truffle pesto. It was one of her classic dishes at her restaurant Pepato, but now one can enjoy this dish at Fores’s Grace Park bistro at One Rockwell.

Needless to say, the charming Grace Park is always full to the rafters, so it’s best to reserve. Call these numbers: 0939 9347223 / 843 7275. More about this bistro in another post. Or you can check out their facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/GRACE-PARK/129956300517869

For the meantime, let us sing “to marrow, to marrow, I love ya, bone marrow…”

GracePark-SarapToTheBone

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