J surprised me with a lovely dinner at a place “somewhere in the Fort”. Feeling a bit excited (and presumptuous?) I put on a nice black dress for the occasion. When J saw me he asked me why I had gotten dressed up, and wondered if I already knew of the venue of this “surprise”. I told him no, but he curiously asked if I’d mind eating street food standing in front of a kariton. I assured him I had no idea where we were going, and would also not mind chowing down some squid balls wearing an LBD from Zara if that was the case.
Well we did not end up making-tusok-tusok-the-fishball at a nearby food stall, but at Chef Bruce Lim’s restaurant Chef’s Table, located at Unit 106 The Infinity Tower 25th St. in The Fort. I loved the place’s modern yet still homey interiors, plus the open kitchen that revealed where the magic happens. Dominated by a mostly-bald crew (except the female staff), Chef’s Table seemed like a place of fine dining minus the uptight ambience. The wooden tables also had brown paper placemats and yellow pencils on each side to keep our hungry selves entertained as we waited for our food. I attempted to doodle my face and J’s, but as soon as I finished sketching the strands of my hair, our waiter arrived with a bowl of our first dish. (Aww, my illustration face got wet because of this.)
We began our meal with Roasted Tomato Halaan Soup, especially because J is an absolute soup-whore. I enjoy these warm pre-entrée starters as much as he does actually, and found their rendition good, but would have preferred a bit of dairy in it hehe. (Though I’m not so sure if it would work well with that.)
The next dish we ordered was the Chicken Sat on Salt, which was slow-roasted into possibly the softest, juiciest chicken I had ever tasted in my whole life. I was amazed at how easily the meat detached from the bones with mere nudges of my knife, something which I kept showing J repeatedly with equal amounts of excitement every time. It came with a very sosyal-looking vinegar-based sauce, mixed with an orange-colored oil and a sprinkle of err, a type of spice (which escapes me at the moment). Being the typical sawsawera that I am, I knew I was bound to have my sauce plate replenished in minutes. And I did.
We also tried out the Pinaputok na Isda which J described as “lasang halaman” (hahaha). In a good way, though. The fish, which was lapu-lapu fillet on lemon grass, stuffed with tomatoes concass, then wrapped in a banana leaf before being baked, was not only perfectly tender, it easily absorbed the subtle but notable flavors of the lemongrass and banana leaf.
The combination of the scrumptious, well-cooked food, pleasant crew and impressive ambience made for a lovely dinner date. It’s too bad we weren’t able to personally give our compliments to the Chef, though. But I look forward to doing so on our next visit. Can’t wait to try the other fares!
Kain tayo!
I and J
