Fire Lake Grill

As all of metropolitan Manila bakes under the heat of the summer sun, the fennel bulbs decided to go up the town of Tagaytay, some 50 kilometres away, located on a volcanic ridge that overlooks the very scenic Taal Lake. It has become very famous as a tourist destination for both locals and foreigners alike. In addition, its cooler weather allows one to grow herbs and organic vegetable farming is common in the area. As such, there are countless good restaurants that have set up shop in the area.

The Cliffhouse, located along General Emilio Aguinaldo Highway, is not far from the Tagaytay Rotunda. It is a rather compact complex of quaint restaurants with a commanding view of Taal Lake. One restaurant that has established quite a reputation is the Fire Lake Grill, known in little circles in Manila for its good steaks, amongst other equally competitive offerings.

Two refreshing salads were ordered: blackened beef salad with Asian greens, sesame Thai chilli dressing and blue cheese crumble (Php370), and rare tuna tataki slices with a Nicoise-style salad in lime cilantro dressing (Php330). The blackened beef had a smokey and robust taste to it, and it went well with the sweetness of the dressing. The pungency of the blue cheese added a different dimension. It was an excellent salad. Beef as a major ingredient in a dish could actually be cool and refreshing, as it has been pulled off by this salad.

The tuna salad was also formidable. The tuna was fresh and delicious; it also have often been paired with Nicoise salad as the flavours and textures of both produce a hearty yet refreshing dish. The lime cilantro dressing tasted mildly, which went well with the Nicoise greens (which was dominated by string beans).

Fettuccine pasta in black truffle cream sauce with smoked garlic sausage and shiitake mushrooms (Php360) was ordered afterwards. One had to commend that this was a very good dish. The fettuccine was cooked al dente, and the bulkiness of the pasta was adequately dressed with very delicious sauce. The truffle cream's pungency blended well with the strong flavors of the garlic sausage. The blend of broad and linear flavors from the truffle cream and the vertical accentuation of the sausage was simply delightful.

Lastly, porterhouse steak (1900Php, 700g) was ordered. It was served with red wine shallot sauce, whose dark flavours complement the meat well. The steak was done medium, although there were some parts that were rather cooked unevenly. Despite the absence of collagen in a T-bone steak, some portions were unexpectedly a bit uncomfortably tough. We were just not quite sure as to whether porterhouse steaks were just meant to be tougher on the outer edges and softer as it approaches the bone, or some particular cooking methods could be adopted to ensure an even consistency throughout.

The Fire Lake Grill offers excellent cuisine at reasonable prices. With a breathtaking location, it is indeed one restaurant worth coming back to.

Uno

One Friday night, the fennel bulbs decided to head north for dinner. One restaurant that has built quite a reputation is Uno near the corner of lively Tomas Morato and Scout Fuentebella. This is a restaurant that serves European food, and the menu changes periodically, so whatever the fennel bulbs would be tasting on this night might not be the same a month or two afterwards.

The restaurant has a nice, subtle facade, invoking a stone-coloured Italian house. The entire building seems to have been a house and was just converted into a restaurant. We were seated comfortably on the ground floor. The acoustics of the place were a bit unpleasant, as conversations of diners resonated from the second floor.

Upon ordering, bread and butter were served. The bread was freshly-baked and tasted well. For appetizers, a carpaccio of smoked beef was ordered. The flavours were redolent with the taste of garlic and the combination of herbs as one would find in a bundle of bouquet garni. Carpaccio is the term used for thin slices of raw meat, but using smoked meat could be a safer alternative, more so with the tendency of it to be infected quickly given our tropical weather.

Bacalao and creme spaghetti were ordered next. The saltiness of the bacalao imparted a lot of flavour to the creme. However, the fennel bulbs thought that the spaghetti was a bit too soft to the bite, nor did it have the nuttiness of semolina pasta.

Lastly, sea bream in choron sauce was ordered. To veer off a bit, we did not know what choron sauce was, and we were also quite surprised that our waitress did not know what it was. She ended up asking the kitchen what the sauce consisted of. Considering that it was in the menu, we expected that the staff be familiar with the items.

Choron sauce is a variant of Bearnaise sauce, with the addition of tomatoes. Bearnaise is robustly flavoured with shallots and herbs and goes well with steaks. However, the robustness of the carnivorous sea bream also stands up against a sauce of moderate strength as Choron. The fish was cooked excellently, and both the fish and the sauce blend harmoniously.

The fennel bulbs looked forward to having dessert, which was not on the menu. The waitress directed our attention to the refrigerated display, which was not lit at all. Unfortunately, none of it particularly caught our attention, and consequently, we decided to forego of our dessert and head elsewhere.

In retrospect, Uno is a restaurant that serves good-quality cuisine. However, something is rather incomplete, in a way that we feel no compulsion that one ought to return. Smug halfway between mediocrity and innovation, the fennel bulbs think that Uno can do more.