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.
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.
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.
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