Dim Kitchen

One Saturday evening, the hungry fennel bulbs decided to go to the Global City Fort Bonifacio. Several choices were in mind, and one that predominated the selection was one restaurant that was getting some online attention in the local social networking scene, so we decided to head to Sunshine Kitchen.

Located on the second floor of The Fort Strip, Sunshine Kitchen is clad in dimmer evening interiors, and the bustling of guests was quite upbeat. We were whisked onto our seats and our orders were taken efficiently.

Artisanal pizzas, salads, a few pasta dishes and a selection of meat and seafood dishes were on the menu. For the salads, the Sunshine Green Salad (290Php) was ordered. Mixed greens, almost all of it as lettuce, were mixed in a champagne vinaigrette with bits of Gorgonzola cheese, and walnuts. A certain spicy sharpness could be tasted in the dressing, which was quite good. But the appearance of the salad was lamentable. It looked glum with the lack of color, not a single cherry tomato to provide contrast, and the sizing of the portion gave one the feeling that it was a bit on the exorbitant side.

Next, Porchetta with Rice Pilaf (480Php) was ordered. The porchetta was cooked well throughout, and there were three interesting dips and sauces on the side, including herbed salsa and a beige sauce that was probably apple sauce. The dish could have fared better if a grain-like pasta like orzo were used, or a risotto, for that matter. The porchetta in itself was a bit devoid of flavour, and it did not have the richer aromatics of Cibo's porchetta.

Lastly, Myta's Pizza (Php480) was ordered. Home-made pizza dough topped generously with cheese, tomato paste, bell peppers, and a local sausage called Cabanatuan, a speciality of that town in Central Luzon. The slightly sweet but rich garlic overtones of the sausage blended well with the milder-tasting cheese. However, the weight and generosity of the toppings has made the dough in some parts a bit soggy and one had no choice but to eat it with a knife and a fork. Roasted garlic cloves accompanied the dish.

The fennel bulbs decided to forego dessert, and went off to another place. Still feeling a bit unsatiated, there was some ambiguous points about Sunshine Kitchen that the conscientious diner ought to notice. Whether it was that Cabanatuan sausage appeared a bit more often than expected in the pizza selection, or the glumness of the salad, or whether servers and kitchen staff pronounced porchetta wrongly, the restaurant is sadly missing the groundedness that other restaurants like the Wild Flour Cafe and Bakery have. The end product, which is the dish - its flavors, its organic integrity, what it speaks for what it's worth - all of it - doesn't just fall together into the right places.