The Clubhouse

Just nearby is a new restaurant located in Robinson's Magnolia called "The Clubhouse". Its cool mint green theme and cosy interiors are appealing, and so is the menu, which is comprised of comfort food items (from breakfast-style omelettes to pastas and soups) and rather basic dishes that have stood the test of time. Indeed, any "clubhouse" doesn't stray too far from the norm.

This evening, the fennel bulbs found the Filipino-inspired dishes rather appealing. In the menu were rice bowls mixed with local ingredients like dried fish flakes (tuyo) and local sausages (longganisa). Well, tuna puttanesca (Php185) and Vigan longganisa hash (Php225) were odered.

The tuna puttanesca rice bowl tasted well - the typical flavours of a puttanesca sauce (hinted by the use of mildly pungent capers and acidic black olives) go well with sauteed rice. It was served with what seems to be one of the restaurant's trademarks - the pineapple salsa, which was like a milder version of the Mexican salsa, with less spice, same level of that herby flavor, and the additional pineapple sweetness.

The Vigan longganisa hash tasted well - the mixture of potatoes and longganisa yielded a robust blend of textures and flavours. Together with the scrambled eggs and the rice, it was much like a good Filipino breakfast, upped with a bit of creativity.

Some crisps with three different dips (Php225) were ordered alongside. The crisps resembled Melba toasts and were light, airy, and crispy. The dips were crab and artichoke, garlic and cheese, and spinach. All dips were flavourful, but the crab and artichoke dip did not taste as suggestive as it should be.

On display is a seemingly delectable selection of sweets, which we found difficult to resist. The fennel bulbs tried the carrot cake (Php135) and the lemon square (Php35), both of which are their favourite classic desserts. The carrot cake was moist and tasted deliciously, the white icing done well enough so that it was smooth and there were no sugar crystals. The lemon squares were chewy, as it was probably the intention. However, the citrus component of the flavor was not delightfully citrus enough, and to date, the fennel bulbs would have to say that Mary Grace's lemon squares are still the best in town.

All this goodness was coupled with a lovely cup of coffee (Php85). The Nespresso coffee was brewed well, and the rather touching detail about it was the little cup of steamed milk that went along with it. Unless they're serious about their coffee, only a handful of restaurants would have the sensibility to serve milk, warmed.

Apart from the obnoxious family behind us, The Clubhouse, with its generally good food, impeccable service by a very efficient and friendly staff, and great ambience, is one good place to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, at a very reasonable price.

Sweet Searching

The fennel bulbs are quite a bunch of dessert lovers. However, it is a tad sad that the metropolis does not have much wonderful places where scrumptious desserts can be eaten. And with greater numbers of independent individuals honing their baking skills to sell pastries and other sweet things, the dessert dining scene in the metropolis is just quite not enough. 


One nice place that serves dessert in the metropolis, and one that the fennel bulbs have returned to, is Chocolate Fire in Salcedo Village. The place is nice and cozy, and they usually have gone to the place on
Saturdays where the crowds are more tolerable. 


Of course, the speciality is chocolate - be it Pringles dipped in chocolate, strawberries dipped in chocolate, chocolate bars with apricots or nuts amongst a roster of other ingredients. Coffee can also be had, as well as pastries. Now, the fennel bulbs were not just going to be contented with some chocolate - they wanted some cake. And so, they had some carrot cake and an Australian style fruit cake. 

This is the carrot cake blob (priced at Php120). It is cheap enough, and its overall theme seems to have been merged with the chocolate theme which the restaurant is exactly all about. Sadly, this cake does not have enough integrity to stand on its own - it's called a carrot cake blob, but it tastes more of chocolate, but it is not deviant enough to lead the person to misconstrue it as a chocolate cake blob. The carrots do not make themselves felt at all and there's not enough nuttiness associated with a traditional carrot cake, which by the way is one of the their favorite cakes. Overall, it is a sponge cake blob with chocolate accents. 


And so, they moved on to taste the second offering: 

The Australian Fruit Cake (priced at Php160). It's small, compact, and extremely dense - it is a heavy piece of cake. It is good enough to redeem the lackluster appeal of the carrot cake blob. The sprinkles are small red and green Christmas trees which add to its charm. The taste and texture is overall good and heavy, as it can be quite assumed that fruit cakes are quite dense. Also, the nuttiness is quite pleasing. 


Beside it is an chocolate-dipped Anzac biscuit (priced at Php55). The dipped goodies are a bit too much in terms of the price. And yes, Anzac biscuits are available at Landmark supermarket.


Though imperfections may be had at Chocolate Fire, some details are quite commendable, despite the loud music which is just deplorable. 

Yes, Evian glasses with peaks resembling the Alps (Evian's logo, after all) at the base of the glass. :-)


Good night.