Kublai's Rock Revisited: Chorizo Sisig, Buffalo Wings, Cold Beers & the Nostalgia of Mongolian BBQ.

Though I spent this past Friday evening until late at Kublai's Rock* (Magallanes Commercial Center) having beers, pica-pica, etc. with Mike & Machalen, Santi, Dong & Jerrie, I couldn't stop thinking about Kublai's Mongolian BBQ and Chorizo Sisig over the weekend. Thus, tonight, Sunday the 6th, Catha, I and our 2 older boys went there for dinner and a couple of drinks.

We arrived at a little before 7pm and were the first customers there. A couple of families showed up just as we were about to start fixing our bowls of Mongolian BBQ, so I took the opportunity to take my shots before a line could form at the buffet.

The wide array of main ingredients (e.g., beef, pork, chicken, clams, oysters, noodles, togue [i.e., mung bean sprouts], cabbage, chicken liver, etc.) is complemented by a variety of spices, sauces, etc. (e.g., onions, garlic, sesame seeds, brown sugar, chili oil, ginger water, sugar water, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, peanut sauce, sesame oil, etc.). One can fix up one's own, or have a staff member whip up one's bowl.

I'm an old hand at Mongolian BBQ, having started eating the stuff with my gang back in high school at the old Genghis Khan along Roxas Blvd. Thereafter, during my college days, we'd frequent Conrad Calalang's Mongolian Grill in Mile Long, Makati, then, during law school, at Hippo Grill in Quezon City (I vaguely recall it was near Quezon Blvd., maybe along Timog, but I can't remember for sure now).

Thus, I always make my own and made a bowl for Catha as well. The 2nd made his own and the eldest chose to have his "professionally made" by the waitstaff. I tasted from his bowl, and, admittedly, the waitstaff does know how to season this better than I do.

Of course, we simply had to have a couple of orders of the specialty Chorizo Sisig. Mike's brother, Poch (who manages the place), makes the chorizo himself. The 2nd and I have had it before, so there was no way we wouldn't order it. The 2nd asked for some garlic fried rice and a sunny-side-up to go with it. Delicious.

I'll order some of this for the house and also have it with garlic fried rice and eggs for breakfast one of these Saturdays before golf.

The eldest just wouldn't leave a single scrap of the Chorizo Sisig uneaten.

We also had 2 orders of Kublai's version of Buffalo Chicken Wings - it isn't drenched sticky with sauce - and I prefer it that way (less messy to eat as well). I simply had to have this again. It is always served hot, freshly cooked, very crisp outside, moist & juicy inside. The spiciness is quite mild, but the chili sauce served on the side can easily kick up the heat a few notches.

By way of drinks, the 2nd & I had some San Mig Lights and the eldest had a Rum-Coke. Catha didn't drink and stuck with water. In all, this was a very enjoyable way to end a weekend, and I do intend to do this again soon. Not only is the food good, honest and filling, the music is always good, the beers invariably cold and the prices are more than reasonable (this meal, including drinks, cost under P3500 for the 4 of us - coming to around only P870/person - and we were all stuffed to the gills). We'll definitely be back.

*Disclaimer: Some of the owners are friends of mine, but, I assure you, I pay for all my meals/drinking sessions here and my friendships do not color my opinion of the place as above set forth.

Lunch @ Antonio's.

The boys were on holiday today, so we took the opportunity to bring them along for a lunch at Antonio's - a belated wedding anniversary really, since we didn't have the opportunity to celebrate in January due to my dad's sudden hospitalization at the time.

Over glasses of 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé sent over by Rene & Aimee (who also happened to be having lunch there), each of us chose our own dishes as follows:

Escargots de Bourguignonne for the youngest.

Gratinated Portobello with Foie Gras for the youngest (shared with Catha & his brothers).

Pâté de Foie Gras with Crostini for the eldest.

Steak Tartare for the second, which he shared with Catha.

Foie Gras Raclette for me. With these appetizers, we enjoyed a bottle of 2008 Selbach-Oster Zeltlinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Rotlay Spätlese - A gift from Rocky & Apple. This has a crowd-pleasing personality, very accessible and dangerously drinkable (the eldest said that it was perfect with his pâté de foie gras and that "People who are just starting to drink wine will like this."). Youthfully and pleasantly zippy, the acidity is just enough to give good brightness to the very ripely-sweet canteloupe, honeydew and minor peach flavors (there is suggestion of honeysuckle as well). There is a bit of a slate edge in it, but quite slight. Again, dangerously drinkable. Very easy-going and easy to like.

Predictably, it went well in varying degrees with the appetizers that had foie gras in them (less so with my foie gras raclette because it was mostly raclette); but the second said it was too fruity and sweet for his steak tartare. The youngest didn't have any wine, of course, but I'm sure the wine was too sweet for his escargots anyway.

The boys have at it.

Next came our salads. Except for me, everyone else had Antonio's Farm Mesclun Salad with Bleu d'Auvergne Crumble, Glazed Walnuts, Dried Currants & Cranberries with Raspberry Vinaigrette. The youngest is the least into salads of our boys, but he put a really good dent into his without any encouragement.

I had the Romaine Salad with Crispy Prosciutto & Anchovy Vinaigrette; which, coincidentally, Rene & Aimee had as well.

We then all had the Soup of the Day which, today, was a very flavorful, yet, light on the palate, Potato & Onion Soup. Very well executed. Rene mentioned they really liked this as well. Thereafter, our main courses arrived.

Two orders of Duck Leg Confit Atop Young French Beans & Potatoes Dauphinoise - one order each for the second and Catha. I've said it before; I'll say it again: Antonio's makes the very best duck leg confit in the Philippines - only here is the combination of true outer crispness married to true inner juiciness. Always superb.

Grilled Beef Fillet with Garlic-Mustard Cream Sauce & Fries for the youngest.

Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamom Beurre Blanc for the eldest.

Barbecued Lamb Chops with Fries for me as I wanted something simple for my red. I must say that this was absolutely perfect - from the quality of the lamb, the precision of doneness to the seasoning. Beautiful. The glaze was subtle enough to let the lamb itself shine.

I'd say this is one of the best lamb dishes I've ever had - the only others that immediately come to mind as comparatively memorable were those at Jesús de Madrazo's lunch at Bodegas y Viñedos Contino (La Rioja Alavesa) and at Claude Darroze's restaurant in Langon (Gironde, Aquitaine). I've had the lamb chops in L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Paris) twice, and, while very nice both times, Tonyboy Escalante's, without a doubt, beats it hands down.

With our main courses, we had a bottle of 1979 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (the second within a week, actually, the other bottle from the Vigneron last Thursday). This bottle was in better shape than the one I opened with Miguel, Rene & Santi during our Christmas lunch 2010 at Mamou. Serene, softly loamy, elegant, seductive in its bottle-age sweetened veils of fruit, violets, mushrooms and pencil lead shavings. Delicious wine as usual. The youngest, who doesn't enjoy wine yet asked for a sip of this.

I sent a couple of glasses of it blind, through the eldest, to Rene & Aimee (Rene obviously drank his down quicker than Aimee did) with a request for Rene to guess what it was. In just a couple of minutes, he texted me saying it was an aged Pauillac. He was right on the button.

Desserts were shared:

Dark Chocolate Soufflé with Cardamom & Crème Anglaise for me - a bit disappointing as the bottom was not perfectly done (some half-baked batter stuck to my spoon as I cut it to pour in the crème Anglaise) and the taste was a bit eggy. Didn't finish this.

Assorted Sorbets chosen by the eldest as he was already quite full.

Flourless Chocolate Cake chosen by the youngest. The kids said the inside was "mushy, not molten", but was nice enough.

Poached Pear with Vanilla Ice Cream chosen for Catha who favors this dessert. She said it was just fair enough. There are better ones around Metro Manila.

Chocolate Mint Parfait chosen by me. Cold and stiff - a tartufo really - the mint outer layer tasted of crème de menthe. Quite nice, and certainly pretty to look at, but I couldn't finish an entire serving of this myself as the sweetness gets you after a few small bites.

In all, though, we had a great meal. Not only is Antonio's ambiance so genteel and elegant in its simplicity, not only is the Tagaytay weather an added incentive for the trek, the level of cuisine is definitely world class. Sincerely.

Manila Blind Bordeaux Challenge XVIII: California Takes It Again.

Last night, the 24th February 2011, was the Grand Crew's 18th Blind Bordeaux Challenge at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila's Carlos P. Romulo Room of the Prince Albert Restaurant.

The Tasting Panel.

Doc points out his great-grandfather, former Philippine President Sergio Osmeña, in a photo with Gen. Douglas McArthur and Carlos P. Romulo.

As always, 4 competing reds were fielded to challenge the group's preference for Bordeaux, ranked blind by a panel of eight (i.e., us and our wives). We started off with some Freixenet Reserva Real Cava with our...

...Amuse Bouche.

The Reserva Real is really a step up from the run-of-the-mill cavas locally available: more fullness, body, depth and complexity, with entertaining subtle toasty notes, yet still retaining that refreshing cava character. Mrs. Vigneron mentioned that she'd enjoyed a bottle of this recently with Barbara A. The bottle I brought last night was quickly drained. I should've brought two.

The Prince Albert's manager, the ageless Francis, took care of us that night; and, acting as our sommelier for the competition was no less than the hotel's F&B Manager, Laurent Casteret.

Since I enjoyed the Pan-fried U.S. Scallops Salad with Greens, Balsamic Olive Oil and Leeks Wrapped in Bacon during a recent lunch here, I had it again last night, as did the Vigneron and Mrs. Stockbroker. With this we enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay - from the Stockbroker. Pear, slight green apple, hint of peach, leesy vanilla and oak notes on an medium frame. Trim and nicely taught until midmouth, expanding with added buttery notes thereafter to a notable finish. Available locally at Premium Wine Exchange. This is my wife's favored style of chardonnay and she enjoyed it with her starter of...

Braised Burgundy Snails in Fresh Herbs and Garlic Butter.

The competing reds were then served...

...and the game was afoot.

There were initial comments that, aside from Wine # 4, the others seemed to have very similar bouquets and flavors. It was actually quite difficult for some of us to decide, so my wife and I waited to for our main courses to try out the wines' pairing capabilities and for them to open up a bit more.

My Roasted Australian Rack of Lamb with Green Mustard-Crumb, Garden Vegetables, Potatoes and Onion.

My wife's Roasted U.S. Angus Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding, baked Potatoes and Red Wine Sauce.

The Yorkshire Pudding in a puddle of gravy.

Wine # 1 - Resiny topnote, herbs, underlying plum to mild cassis, sweetish tea leaves, violets raspberry and slight cranberry surface towards the back and in the finish. Nice and neat. Good purity, poise, precise balance. I eventually ranked this as the 1st best wine. It turned out to be Doc's 1992 Ridge Montebello.

Wine # 2 - Persistent saline topnote, the tightest and lightest in body of the wines. Comparatively linear as well. Expanded a bit towards the back. I ranked this 4th best. It turned out to be the Stockbroker's 1987 Dominus.

Wine # 3 - Warm, plum, cassis, raspberry, dried herbs, bit of wet tea leaves. This was the most concentrated and heftiest of the wines. I ranked this 3rd best and it turned out to be my 1995 Château La Mission Haut Brion. Nb: I decanted this for 2 hours per the e-mail advice from the château.

Wine # 4 - Bouquet of tea leaves, gaminess, cedar, obviously the oldest wine by far. Raspberry, cherry, plum, light whisper of balsamico. Violets. Lots of bottle-age sweetness. I ranked this 2nd best and it turned out to be the Vigneron's 1990 Château Palmer.

We also had the above 2 reds (not served blind, not entered in competition) as pairings for our main courses: a 1990 Château Lynch Bages from Doc, and a 1979 Château Pichon Lalande from the Vigneron. I opined that the 1990 Lynch Bages, if entered, would have won.

The Results*:
(tallied as usual by Mrs. Vigneron)

1st Place - Doc's 1992 Ridge Montebello with a total of 28 points broken down as follows: five 1st place votes (Mrs. Doc, Mrs. Stockbroker, Mrs. Vigneron, Doc & myself); two 2nd place votes (Catha & the Vigneron); and, one 3rd place vote (the Stockbroker).

2nd Place - The Vigneron's 1990 Château Palmer with 22 points broken down as follows: three 1st place votes (Catha, the Stockbroker and the Vigneron); two 2nd place votes (Doc and myself); one 3rd place vote (Mrs. Stockbroker); and, two 4th place votes (Mrs. Doc and Mrs. Vigneron).

3rd Place - The Stockbroker's 1987 Dominus with 16 points as follows: two 2nd place votes (Catha and the Stockbroker); four 3rd place votes (Catha, Mrs. Doc, Mrs. Vigneron and Doc); and two 4th place votes (the Vigneron and myself).

4th Place - My 1995 Château La Mission Haut Brion with 13 points as follows: two 2nd place votes (Mrs. Vigneron and Mrs. Doc); one 3rd place vote (myself); and, five 4th place votes (Catha, Mrs. Stockbroker, Doc, the Stockbroker and the Vigneron).

*There was an error in the voting as the Vigneron ranked 2 wines 4th place (the 1987 Dominus and the 1995 La Mission Haut Brion), but the error would not have had an effect on the rankings.

This made for Doc's 4th consecutive victory, and his 2nd with a Californian wine (ref: Bordeaux Challenge XVI whereat Doc won with a 1994 Peter Michael Les Pavots). He half-jokingly proclaimed that our blind competitions should officially be re-named as "Blind Napa Challenge".

Incroyable!

The Vigneron thereafter somehow managed to break one of the wine glasses - the one which happened to contain his share of the winning wine from Sta. Cruz, California - and had everyone in stitches by exclaiming "Zat eez what eet deserves!".

Ze yooltimate yoomiliation.

An assortment of desserts followed, but I only got to take a photo of the Gâteau Basque Almond Cream Pie and Orange Grand Marnier Ice Cream. I recall a Chocolate Soufflé, Crêpe Suzette and, I think, a Pistachio Financier with Home-Made Fresh Mango Ice Cream.

The results highly unsatisfactory for all but one competitor, there are never any hard feelings, and, of course, we were all very happy for Doc.

Until the next!

Wines @ Mamou; Craft Beers @ The Tasting Room.

Recently discovering that Richard had not yet eaten at Mamou, Miguel and I set up a lunch there with the Usual Suspects. Jimmyton Araneta of Global Beer Exchange joined us for lunch and wine, and we were to proceed to The Tasting Room at the Greystone Gallery thereafter. We were 9 in all: the Stockbroker, Vince, Arnie, J-Lab, Jimmyton, Richard, Miguel, Greg and myself.

Malou Fores happened to be entertaining people at her restaurant that day, and she and her sister, Annie (who manages Mamou), took real good care of us (as always). Though our table is quite demanding due, among others, to our need of a lot of stemware, everything ran perfectly smoothly. Mig and I were the first ones in, so Malou sent us a couple of complimentary very refreshing Dalandan Slushies which were most welcome as it was a very hot day.

Richard arrived next and the rest arrived in short order. We had, in the meantime, started off with some of my favorite, locally available cava (thankfully, Aaron's ADP has a new stock of this):

Freixenet Reserva Real - My bottle, one of several I ordered from ADP Industries' December shipment (Miguel A. immediately got half a case as well). I've favored Freixenet's special blend of vintage cavas from the first time I tried it from Aaron, so I took particular note of this bottling's cellar when I visited Freixenet at Sant Sadurni d'Anoia (outskirts of Barcelona) in the morning of March 24th, 2010.


Clean, toasty, slightly biscuity (with time in the glass), heftier, creamier and rounder than most cavas I have. This is always very well received when I open it for friends. Great stuff, I most always have a stock of it at home.

With our Spaghetti Bottarga first course, we had 2009 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis - Miguel's bottle which he brought in from Piedmonte (he also got some for me, but I've already finished my bottles - the last one at our farewell tribute to Je Suis Gourmand to go with the moules de Bouchot marinière with frites). Then, as now: "Slight hints of cool limestone and seashell infuse bright, vibrant, mild grapefruit, bit of pear, apple, citrus with an appetizing bitter-almond nuance....Love it." It was an excellent match for the bottarga pasta.

Greg, Jimmyton, Vince, Arnie, the Stockbroker, J-Lab, Richard & Miguel.

For 8 of us (J-Lab opted for a Roast Beef Sandwich that day), I ordered 3 Double-Sized Dry-Aged US Prime-Grade Bone-In Rib-Eyes and 1 Dry-Aged US Prime-Grade T-Bone Steak. Unfortunately, the T-Bone was attacked before I got to take a photo of it. With these, and many orders of Steak Rice (red for Miguel & Jim, white for the rest of us) and a couple of orders of Creamed Spinach, the reds were poured.

There were so many, I only got to have a few of them. There were a couple that were proclaimed by their owners as off/damaged bottles (Richard's 1996 Bahans de Haut Brion and Greg's 2001 Phélan Ségur) so I didn't try either of them. What I did have were:

1995 Château Beau-Séjour-Bécot - My bottle, a bit reticent at first, but eventually fleshed out, gained heft and opened up in glass. Halfway between medium and full bodied, this showed smoke, underlying roasted coffee, licorice, toasty oak, violets, bit of leather and tar in its dark plum, black cherry and bit of raspberry. Comes off a bit rustic to me, but a very decent wine for the steaks.

Richard polishes off his Roero arneis before the steaks and reds.

Jim did with his cava as well.

1993 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - The Stockbroker's bottle, from consistently one of my favorite Napa producers. Dark, judiciously concentrated Bordeaux-esque black fruit, cassis, bit of tobacco, black coffee, cedar, violets, moderate oak, slight mintiness at the top and middle gives it away as a Napa. Smoldering, serious personality. Very nice.

Having a good laugh at Miguel who always orders the "healthier" red steak rice, but always has some of the white version after he finishes the former.

2001 Karl Lawrence Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - J-Lab's bottle. Evidently ripely sweeter in fruit (crème de cassis, hint of kirsch, underlying sweet pipe tobacco as well) than the '93 Montelena (the vintage) and with crowd-pleasing doses of chocolate and vanilla bean. This has an easily approachable, easy-going personality. Not quite as complex or serious as the Montelena, but easily pleasing and easy to like.

Vince had brought along a bottle of Rasteau which I was unable to try; but he did bring another BC wine and made sure we all got some (we kid him a lot about his advocacy of BC wines and his persistent, though, to date, unsuccessful attempts to "show us the light" as regards these wines). In the above photo, Greg chuckles as Jim pours him some of the BC wine. Greg is a steadfast Bordeaux aficionado, so I was teasing him that the BC wine may give him a rash.

Vince looks on as the BC wine is tested out.

Note the Stockbroker's bemused expression (top right) as he sniffed.

This is the latest BC wine Vince inflicted upon us. Slightly cloyingly sweet, hot, notably concentrated and extracted, hit of pepper, good dose of wood. I don't know what its name or vintage was. It wasn't for Greg, Miguel, Richard and I (we dumped our glasses). Jim was being as polite as can be. We, though, gave Vince a lot of good-natured grief over it - I kidded him about his having to pay for the whole lunch as a penalty for bringing that wine. Vince is always a great sport though - and, knowing him, he'll have yet another BC wine for us to try all too soon.

The Aftermath.

Dessert for the group was a few orders of Pecan Pie with Schlag. This is probably the best pecan pie I've had in the country - rich, very flavorful, but not cloyingly sweet as many are. This was expertly chosen by J-Lab to pair with a special sweet wine.

Bodegas Alvear Solera 1910 PX (D.O. Montilla Moriles) - The Stockbroker's bottle. Lovely, rich, warm, liqueur-like, mild/not too sweet molasses, sweet-dried dates, dried fig, walnut, vanilla, hint of malt. The sweetness is there, but much milder than most all PXs I've had. Lovely stuff and an absolutely genius of a match for the pecan pie. I'll remember this pairing for a very long time.

Thereafter, a few of us had some double espressos, then the Stockbroker and Vince headed off. The rest of us proceeded to the Makati CBD to The Tasting Room of Jimmyton at my schoolmate Eric Jurado's Greystone Gallery (G/F, Prince Plaza II, Legazpi St. Greenbelt Park, Makati City - it's across Greenbelt 5).

Tons of really good craft beers and some Vela de Lomo.

Stone 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale - As I understood, this is a Belgian styled pale ale with, per Jim, muscat, gewürztraminer and sauvignon blanc juice blended in. I could get the gewürz note in the finish, and J-Lab noted the muscat in the slight, general grapey slant of the ale. Very nice and very easy to drink. Clean and cleansing for me after all the steak and wine. J-Lab (or was it Arnie?) noted a slight carbonated mouthfeel to this. According to Jim, this is, ideally, supposed to be aged for another year. I liked it fine already, myself.

Rogue John John Hazelnut Brown Nectar - This was aged hazelnut spice rum barrels. Moderately malty, slight hoppiness, very mild caramel, bit of milk chocolate, toasted hazelnuts. Slightly heftier than the preceding pale ale. I'll likely get some of this in my next order for my 2 older boys to try since they like nutella so much.

Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Imperial India Pale Ale - Orange peel, pine and mild citrus lace this ale's smooth, moderate hoppiness. Dangerously drinkable, this goes down all too easily. I think this would be nice for the beach and the summer in general.

Double Bastard Ale - Since I mentioned to Jim that I really liked the Double Dead Guy Ale I had at the Tasting Room the week before, he made sure I got to try this, one of his favorites. This is powerful stuff, it's not heavy on the palate or the belly - it is smooth and has good focus and purity - but it does, indeed, have quite a kick and you can taste it - but not in an overwhelming manner. You just can tell. Despite its power, it does make for easy drinking though. Miguel said he'd have this with some of the really raunchy cabrales he brought back from Spain. Exceptionally good.

Stone Imperial Russian Stout - Dried fruits, dark chocolate, bit of coffee. Very mild oatmeal, whispers of caramel and vanilla. I favor stouts. This was probably my favorite amongst all those we had last night. I did order a mixed case while I was there so I hope I included this in it. I'm not sure, though, if I placed my order before tasting this. Loved it in any event. If I didn't include it last night, I will certainly include it in my next order. Due to issues of storage space, I can't order more than a case at a time - but, no worries, as the weekend is coming up and my 2 teenage boys will surely make a good dent in this latest case.

Aside from these, we had several others, such as the Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Imperial Milk Stout (which I've written about a few times before), Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale (a favorite of Richard), etc. Thereafter, Arnie and J-Lab left for a dinner, so Jim, Miguel, Richard and I soldiered on with Eric (on the right in the photo below) joining us.

We were, understandably, getting pretty plastered by then. I certainly was, so I started munching on some of the jamón Jim served - in hopes that the pork would help sober me up a bit.

Richard was already very "happy" and Mig looked like he was feeling no pain. This was taken a few minutes before Richard suddenly disappeared. We wondered if he walked home to sleep (he lives very nearby) or headed for Masseto where he always seems to be dining. Jim then had opened yet another for us for the road:

Anderson Valley Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale - Fruity with pear, banana, a bit of dried fruits, mild yeastiness, sweetishly malty towards the back, reminiscent of some trappist ales I've had (but not very dry like Duvel). Quite pleasant, easy to drink. Easily approachable.

What a day! I was totally wiped by the time I got home at around 8:30pm, and, promptly, passed out for an hour on the couch in the upstairs family room. My wife said our dachshund kept barking at me while I dozed. He must not have recognized my scent as I was reeking of alcohol (more than usual, anyway). Whew! I'd better lay low the rest of the week as yesterday was a real bender. We'll see.