As a blogger, I’ve gotten a number of invites to try different
restaurants and cuisines. However, as a self-proclaimed “Picky Eater”, I’m a
bit selective about the places that I choose to accept. That’s why I was put in
a little bit of a quandary when I received an invitation from Anchor Butter to
attend a dinner that they were hosting. Being a lover of all things butter, not
to mention a big fan of Anchor Butter in particular (I actually have a pack
of their Spreadable Butter in my refrigerator as we speak), you would think
that I wouldn’t think twice about going to one of their hosted dinners.
But this was a dinner unlike any other.
You see my friends, this was a Mystery Dinner.
My biggest fear
was that we would go to a vegetarian restaurant and I would be forced to eat
green stuff all night, and be forced to do it with a smile on my face. But
something deep down inside of me told me that Anchor Butter wouldn’t go out of
its way to hold a dinner for people and relegate themselves solely to vegetable
dishes.. So I decided to go with my gut and accept their gracious invitation.
When I reached
the Nuffnang office, which was the meeting place for the Mystery Dinner, I was
surprised to find out that any details regarding our dinner would STILL not be
divulged! Apparently, all would be revealed when we get to the restaurant. So
I, along with bloggers Frannywanny, Jane of Between Bites, Momblogger, and OC
Mom in Manila, boarded the van and braved the holiday traffic as we headed off
into the great unknown.
Joining us in the ride to the secret location were Anny Tamayo and Pickles Valino of Anchor, and Jermae of
Mediacom, who seemed to be there for torture purposes. These women could
seriously be used to deliver information in a time of war. No amount of prying
could get them to spill the beans on what they had in store for us that
evening.
As we neared
our destination, Franny took all the “clues” into account, the most glaring was
the location of the restaurant, and took a wild guess on where we would be
going.. And hit the nail right on the head.
This was the night I was finally going to eat at the legendary Lolo
Dad’s.
I’m going to go
out on a limb here and say that this restaurant is perhaps on every Filipino
food lover’s list.. And if it isn’t, it should be. I haven’t been able to visit
here yet, but it has definitely been a huge blinking blip on my radar, even
before I began my blog.
My group was ushered to our table, and it was finally explained to us
that the dinner was hosted by Anchor Butter, in promotion of their newest
product, Anchor Maple Butter. In a masterstroke move, Anchor enlisted the aid
of culinary legend & owner of Lolo Dad’s Cafe, Chef Ariel Manuel, to show
that Maple Butter isn’t just for Pancakes, and had a versatility that could
further enhance just about any dish.
Listening to Chef Ariel speak, you wouldn’t think that he is among the
great Master Chefs of the Philippines. The man is incredibly down to Earth, and
you get the sense that the passion in his voice when he speaks about cooking is
still the same from the very first time he lit up a stove. His enthusiasm was
even more evident when he told us about his experiences when he was
experimenting with the Anchor Maple Butter.
As we were waiting for the first course to arrive, I decided to help
myself to some rolls and butter. I was told Lolo Dad’s bakes their own bread,
so I was eager to give it a try. I slathered the butter all over the steaming
inside of the roll, and took a bite and promptly had my mind blown away. More
than the bread (which was excellent, by the way), I discovered that this was no
ordinary butter. Considering that this dinner was to showcase the versatility
of Anchor’s Maple Butter, I had no reason to be surprised that it’s what they
used, however, what I didn’t foresee was how magnificently it blended with
roasted garlic.
The
Maple Butter with Roasted Garlic had a distinct sweetness that just went
perfectly with the roasted garlic. It was in deference to my fellow bloggers
that I didn’t bury my face into the butter bowl and devour it completely.
The first
course that arrived was the Anchor Maple and Honey Glazed Duck Ham with Duck
Liver Terrine and Confit of Cantaloupe and Newly Popped Corn Salad. I started
off with the Ham, which was the part of the dish with Anchor Maple Butter. The
duck Ham had a smoothness in its innate smokey flavor that I believe was
brought about by the Maple butter, and it was fantastic. I normally don’t eat
Duck Liver, but I’m not going to be the guy that turns down a dish from Chef
Ariel Manuel, so I gave it a try, with pleasantly surprising results. I ate it
together with the cantaloupe Confit and the bits of Popcorn, and it was actually
quite buttery in itself as well.
The second course was the rather unique Espresso of Chestnut Soup,
with Anchor Maple Foam and Ham Flakes. I’m not a coffee drinker, but if
Starbucks made something similar to this Espresso of Chestnut soup, you could
count me in as a convert. The Ham Flakes had a strong saltiness to it that was
tempered by the creaminess of the soup, particularly the Maple Foam, which
served as the dishes’ glue that brought everything together.
While waiting
for the next course to arrive, I got curious to see if Chef Manuel was hands on
with his dishes, so I took a little peek at Lolo Dad’s open kitchen. I was
impressed to see that the answer was a resounding yes, as it was Chef Ariel
himself that was plating our dishes. It was really quite a sight to see the
master in action!
The next dish we tried was the
Pimenton Infused Oil Poached Fillet of Seabass, with Sauteed Lobster
Vol-Au-Vent with Anchor Maple Butter & Caviar Sabayon. Despite the fact
that I had no clue what half of the words in the name of the dish meant, I was
more than willing to give it a try. Though I am a picky eater, I do eat fish,
and Sea Bass is among my favourites. The pimenton infused oil, which Chef
explained is actually a Spanish Paprika, gave the fish a beautiful touch of
orange color. The fish itself was cooked immaculately, and the meat melted in
my mouth with every bite. The fish was perched on top of a bed of Creamy
Sabayon and mushrooms, which further brought out the flavour of the fish.
The Sauteed
Lobster Vol-au-vent was actually a revelation for me. I normally don’t eat
lobster because of a bad experience I had as a child, but I am a fan of
anything in puff pastry, so I thought I’d give this a whirl. Something I
noticed about Lobster, especially when cooked right, is how incredibly buttery
it can be. Imagine how much more pronounced the flavour could be when cooked
with Anchor Butter? As you would expect, the result was phenomenal.
After demolishing my plate of seafood, it was time to cleanse our
palates, and the Calamansi Sorbet sure did the trick. This was a simple sorbet
but presented in a beautiful teapot looking bowl, which had the spout emitting
smoke. The taste of the sorbet brought me back to my childhood, as I absolutely
loved calamansi juice, and refreshed my taste buds, getting me ready for the
next dish.
And what a dish it was.
In my eyes, the Roast Eye of Rib Eye Steak With Anchor Maple Cafe De
Paris with Braised Short Rib Filled Fried Potatoes was the crown jewel of the
evening. The cut of the steak was unlike any other I had ever seen, but the
gorgeous sear on it was undeniable. And watching the Anchor Maple Cafe De Paris
Butter on top of the steak, slowly melt and sink into the meat was a glorious
sight to behold. The tenderness of the meat, infused with a light sweetness by
the maple butter. To this very day, i’m not ashamed to admit that I have dreams
about that steak.
I’m the
ultimate meat and potatoes guy, which is why I was excited to try the Braised
Short Rib Filled Fried Potatoes that served as a side dish to the Rib Eye
Steak. And when they said it was “filled”, they meant it! The ball was packed
with delicious short rib that had a delicious savory flavour, all wrapped in a
buttery mound of mashed potato, and deep fried to give it a stunning outer
crust.
A fitting finale to the evening’s meal was the Red Velvet Waffle with
Whipped Anchor Maple Butter and Cheese Cannoli and “Ber” Berries for dessert.
The plating looked so stunning, I was considering taking it and making it a
decor in my home, but my stomach wouldn’t have forgiven me. I started with the
Cannoli, which had a superb blend of sweetness from the Maple Butter, while
retaining the light sharpness of the cheese filling. The soft Red velvet waffle
had a touch of tartness that, again, went perfectly with the whipped Anchor
Maple butter, and was complimented even further by the freshness of the
berries.
Pardon the pun, but this dessert was the proverbial “Berry on top” of
a memorable meal.
Every dish served to me that night was nothing short of exceptional,
but I couldn’t help but keep dreaming of the rolls and the whipped Anchor Maple
Butter with roasted garlic that I had to start the meal. When we were given a
gift basket by the good people from Anchor, I nearly did a quadruple backflip
when I found out that Chef Ariel included a jar of his scrumptious concoction
in it!
If you had
asked me how I would use the Anchor Maple Butter before this dinner, I would
have told you, “On pancakes or with toasted bread”. I was really impressed with
the dynamic range of flavours that the Anchor Maple Butter displayed with every
dish I tasted. The butter seemed to work differently with every course brought
to us, but the results were always amazing.
I have just added yet another must
have item to my grocery list!
Trying not to drool at the sight of the Rib Eye Steak.. gosh.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dekaphobe.com/
I tried the same thing. I was not successful. :(
DeleteYour photos are mouthwatering! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's taking me back to that mystery dinner. And love the photo at the end :)
See you around Rich! Cheers!
Janey
Between Bites
www.janedchua.com
Haha! I understand your anxiety with the mystery dinner :D It somehow reminds me of the several times I surprised the beau on where we'll eat. Torture din, and he's scared I might bring him to a Thai resto XD (I love Thai cuisine though!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, drooling over everything you've had! I've only been to Lolo Dad's once, but I'm dying to go back. Even their rolls are already heavenly!
xoxo,
The Purple Doll