THE PICKIEST EATER IN THE WORLD: TIPPLE & SLAW: SANDWICH HEAVEN AT BGC FORUM

As soon as the itinerary for my trip to the United States a few months ago was confirmed, the very first thing I did was map out the places I would eat out, using one of my all time favorite shows, "Man V. Food" as a point of reference. Though I haven't written it yet in my blog, I am proud to say I was able to visit three places that have been featured in the show!

In case ya'll don't know, Man V. Food is what inspired me to start my blog. After watching an episode for the first time (Season 2: Episode 4, San Francisco), something inside me woke up, and I realized that what Man V. Food Host Adam Richman was doing - Perhaps, not the food challenges, but the going around to different places, and sharing my eating adventure with people - is what I wanted to do.

Which is why, as I entered Tipple & Slaw and saw a photo of Adam Richman up on the wall, I knew I had come to the right place for lunch.

As I took a look at the menu and glanced at the description of every item, the voice of Tom Hanks started ringing in my head.

"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... It was like... magic."

Yes, I felt all gooey and tingly inside reading a menu. Other people get that feeling reading a Nicolas Sparks novel. For me, it was a menu.

Tipple & Slawn is a cozy restaurant that opened at Bonifacio Global City Forum earlier this year. They may call themselves a Sandwich Shop and Bar, but I call them "Heaven On Earth".

The man behind the dishes of Tipple & Slaw is Chef Francis Lim a young, talented chef, who doesn't shy away from outrageous, decadent dishes. As you can imagine, he and I got along just fine. Chef Francis runs Tipple & Slaw, together with his partners Juano Gutierrez, Janus Naval and Marlo Naval.

The thought of sandwiches for a meal to me is quite appealing. While the majority of Pinoys find it imperative to have rice with every meal, a Sandwich can satisfy me just as well as a rice meal can. Which is why I have a strong feeling the people at Tipple and Slaw will be seeing me quite often.

THE FOOD

ICED TEA AND JUICES

Tipple & Slaw offers some refreshing drinks to go with what you should expect to be an epic meal. Choices include Black Iced Tea (P85), Fresh Lemonade (P125), Orange Iced Tea (P95), and Strawberry Iced Tea (P125).

COCKTAILS

For those of you that like to drink, then you'll be pleased to know that Tipple & Slaw's Bar serves cocktails and Shooters. One of the hits of the day was the Tipple Margarita (P270) and the Spicy Mojito (P270).

APPETIZERS

I do love me some spam and potatoes, so it was a no-brainer that the Spam Bombs (P200) was something I was eager to try. Little balls of mashed potatoes are filled with minced spam, breaded and deep fried, then topped with shredded nori strips, and served with Japanese Mayo and Tabasco-Ketchup.

The crunchy exterior reveals the creamy mashed potatoes and the minced spam adds a zing of flavor to it. I found this delicious, but considering the dish is called "Spam Bombs", the Spam didn't feel like the hero. That didn't stop me from devour nearly the entire plate.

I have two rules when I order something from McDonald's. The first being that no matter what I meal I choose to get, I will ALWAYS order Chicken McNuggets, with a funny quirk being, I eat it with Mayonnaise instead of BBQ Sauce. The second rule is that I CANNOT- I repeat - CANNOT eat a McDonald's Burger without smothering it in the McNuggets BBQ Sauce.

So yes, I am quite familiar with McDonald's McNuggets and BBQ Sauce.

Tipple & Slaw's Chicken Nuggets (P250) is inspired by that iconic fast food item, and I've got it hand it to them... Their version is very close, with some improvements, especially since you eliminate the feeling of the meat being processed.

Instead, the coating is crispy, and the meat is remarkably juicy. You can take comfort at the thought of eating fresh chicken meat. The BBQ sauce has the light sweet-meets-tangy flavor of the fastfood version, with the acid drummed down a bit. Another side sauce given is Honey Mustard, which also offers a vibrant flavor with the meat.

CHIPS AND FRIES

A unique dish that I loved was the Corn Fries (P200). Bits of mashed corn, shaped into fries and coated before being deep fried. It comes with side sauces Spiced Brown Mustard, and BBQ Mayo, which is one of the best sauces I had that day.

After demolishing the order of Corn Fries, I was curious as to what was the next dish that we would sample. I turned to Rina and asked, "Babe, what's the next dish? Babe? Babe??".

Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph her reaction, but her look of stunned silence looked pretty much like this.

The glorious sight of the Breakfast Fries (P250) was a little bit too much for my darling wife to process. Thinly sliced French Fries fried to a golden crisp, sprinkled with a generous heaping of chopped bacon, a drizzling of Hollandaise sauce, grated sharp cheddar and topped with a perfectly cooked sunny side up egg.

Words cannot express how much magnificent this was. The acid on the Hollandaise was the perfect match for the creaminess of the yolk, making the kaleidoscope of flavors brought about by the toppings, work magic with the fried potatoes. You mix it all up so becomes all messy and gooey..

I'm remembering it right now..

My god it's beautiful.

PASTAS

The Spaghetti and Meat Bombs (P330) is Chef Francis' version of the Italian Classic. Though it looks like the traditional Spaghetti and Meatball dish, with al dente noodles smothered in a chunky tomato sauce, and sprinkled with cheese and shredded herbs. The biggest difference is in the plump meatballs.. sorry.. MEAT BOMBS. Cracking into those bad boys will reveal that the meat ~~balls~~ bombs are filled with cheese, elevating a classic dish to new level.

Rina was more fond of the Spicy Seafood Pasta (P380). The noodles were topped with Chunks of Salmon, plump pieces of grilled Shrimp, shredded Crab, and doused in a spicy crab fat sauce and topped with bits of caviar.

MAIN DISHES

The Premium meats used in Tipple and Slaw are smoked in-house. Chef Francis is very meticulous when it comes to flavor, and it was very evident with the BBQ Beef Brisket (P450). The Chunks of Beef were bathed in a rich, BBQ Sauce that allowed an even better appreciation of the natural flavor of the beef - which was also incredibly tender. The creamy slaw was a nice, tempering contrast to the boldness of the sauce, while the crispy potatoes were dangerously addicting.

I have a friend who eats, breathes, sleeps, Fried Chicken. I have a feeling he would go nuts over the Truffle Fried Chicken (P350). The juicy, chicken fillets were pretty huge, to the point where they were as big as saucers. The chicken were wrapped in a wonderfully crispy skin, then drowned in a thick gravy that had a hint of the fragrance of truffle.

The Chicken is served with a side of thinly slice potato crisps and a Home Style Biscuit. The biscuit was very good, but lacked the flakiness I look for in a biscuit, seemingly closer to a sweet bun. Still great stuff, nonetheless.

SANDWICHES

Then it was time to bring out the sandwiches.

You can imagine how excited I was.

I think we all have happy childhood memories with a nice, gooey, grilled cheese sandwich. Which is probably why I found the Truffle Grilled Cheese Sandwich (P300) to be an extremely comforting dish. Made with a blend of four different types of cheeses, the sharpness worked wonderfully with the buttery toasted bread. The sandwich is a bit of a combo, as it comes with a hearty tomato soup, and a side of potato chips. A nice touch is the side of honey, which to my delight, worked very well with the subtle flavor of truffle.

The Italian Beef Sandwich is composed of stuff that dreams are made of. Imagine, a slow roasted beef belly, peppered with an infusion of various herbs, mixed with grilled peppers on a toasted crusty roll, with a side of giardiniera pickles and spicy mustard, as well as a collection of its own drippings that you may pour back into the sandwich.

Brilliant.

I still remember my visit to Katz's Deli in New York like it was yesterday. That was a life-changing meal, if there ever was one. Although Tipple & Slaw's Pastrami Sandwich is not in the same level of the legendary Katz's (which is in a league of its own), I still feel this was still among the best I've ever had. The Pastrami itself is absolutely excellent. The beef belly meat was smoked for roughly around 10 hours, leaving it amazingly moist and flavorful, lined with a gorgeous trimming of fat around it. The Pastrami is sandwiched between a crisp slices of bread, smeared with spicy mustard and creamy horse radish for an extra pop of flavor.

Definitely something to try when you're at Tipple & Slaw.

Yet another amazing sandwich in the menu of Tipple & Slaw is the Porchetta Sandwich (P350). A slow roasted pork belly with the meat so immaculately soft, yet with the lining of skin still crunchy. The pork has a medley of herbs imbibed into its meat. It was then sandwiched between a ciabatta, speckled with pickled red onions, arugula and splashed with a few dashes of reduced balsamic syrup.

DESSERTS

The S'Mores Ice Cream Sandwich (P180) is a great way to end your meal. Vanilla Ice cream sandwiched between two graham crackers smeared with biscuit spread, encased in a delicious chocolate shell that is covered with torched marshmallows.

The Apple Pie French Toast (P180) is a delicious fusion of breakfast food meets dessert. A thick slab of french toast, topped with Grilled Apples, Streusel, Cinnamon dust, and drizzled with a sweet caramel sauce, before being topped off with Vanilla Ice Cream.

I was blown away with the array of dishes that Chef Francis threw our way. Each dish showcased impressive techniques and understanding of flavors that Chef Francis has in his arsenal. I'm looking forward to going back to try their pizzas and burgers!