Yoji and the Foodies

The Insider had a long standing invite to try the food at Upper East Restaurant in Makati, where she is currently on kitchen duty. The restaurant doubles as a “kitchen lab” for the students of American Hospitality Academy Philippines (AHA). This is not a new concept; in fact, other reputable culinary schools have their own restaurants where students complete their on-the-job training. That’s not to say, we should be easy on the food review. On the contrary, we should be very critical (and truthful) because they have the potential to be the great chefs who will further raise awareness of Philippine cuisine.

As part of our food binge, The Avenger and I decided to experience for ourselves what others have been lambasting based on this write-up alone. I learned of the write up from bryanboy.com who found it “incredibly hilarious”. Several blogs followed suit and the negativity has not let up up to this day. They ramble about how pretentious Upper East is and how shitty the website is. One blog is meaner than the next. Mo Twister wanted a complimentary dessert up the upper east side of his balls and Jessica Zafra reminded us that impeccable grammar is the first rule of snootiness.

Anton Diaz and Daphne Osena-Paez have actually tasted the food and offered their comments and reviews in their respective blogs. This is the perfect background story while we eat. It tests the level of influence food blogs have on our dining experience.

On to the review…

Dinner roll with a choice of regular butter or honeyed butter. I wanted regular. The Avenger went for the honeyed.

The Avenger: The roll is a tad sweet, isn’t it?

Me: I don’t mind.  I just find it too heavy for a dinner roll. It’s a cross between a biscuit and pandelemon.

The Avenger: I guess I won’t be needing this honeyed butter.

Upper East Iced Tea

The Avenger: Did they put Sunkist?

Me: The tetra pack?

The Avenger: Not sure. Basta Sunkist.

Me: I don’t know about Sunkist, but it sure reminds me of Cetrin!

The Avenger: When we were kids!

Me: Yeah. When I have a cold and I needed vitamin C.

The Avenger: Oh oh oh. It’s not Sunkist. It’s Sunquick!

Me: But I do taste the bitter taste of tea, probably highland tea

The Avenger: Sunquick, Sunkist… they taste the same to me.

Me: You like it?

The Avenger: It’s ok. Pero parang gusto ko haluhin kasi yung tamis nagsettle na sa ilalim.

Caesar’s Salad

The Avenger: Bacon. Mine.

Me: Croutons. Lots of them.

The Avenger: Bacon…

Me: Uy, I like the salad.

The Avenger: Eat your share of the bacon or it might disappear…

Me: The croutons…too much butter. I’m getting butter overload

The Avenger: Are you going to eat that bacon or what?

Me: Lutong nung lettuce. Sarap.

The Avenger: Baka may bacon…

Blackened Fish with Pasta Aglio Oli (fish is Tilapia fillet)

The Avenger: Parang sweet & sour yung fish

Me: It’s spicy

The Avenger: Well duh, you ordered spicy (toinks!) Nagtapang tapangan ka kasi.

Me: I don’t quite understand the taste but I like angel hair though.

The Avenger: They’re very generous with the fish.Five fillets ba ito?

Me: Baka compliments of the Insider

The Avenger:  hehe fish instead of dessert.

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1. I enjoyed the Caesar’s Salad because the dressing was light. The lettuce was crunchy. I just didn’t like the croutons because it was too buttery.
2. I liked the Iced Tea because I like the slight bitter aftertaste from the tea. And yes, I like Cetrin. So shoot me!
3. The Avenger and I both agree that the pasta is just ok. I personally don’t know what the dish is about. It confuses me and since there’s a sweet and sour element to it, I did not enjoy it.
4. The serving is good for 2 people so sharing is really inevitable (it is even encouraged even if the write up says otherwise)
5. No desserts for us because we’d need an ambulance if we eat another bite.
6. The staff were nice and courteous.

The ultimate question is will we come back? I would, because I want to try the desserts and the porkchop. Maybe will bring another foodie, the Mighty Thor, who always ends up paying the food bill…

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FYI

Upper East

Ground Floor, NDC Building
116 Tordesillas Street
Salcedo Village, Makati City

My food trip buddy, the Avenger, managed to talk me into leaving my happy place in the south for just 1 day to go on a food binge in Makati on a Friday. I have been bribing her with homecooked adobo so she would come visit me instead, but to no avail. We had planned to go to Pepper Lunch in Rockwell but I showed up a couple of hours late, so we ended up in Greenbelt 5 (GB5). As we walk past each restaurant, the Avenger would tell me the specialty of the place. It was always difficult to decide where to eat but we have this process of elimination wherein we narrow down the list  by category: fish, chicken, beef, pork. I wanted fish so we decided to eat at Fish Out of Water at the upper level of GB5.

Not surprisingly, the place is almost empty. It was 4pm. Too late for lunch, too early for dinner. There was  buffet table but we planned going ala carte for the day. The Avenger told me that Fish Out of Water is run by the same people who put Red Crab in the foodie map. This is always a good sign because Red Crab is made of awesome.We try not to have high expectations, but sometimes when there is a point of comparison, you just can’t help but expect nothing less.

The restaurant specializes in seafoods, but judging from the menu, the dishes are far more diversed than what they initially led us to believe. What’s more interesting is that they offer a list of “semi-exotic” dishes which are not readily available elsewhere  – boar, balut, snail, and ostrich, to name a few. Some provinces also get a little advertising mileage in the menu, with dishes like: Pateros Balut Pie, Cebuano Danggit Salad, Grilled Saranggani Bay Milkfish Belly, Vigan Logganisa Pizza, and Batangas Backyard Chicken, among others.

We finally decided to order Crusted Hito (the exact name escapes me at the moment) and the Cagayanon Ostrich Salpicao with Shitake Pilaf.

Crusted Hito

We were pleasantly surprised at the size of the hito. It was huge. It’s basically a deep-fried garlic crusted hito served with special vinegar. The Avenger  was the first to have a taste and immediately said that there was an aftertaste. It turns out, the meat near the belly area has a faint “mud” taste. This is akin to the taste of a tilapia or a bangus if they are not sourced from known suppliers. We just steered clear of the belly area. I was not too bothered by this but the Avenger was clearly disappointed. What bothered me though is the burnt garlic taste of the crust. I like eating deep fried crusted fish skin but the burnt garlic left a bitter taste. So, we steered clear of the crust as well, leaving us with only the soft meat of the fish and the vinegar. Perhaps they can get it right another day. We give second chances.

Cagayanon Ostrich Salpicao with Shitake Pilaf

All disappointments and doubts casted by the hito were erased by this awesome ostrich salpicao. I am never lucky when it comes to salpicao because I usually end up with rubbery meat or overly salty sauce, sometimes I get both. So, I have not ordered salpicao in a long time. This Cagayanon version is simply amazing. The garlicky taste of the sauce is a perfect match to the tender and juicy ostrich meat. It was not  a “melt in the mouth” kind of tender as you would expect from an expensive beef, but it was close.  The generous serving of shitake pilaf is more than enough for two hungry people. This is such a treat for 395 pesos.

(Note: Ostrich meat is low in fat, calorie, and cholesterol compared to beef, pork, veal, chicken, turkey, and lamb. More info here)

Overall, it was a good meal but we were holding back a little because we were set to dine at that controversial Upper East  restaurant, where a friend, the Insider, is on kitchen duty.