When Shabu Isn't Wrong

There is was a spot in Greenbelt 5 I used to pass, wondering what it was going to be. I was with A once and she got excited when she saw it. "I love going there in San Mateo!" she says.

Yesterday, after salivating at the sign all these months, I was able to find out what all the excitement was all about. We were supposed to have a Japanese shabu-shabu lunch date with the CM but it ended up just being B, Marty, T and I eating all the glorious meat.

Now what I love most about eating at Ganso Shabuway are the good food and the simple choices. Such as: choosing which size portion to order. Or which broth to cook my meat in. Or what condiments to put into the dipping sauces. And which sauce to dip my meat or vegetables in.

Now here it is first come-first-serve but ironically, they also have a "priority list" (of which I was the only one on it). Fortunately, when I arrived here there were a few tables free, which were quickly taken in a matter of minutes. 

  I saw J and T here, who were here last week too

The Morenos love Shabuway! Guest appearance :)

Each table has one induction cooker for boiling the broths to cook the meat and veggies

Then they give you two sauces: creamy sesame and a tangy ponzu

Of which you need to add your condiments of green spring onion, garlic or radish and garlic

And voila! You have your choice of dipping sauces for your meal.

You can choose between Angus and Kobe beef, in three sizes: petite, regular and large. This meat comes with the usual Veggie A bunch. They bring you the veggies and tofu first, to tease you

or you can opt to upgrade your veggies to something a little more special, this one has asparagus, broccoli, squash and spinach

Now here is the cooking broth. One is a clean, seaweed broth and the other is a spicy miso base. Guess which one I prefer?

Then here comes the food porn

Can you just dieeeeee?? 

14 pieces of succulent, marbled, thinly sliced Angus beef and veggies for the regular portion at about 600 pesos. With the free house mogi cha, this is practically stealing! Especially when you compare it to a Japanese shabu-shabu place whose name sounds like a mermaid. And there's plenty of parking pa!

B said she liked to dip the meat and cabbage into the ponzu sauce and the mushroom fish balls (these taste really amazing, I swear) and tofu into the creamy sesame.

My only beef (pardon the pun) with this resto is that it didn't serve Japanese white rice, it just served normal rice. I'd pay extra for the Japanese version! 

On beef slice number 11, I thought I would not be able to make it to the finish line. I was full from the veggies, mushroom balls, tofu, sauce and rice. So I ditched the rice for the final stretch....

For dessert, they even have mochi balls, but I was too stuffed to try them.

"Regular portion" happy campers

"Large portion" happy camper. Keep that iced tea a-coming!

I'm so happy Ganso-Shabuway is here! When I said goodbye to J and T, and exclaimed how stuffed I was they said, "You wait and see after 2 hours. You'll be hungry again!"

You know what, they were right! I almost went back for dinner....

Ganso-Shabuway

2/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center Makati City

Tasting London

In the short time that I was in London, I tried to jam in as many things as I could; mainly, see my family and friends who live there. And a lot of that revolved around eating - the Filipino way!

I was so happy to see Aissa who used to work with us and is taking up furniture design there. She suggested we visit the Borough Market, unfortunately it was a couple of hours before we had lunch at The Club at The Ivy so I could only taste a little here and a little there. (It's only now that I realize why I was so full after the aspargus, hehe).

Aissa says that its good to go to the Borough Market on its opening day, Thursday, because its not so full of people. I agree. We began our adventure in the hot food section, where I promptly ate a warm beef empanada with this fantastic fresh chimichurri sauce. I wanted to bring some home but imagined what a mess that would make in my suitcase!

From there we went to the other side where freebie samples of this and that were being sold

Foccaccia straight from the oven

assorted chutneys and jams. I like Vampire's Relish!

Cheese, glorious cheese!

you think this will fit in your hand carry on the plane?

These ladies sure like their sausage

I wanted to eat this but I knew it would make me too full so I just took a photo of it, and of course, inhaled.

We left the market and all I bought were 2 bottles of white truffle oil to bring home. Don't you just love fresh markets?

I had some of the yummiest fish and chips at Geales Fish Restaurant in Chelsea with Butch, Mia, Aissa and Tim. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the sides we ordered.

Delish shrimp cocktail with lotsa fresh rocket

Fried sole

Sticky toffee pudding

Of course, no trip to London is complete without the requisite kebab meal

Since I like mixing uptown and downtown, I literally did go across town from visiting my friend Estelle and her son Fynley in Notting Hill to Regent Park, where I met Butch and Mia for the festival, A Taste of London.

A glorious moment in the bipolar weather

Estelle and I were hanging out and we didn't realize how fast the time flew and I had to get going. I had so many parcels that I had to take the Tube back to the hotel to drop them off (literally threw them through the door) and ran downstairs to catch a taxi but I was late anyway. So embarrassed! So when we entered Taste, I told Butch and Mi i'd treat them to a drink of their choice. (Love you B and M!)

Butch enjoying a Taste of the Phil in London

It was muddy from the rains (as in serious mud that hardened on your shoes like it was nobody's business), there were a ton of people but it was glorious. Tickets and crowns cost 40 pounds We each had 20 pounds' worth of crowns, each equivalent to 2 pounds or so. This was the currency (like chits) used in Taste to buy your food. B and M had it all planned out: they looked online as to what they wanted to eat and budgeted their crowns. I told them I'd do it guerrilla-style and eat what I saw, as I had no idea about any of the restos that were being featured. Fortunately we had M to tell us! 

B's first choice was the best one the whole day. I kinda subscribe to that theory (yes, Aissa, I know what you will say to this!) the best first!

But look, won't you agree?

L'Anima's mushroom fettuccine and fresh black truffle 

While we were sitting at the San Mig tent, B left his beer with us (6 crowns) and hied off to L'Anima and brought back the item off his list (above) for 24 crowns. Amazing! The truffles were so fresh and tasty.

I found Bentley's, that was selling fresh oysters, 3 for 6 crowns. 

Fish and chips, 10 crowns

Oysters and scallops ceviche (8 crowns)

Happy camper

Who gets bothered eating fresh oysters on an empty stomach? Not me! Each little briny morsel was to die for. Being at Taste made me feel like I was in Disneyland for foodies!

What came next was something on M's list, from Opera Tavern. Courget flower with Monte Enebro Goat's Cheese and Drizzled with Honey (10 crowns).

Then B found another dish on his list, a Wagyu beef burger with black truffle and Cantal cheese sauce (second from left, 18 crowns). He's been getting all these dishes marked ICON, which to me, spelled EXPENSIVE. You could hardly taste the truffle.

Their macaroons looked yummy though. I love black sesame!

Then I wanted to share my crowns so I got something off their list, which was the Krupuk-crusted Soft Shell Crab, Singapore-style sauce, Pickled Shimeji and Cucumber from The Modern Pantry (10 crowns). It looked good but tasted just ok. And unlike the others, there was so much of it! Lesson learnt: don't get the Asian stuff in London!

At Club Gascon we met the head chef who was signing books (that's why I knew he was the Chef de Cuisine!) Cute noh?

But what we really and truly adored from him was something that was on my list now, the ICON dish of the Foie Gras Burger with Summer Truffle (14 crowns), which we split into 3. Everyone was ordering it like it was drugs.

Homigad! So sinfully delicious! Do you spot the truffle sliver?

Now suffering from food fatigue, we wanted to walk around and look for something to drink, like coffee. Instead, we came across some mulled cider, perfect for a chilly evening. B liked their T-shirts, one said "I Go Trufflin' Around"

I took photos of other chefs, and other dishes. I would ask, quite rudely, "are you the chef here?" heehee.

yummy green goodness

the biggest truffle that I've ever seen, that's what she said!

Then we were craving for dessert so we took a look at the list and M wanted the Lemon cheesecake, Earl Grey and Black Sesame (8 crowns). It was very good. I said I wanted to check out the Lemon Tart with Fresh Strawberries (8 crowns) from Rhodes 24. Sidenote: all the strawberries in England had ripened in March and April hence were available already by June, and ohhhhh they were sooooo damn good!! When we saw it, it looked like Heaven on a Plate, so inviting and fresh. I told M i'd half it with her, she didn't want to share! So they bought more crowns haha.

You know you want me don't you?

Rhodes 24's main man

We were finally tired (and full I might add). So we ended the evening with an espresso for B and I then we all said our goodbyes, until the next time. Thank you for bringing me here guys! Such a great way to experience London with you both!

http://www.tastefestivals.com

PS M and I both bought a fresh truffle for 5 pounds. You think it was a steal, right? M said they sliced theirs and it didn't taste or smell like truffle. Oh well, it can still be food fashion: dressed to impress :)

A Very Posh Lunch

We were told that we going to have lunch at the member's only, The Club at The Ivy  on West Street. Anyone who knows The Ivy knows it is a habitue of theater goers and celebrities alike; it also the predecessor of The Ivy in Los Angeles, where paparazzi hang out, trying to stalk Hollywood celebrities.

But we weren't going to be dining at The Ivy. We were going to be dining at the very posh-looking The Club at The Ivy, where you need to have a membership to belong. And to be a member in London really means something!

While waiting for the others to arrive, Pepper, Therese and I walked over to Joel Rubochon (which was right next door) to salivate at the menu as Pepper told us his food stories of dining there (this dish was this small, it had this much caviar on it...it was like we were talking about porn! Food porn, that is!). Of course, we were also trying to compute how much one would spend on a two-course meal. The resulting decision was, if you're gonna go, go for lunch, not dinner. If you were to go at all. And of course, now that I am in Manila, I regret not eating those tiny, beautiful overpriced dishes!

When we are complete we enter the doors of what I thought was a florist's, it was only the lobby of The Club at The Ivy. We walked in and gave our names and who we were going to meet, and they ushered us up the gorgeous staircase and into an elevator which took us to dining room. It looked like a gentleman's room, books and books lining the shelves and hushed interiors. Or perhaps the Freemason's headquarters?

Where we dined when we dined at The Club at The Ivy

So of course, when you dine at a member's club, you take the lead of the member, in this case, CEO of Lunchbox Productions, James Cundall.  He recommended the asparagus (which he said was so good there) and the fish. I wouldn't normally just order asparagus for an app but as I was in the mood for fresh, fresh, fresh food of the season, I got it. As did most of us.

Now does this look fresh or what?!?

If there is anything we lack in Manila, it is the abundance of fresh, flavorful vegetables that taste as though it was just plucked from the vegetable garden just minutes ago. And not just that: they need to be cooked just so, so that you maximize its texture and flavor instead of getting a mushy green mess. 

When I smothered the hollandaise sauce on the asparagus I pulled a Marie Antoinette and polished the tops off and almost forgot to take a picture. (Plus we did this discreetly, can you imagine the waiters here told us no photos! But us being Pinoy, we did it anyway. With no flash. Teehee.)

For my main course, I wanted the prime rib on the trolley (don't you just love how the Brits say "we've got a roast on the trolley"?" But unfortunately all the other gentlemen in the club had the same idea. So I put our server to the test and asked what he would order. "I think the lamb would be my choice," he said. So lamb it was, and this is what arrived.

Just, yum. It was well-cooked, falling off the bone and well-seasoned in a fabulous sauce. I don't know how those asparagus got me full but I could only finish the meat and hardly any of the potatoes or veggies. Actually the heavy veggies were a stark contrast to the fresh, summery asparagus.

This was Pepper's choice, just look at those chantrelles!

After our fabulous lunch we ran over the the Ambassadors Theater next door where we watched the fantastic, energized and amazingly with-no-dialogue play, Stomp. Watch out for it, coming soon in Manila :)