DINING @ THE BOUTIQUE

My friend Marts was complaining about my anniversary blog being all about food. I asked her exactly what else about my anniversary weekend that she would have wanted me to write about. Hahaha! 'P Na-paranoid tuloy ako and read back. Di naman ah! Yun nga lang, ang napansin lang ni Marts, yung food. Hahaha! 'D

Then again, I suppose there's a grain of truth to it. I've always believed that food--good food--ought to be at the center of any special occasion. As it is often voiced out in the different FGD's that I get to attend for my day job (hehe), "Pag masarap ang pagkain, masaya ang kwentuhan. Pag di masarap, ay, ang lungkot!" True. Very. VERY. TRUE. =)

Our massage session ended pretty much in time for dinner. I had heard about The Boutique serving the same recipe as the supposedly much-raved-about "best spareribs" in Boracay. Now I don't remember having enjoyed spareribs during my Bora trips, but I suppose since this particular one seems to have acquired legendary status, we must try it. =)

We went down to the dining area and quickly rushed to a cozy nook. It would have been nice to dine under the stars, but the afternoon showers have pretty much soaked all the lawn chairs. The cafe was thankfully not yet too busy when we arrived. Another couple was quietly surveying the menu. The hotel manager was dining with a middle-aged Caucasian and his Filipina wife, their 3-year old boy running around the hotel lobby. To the side, very near the open area, several writers from GMA-7 (I think) were huddling. I can only guess from the conversation snippets that I could hear from their table that they were putting together a story--possibly for the next big tele-fantasya. I happily settled onto my seat, still giddy over the room, the shower and the massage.

Having spent all his energy on wakeboarding (and driving through sheets of fog and rain, haha), Hubby Sweet was ready for a big dinner. The cold weather brought on by the early evening mist also pretty much sealed the deal. I wanted the spareribs. He wanted the bulalo. Neither of us was willing to back down. Heaven help us. HAHAHA!!! 'P Hungry and unable to wait for the main meal, Hubby Sweet also decided he wanted the calamares. I decided to take everything with, uh, Coke Light. =) He decided on San Mig Light.

I tinkered with my cell camera as we waited for the food to arrive. Dear Hubby stood up, took the video cam with him (we brought one to document his wakeboarding experience) and started walking around. Soon, he was conversing with the ladies at the reception desk. They were all giggling as he regaled them with I-do-not-know-what-story. I did not think much of it, having grown accustomed to the fact that my husband can--and will!--talk to anybody and everybody, especially the guards, the waiters, the parking attendants, etc., etc. He says it's his contribution to making their day a bit special. "Tweet," he once explained, "these people work all day in jobs that they probably don't even particularly enjoy. If I can make them smile for a moment just by acknowledging their presence and by talking to them, why shouldn't I do it?" =)

He finally went back to the table, blurting out as soon as he sat down, "What is it with this music?!" Two words: AIR SUPPLY. Hahahahahaha!!! 'p Yup, for all the so-called sosy points of The Boutique, we hilariously enjoyed our dinner wait with "Two Less Lonely People" blaring in the background. By the time the calamares arrived, I was seriously on the brink of a horrible Last-Song-Syndrome episode: "I can't liiiiiiiiiii-iii-ive.....if living is without yooou.....I can't liiiiiiiiiive....I can't live anymore!!! Ooooooohhhhhh....I can't liiiiiiiiiiiiiive....if living is without you...woooohhh....I can't liiiiiiiiiiive....I can't live anymore...woooh-oh-ooohhh..." NGYAAAAAHHH!!! Hahaha! 'P (Now, if you actually know how that song goes....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 'P)

Used to the calamares served with either tomato salsa, tartar sauce or vinegar (depending on the type of restaurant), the one we had that night was a delight. It was enough to make us forgive and forget the sappy soundtrack. Hahaha! The batter was seasoned and crisp without being oily. 'Twas also served peppered with bits of fried siling labuyo and garlic (I'm guessing the squid got deep-fried in the oil along with the chili and garlic). Elevating the experience beyond tartar sauce, our calamares was served with aioli lightly laced with wasabi. Yum! ^_^ Surprisingly, it wasn't all that spicy. The chili and the wasabi were subtle enough to give the dish a kick, but not enough to have one gulping down an entire can of Coke. Light. Haha. =)

When the bulalo and the spareribs arrived, I wanted to deck our waiter. Quite concerned that we had ordered too much, I had earlier asked him if we should cut down, or if we should at least go for the medium ribs instead of the large. He looked at both Hubby Sweet and I and confidently declared, "Hindi, Ma'am. Kaya niyo yun. Puro buto naman yung bulalo and spareribs eh." Ah, ganun ah! When the bowl of bulalo and the plate of ribs arrived, I wondered just how big an appetite the waiter thought we had! The entire deal was good enough for at least four people. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Hubby Sweet and I looked at each other, and with some permutation of the jedi-mind-trick, simultaneously blurted out, "Di bale. We'll just have this wrapped." Hahaha...hay...=)

The bulalo was served in a bowl with a heaping serving of blanched cabbage, pechay and string beans. No wilted, overcooked veggies here. (Weird, I don't recall seeing any potatoes.) I suppose to keep the veggies in top form and for foodstyling purposes na rin, the soup was served in a separate bowl, bits of marrow liberally swimming and slowly melting in the steaming hot broth. Cold weather = bulalo. Man! As soon as we sipped our first, we knew it was definitely one of those things that would make you go "Hmmmmmm....." ^_^

Rating: Five Stars!!! ABSOLUTE CARDIAC DELIGHT!!! Wow. =)

Now, I don't know if it's because we tried the spareribs last that I didn't really think much of it. Maybe it just really paled in comparison to the bulalo and the calamares. We had ordered the Hawaiian Ribs (supposedly the house specialty), but the only thing I could remember as soon as I took my first bite was me thinking, "Man, I should have gone for the honey-mustard ribs instead! Maybe that would have been better." Ngwek, ngwek, ngwek... =( To be fair, it wasn't bad, but I didn't think it merited all the raves and great reviews that had elevated it to near-legendary status. It ain't the type I'd go back for. Mas masarap pa ang Racks! Haha. 'P Then again, I will leave room for the possibility that the spareribs did not really fly with me because, by then, I had already stuffed myself silly with the calamares and bulalo. Oh, well. =)

Dessert was "banana wonton" which is really nothing but mini-turons served with vanilla ice cream. Haha. =)

Now, I have this particular food habit that has been going on for ages. Whenever I fall in love with a dish, I inevitably order the same dish over and over in every single restaurant that such a dish is available. Think of it as me going on a food adventure: "The Search for the Best..." I went through the buffalo wings phase (Friday's wins!), the french fries phase (nothing beats McDo, with Friday's coming in second), the ice cream phase (FIC for pistachio ice cream, although 'am currently enamored with the peanut-butter-ice-cream-cookie-dough-fudge-brownie combo at Cold Rock). Get the drift? Anyway! I digressed. Haha. =)

This current phase was brought about by a dessert I had at Cafe Juanita (in Barrio Kapitolyo in Pasig) which is absolutely divine with its lightly-crisp, golden-brown, sesame-seed-peppered, ginger-flavored-caramel-coated mini-turon served with a mini-scoop of vanilla ice cream. THAT DESSERT ROCKS!!! Since then, I have been on this mad adventure in search of the best turon dessert in town. Haha!

Anyway! The votes have been counted (all two, haha) and the results are in. For the record, the Cafe Juanita mini-turon would pulverize The Boutique's banana wontons! To borrow a line from one of my all-time favorite movies, any day of the week, twice on Sundays. Hahaha. To be fair, their banana wontons were good. It's just that I've had better. =)

Hay, sya! That's it for dinner.

Till next post! =)