Thursday, December 25, 2008

Antonios Cuisine Reigns Supreme...

I returned to Antonios just one week after having dinner there and I have to say: it is really one of the best restaurants in the Philippines and one of my favorite places to go. I'm lucky that it is in Tagaytay, if it were in Manila I'd be going at least 2-3 times a month and that would really hurt my wallet..

We decided to do lunch instead of dinner so we could take the kids. A party of 20, we arrived around 12:15. They had prepared 2 long tables for us, one for adults and one for the kids. I had pre arranged this before and requested the breakfast menu for the kids.

In our table, we were 7 and proceeded to order our appetizers. Since I had just been there, I decided to order different/new appetizers that I haven't tried before (except the Steak Tartare, which is a standard when I go there). We had: Tempura Scallops with Mango Orange sauce and Lumpfish Caviar, Steak Tartare and Portobello Mushroom with balsamic Garlic.




The Tempura Scallops were served with a creamy and refreshing Mango Orange sauce and little caviar, which gave this dish a salty kick at the end. A very refreshing and light dish. As for the Steak Tartare, what can I say that I haven said before? For me it is still the best Tartare in Manila (still need to try others and I will rate them once I've tried them). My only challenge now is to just find creative ways of taking pictures of this dish :)... The Portobello Mushrooms were huge and lightly coated with a balsamic glaze. It had Parmesan cheese which gave this dish good contrast.

With the Salad I ordered the scallops tasting. 3 pcs of Scallop cooked in different ways: Seared, with sesame seeds and wrapped with crispy prosciutto. My favorite was the one wrapped with the Prosciutto. The salty crispy ham was perfect with the soft scallop.




Since I am a man of habit, I could not resist and had to order the Duck Leg Confit (On Garlic Grartin & Pigeon Peas w/ Grand Marnier Beurre Blanc). We also had the Grilled Angus Prime Ribeye Steak and Herb Roasted rack of Lamb w/Cardamom Beurre Blanc.




The Duck, served with Potatoes gratin and Pigeon Peas was perfect. Just the right crispiness outside while still tender on the inside. Just how all duck leg confits should be. The steak, served on a hot plate with oil and garlic was excellent, although I found it a bit too oily, still very tasty and cooked perfectly (medium rare). I was not able to try the Lamb although M told me it was very good. It came with a Curry Rissotto.

For Dessert I had my usual Felchlin Maracaibo Spicy Chocolate Ice Cream. Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with a kick of Chili at the end. Again a perfect way to end a meal.

Til my next visit to Antonios....can't wait to go back there again soon.....

4 comments:

Noel said...

My gosh, tartare again! It's fortunate that Antonio's doesn't serve human tartare or you'd wipe out half of Tagaytay's population in a month. I'm sure the cows in that area start to hide when they see the Digiprint bus coming....

Great pictures as usual. My sis-in-law (my brother's wife) mentioned over dinner tonight that she read your blog (we were talking about Chinese ham in the Philippines) and said your food pictures are excellent.

She told me of a Manila-based Japanese blogger who also takes great food pictures so I asked her to send me the link which I'll forward to you. It's in Japanese, but I'm sure you'd appreciate the pictures.

Best,

N

Miguel said...

Ya....I can't resist....hahaha thats a good one.

When its lunch and I have natural light, the pictures come out much better..

Send me the link when you can of the Japanese blogger :)

Unknown said...

"When its lunch and I have natural light, the pictures come out much better.."

I actually noticed that a lot of food bloggers prefer visiting restos during lunch instead of dinner. It must be for this reason. I'm really bad at photography, but I noticed that nothing kills a food picture more than a harsh flash.

I can't really do lunch with wine. I'll be asleep the rest of the day. When I was in college though, kaya pa. I guess I'm getting old. Hahaha!

Miguel said...

Ya me too - thats why I didnt have wine during this lunch hehehe...

Although the lunch with Noel in Gourmand was a different story.. I was pre conditioned to drink that day..

Honestly I dont really mind going lunch or dinner as long as the food is good. If pics are a bit dark ok lang hehe...