Special Anniversary Dinner @ Fireplace Grill Hyatt

It was our 8th year wedding anniversary and as we always do, we planned a special dinner like every year. This year we were craving for Steak since lately we have preferred to order Duck or Lamb over steak. Our last steak meal was some 6-8 months ago at Mortons in Macau. After consulting with several people we finally decided to try out Fireplace Grill at Hyatt. I've been hearing a lot of good comments about this place for the longest time. It's best known for the aged steaks.

We got there quite early and we were seated right in front of the kitchen. Christine Oro, who had catered a dinner for us, is the Chef, so she quickly came to our table to greet us and introduced us to the head Chef. I cannot remember his name but he was very nice. He explained how simple the concept of the Restaurant was: a simple open kitchen with an "open" fireplace where almost everything is done. They even bake their own bread. At he back of the grill, they have a small staging area where they prepare desserts and salads. All the rest is done in the open kitchen. The Chef, before leaving, told us to leave space for the 'Chocolate Soup' dessert...he said it would be worth the weight...

For starters, we had Steak Tartare, Oysters Rockefeller and Escargot. Of course, I could not resist not ordering the Tartare. It was served with a little salad and toast. Quite tasty and creamy, although it lacked a but of kick (maybe a little more Tabasco would have done the trick). R was craving for Oysters so she had the Oysters Rockefeller. Quite large oysters, with spinach and a thick layer of cheese...very tasty and quite enjoyable with my Sauvignon Blanc. Last we had the Escargot, Pernod Flambeed. This was probably my best starter. The escargot was flambeed with Pernod, a liqueur with a slight licorice flavor. This gave the escargot a sweetish hint which I loved.

For main, since we were quite full, we decided to share a steak. We chose the Certified Angus Beef Prime Chilled Ribeye. The steak was 12 oz (around 350 grams), served with roasted capsicum and a siding of roasted baby potatoes. I asked the steak to be rare to medium rare, and they served it to perfection. Pink inside, perfectly grilled on the outside, and no blood. That is how I like my steak. They offered us sauce, so we asked for Bearnaise and Red Wine, but the steak was just so tasty that I decided not to have it with anything. Definitely one of my favorite steaks for now....

For dessert, we had to have the 'Chocolate Soup' recommended by the Chef. It came in a huge soup bowl with 2 scoops of ice cream. It was decadent...a mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate, with the texture of a very soft Brownie/mousse. The chocolate was very hot so the Ice cream melted immediately. Definitely this dessert is worth the 'weight'....My only complain, the steep price of corkage (2 Pesos per Ml., so a bottle will set you back 1,500. I decided to just have wine by the glass since I was the only one drinking.

Well, what really made this dinner special, aside from us celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary, is the good news that R gave me during our dinner.....................