hopping on the goose station

b and i love sampling menus and since i'm back we ought to have one. there were two options and we chose the goose station by rob pengson and sunshine puey. it's not in the greater fort area it's better to go to the W building via kalayaan but whichever suits you would be fine. there's no outside parking but they have allotted slots in the basement, you just have to ask manong guard.

we opted for the signature menu at 2500 PHP which is an 8 course meal if i'm not mistaken. we split everything. here's our table setting...liked the red glasses which provide contrast with the white linens.

complimentary bread and butter - found it sad actually. lonely sliced piece of bread with butter served on a nice capiz dish.

foie cone - thin barquillos like cone stuffed with foie gras...not for the non foie gras lover

potato glass, truffle puff and savory macaron - for some amuse bouche my palate wasn't really amused.

caviar surprise - alaskan king crab in white asparagus flan with prawn jelly topped with caviar. the caviar gave a nice salty contrast to the creamy subtle flan....surprisingly they all worked together but too big for one person to finish.

eggs benedict - poached egg, hollandaise foam, truffle oil and bacon tuile. wished there was more tuile hehehe but also another so so dish...nothing really popped in my mouth. maybe it was a dish to cleanse the palate after the salty caviar surprise...but really nothing exciting.

beet garden - beets, orange, micro greens. the jelly beet roll and those two macaron looking beets are stuffed with a cream cheese filling which i loved because i love cream cheese...but other than that this dish didn't really amuse me.

foie gras terrine - topped with unagi which provided a nice contrast. wish there's more brioche because this was one is a bit too heavy. it's like eating chunks of foie gras.

fideua negra - squid ink fideos with roasted scallop and some aioli. unique dish nothing i've tried but still didn't give me an impression.

24 hour steak - short rib, truffle mashed potatoes with crisp onions. finally! something to rave about, the steak was perfectly cooked and the sides just pulled the entire dish together.

yogurt foam with granola mint and berries - liked this one, the yogurt wasn't too tart and simply because i am not a choco lover =).

chocolate candy bar - nice and rich chocolatey bar...perfect for the chocolate lovers.

after these we got another freebie macaron - it was a sweet and savory macaron if my memory serves me right.

so i guess, with what i've written you pretty much know what i think about this place. maybe it's just me because i've read good reviews of the place but this one doesn't make the cut. by far, aubergine still tops my list. i didn't have any ooooohs or aaaaaahs like my aubergine meal which simply tells me that the food isn't as awesome as i hoped for. there's an express set with is 5 course meal, which is consequently cheaper and i reckon is perfect for one person since the serving sizes are not huge.

the goose station

w building

the fort, global city

dining with mr jones

first culinary stop during my stay in manila, straight from the airport i had to sample mr jones' offerings. was thinking of getting the tapa overload and the superman burger with the hopes that my dad will be lured by these items to help me finish them, but then he said he wanted something light...oh no!!!

anyhoo here are the items we got...

blueberry granola shake (something like that) PHP250 the drink with the lowest calories i reckon, among the caloric shakes and malts...i so love this but you shouldn't finish it alone otherwise you will be full.

mr jones garden salad (PHP350) greens, walnuts, shaved cheese, eggs, a yummy crouton of some sort among many others and a red wine dressing (well i think it's red wine based since it's reddish but could be just balsamic too) healthy, light and yummy.

steak and eggs (PHP525) my tito ordered this, wow super heavy if you look at it. fluffy scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, steak with portobello mushrooms and this rich buttery sauce which i dunno what. loved them all but not really a fan of the steak though tender i deem it wasn't a good cut...i'm very critical with steak nowadays.

two dogs in a bed (PHP220) decided to get this instead because i also want something light. high grade dogs and flavored fries...nothing really to rave about though.

i would still have to try the tapa, the burger and the french toasts...i just need to make sure the ones i'm dining with are up for the challenge. the place is a bit cramped if you ask me and i didn't like the fact that there was a huge fly hanging around at the middle of our meal since we dined outside. anyway, the food is good...the outdoor seating i'm not really a fan of.

mr. jones

greenbelt 5

pj: westlake dimsum buffet

was browsing through my daily dose of promotions when i saw that westlake offers RM48 for a dimsum buffet. i've read the reviews and i've not read anything bad so i dragged along tfc (pinoy officemates) to try out the buffet.

basically, the buffet has 2 parts, the dimsum menu which you order ala carte - yup everything is freshly made for you. and of course a couple of tables for appetizers, entrees and desserts.

so here's what i got.

buttered prawns, mango-crab salad and seabass??? i forgot the one at the back but it was a fish dish. everything was nice the salad was refreshing perfect for eating in between the fish and prawns. and then i saw this shooter, how could i resist??? the baby octopus shooter was nice, the jellyfish at the bottom was also good.

was lucky to chance upon the roasted duck that was freshly carved and brought out from the kitchen...tender and succulent, i really love duck - only when it's made well.




and the following items are the dimsum we ordered, which we all shared.

fried dumplings

fried scallops wrapped in bean curd me thinks...loved this one

raddish/carrot cake forgot which one with floss...totally forgettable

chee cheong fan...smooth, thin rice wrapper with stuffing which i forgot what...mildly seasoned it was nice too.

siew mai (yes siomai!) pinoy dimsum staple

hargau (yes hakao!) another pinoy dimsum staple :)

with some seafood items from the menu which are part of the buffet still.

seafood and bean curd dish

sweet and sour fish

salt and pepper shrimps

another shrimp dish...we were expecting another salt and pepper shrimp since we ordered again when the first batch ran out....but they gave us this and twas so "shrimpy" i think they used a bad batch of shrimps for this one.

egg tarts

for my desserts.

ginger flan or something like that...i love similar types of desserts - flan, creme brulee, panna cotta, i hope you get the picture. this one is smooth and silky but the ginger doesn't really suit my palate.

green tea custard/panna cotta topped with strawberry...i love green tea, i love strawberries so i picked this one. nothing spectacular though. basically just something sweet to end a very flavorful meal.

it was a good meal, despite some misses. overall, i was happy about it. however i was disappointed to find out that drinks are not included even tea, as far as i can remember it was clearly stated in the ad that drinks are included. so it ended up roughly 60rm for each person, which made me reconsider whether it is worth it. anyway, my friend paid using his amex and lo and behold we got 50% off woot woot. the food wasn't a disappointment but maybe you should bring a bigger appetite to make it worth your ringgit.



westlake chinese restaurant
sunway hotel resort and spa