Whether you’re after the food or some rare boutique wines from France, Le Jardin in Fort Bonifacio will allow you to enjoy either while looking out over the city from their penthouse location.

There’s a new Hungry Hound in town. Well, to be specific, it is still the same Hungry Hound that is located at the Globe Tower in Fort Bonifacio. It has been open for nearly a year now. First time to try it was at a chance lunch sometime in December. Back then, well…. the kitchen seemed to have some issues. It is a bit different now, and with greater confidence…

More stuff out of the Kitchen of Booze. And again, from a Gordon Ramsay recipe. If it is looking like we are becoming rabid huggers of his, well it is hard to look for a multi-Michelin star chef who makes enough simple-to-follow cookbooks and encourages people to try and tweak it to personal taste. And it’s vermouth! Most people just know this as the stuff of Martinis and Vespers. The…

After that indulgence overload from Magnum Cafe, it was time for some meaty grub. It is quite acceptable to have desserts first before the meaty goodness after. Done that lots of times, and would like to think we turned out well. So one of the more distinguished food critics who joined us mentioned there is this little unknown shack inside SM Aura that is rarely visited due to its location,…

Your normal get-together with friends usually consist of either a night out with fine food and drinks, or at home, also with fine food and drinks. How about a gig where you get to cook some fine food? Yes, you can still have drinks while doing so. And it is quite fun and relatively easy as well, as Marmalade Kitchen shall demonstrate. Marmalade Kitchen is located at that the relatively…

When Magnum ice cream bar came to Manila, it came with one hell of a bang. Controversy followed suit about how can an ice cream bar elicit so much pleasurable raves and unforgettable indulgences. And they kept on coming with new flavors. Now, as if like to make the statement, The Magnum Manila Pleasure Store will open soon in SM Aura, The Magnum Manila Pleasure Store is a global concept…

As of June 18, 2015, it was discovered that this restaurant has CLOSED. Something new is taking root in Bonifacio High Street. What used to be the old Stock Market, is this new, homey looking restaurant called Olive Tree Kitchen and Bar. People have taken into calling it OTKB, much to the proponents delight as it is their initiative to give it that moniker. Oh, and one of the proponents…

Valentine’s Day this 2014 (un)conveniently falls on a Friday, which is also a payday for most of the working class. And so if you want to dive into the rest of humanity that feels compelled to celebrate on this day and get stuck in a sea of vehicular traffic, be our guest. What we propose, though, is maybe you can celebrate it in advance, or afterwards when all the frenzy…

One red-eye flight to Singapore led us to stumble upon The Book Cafe, a charming all-day breakfast place that plays on the love for books and all things written. Plus coffee and tea.

For a country that is not even a century old, Singapore has surely taken the world’s attention with its focus on the concept that everything great about life will follow once peace and order and great human transportation infrastructure is in place. Wow they sure showed everyone. Look at Singapore now. And with a good, developing society, comes the developing taste buds and the demand for the finer things in…

Ah. The new East Wing of the Shangri-La Mall in the Philippines. Very posh looking with great hints of Filipiniana accents interpreted for the modern times. It really is a great looking addition to an already established shopping center. And with it, new food concepts to the fast developing Filipino palate for distinction and quality. Where should one start? Maybe best to start with familiar comfort food fare. And on…

This restaurant has closed their W Global Center branch. Does Mad For Garlic scare you? Does the doorway made of steel and glass look too bourgeois for the usual casual dinner fare? Does that wreath hung around an eerily glowing lamp make you imagine that there’s nothing more to the food here than the over-abuse of the acrid, pungent food flavoring bulb?   Do those racks of wine make you…

Wine pairings are quite common. Craft Beer pairings are gaining a crowd in Manila. Whisky pairings, though, is rarely heard of. Physically possible, but sounds insanely impractical and taboo. The Philippine taste buds are not used to drinking whisky, particularly neat or with just a splash of cool water. It is normally on the rocks or chased with a sweet cola. The most accepted pairing is probably an ice cold…

Here at En Route, it’s all about simple, homey, comfort food dishes that any man or woman is bound to love (this is also because this is the most we can cook with our current abilities. Those manchego souffles and tomato confit ala Lolo Dad’s still need to be practiced). But for this dinner set, it’s all about a manly dinner consisting of meaty, cheesy, and boozy goodness that every…

We remember the drinks, but we do get curious about who the brains are behind some of our favorite cocktails. They definitely deserve celebrity status in our books. Without them, how would we ever discover the flavor profiles of the wonderful world of alcohol and spirits? We raise our glasses to them and say, “Our compliments to the bartender.”

It’s been long overdue as it is already past the second half of 2013. Nevertheless, it is a great way to recap some of the tasty memories of 2012 that are now probably lost in accumulated lipids. Started off as a criticism of how burgers are cheaper than salads, and now has morphed into a celebration of the tastiest morsels this side of En Route. We are not to blame…

After a Tapas Food trip in Barcelona, having more tapas bars in the metro is a welcome sight. You have probably heard it through the grapevine, if not the newspapers that have featured the latest and revolutionary restaurant that has taken the Manila food scene by storm. Vask Tapas Bar and Restaurant brings some Spanish cuisine mixed with the personal molecular gastronomy touch of its head chef J. Luis Gonzalez. Chef…

Wagyu beef gets great raves for the meat tenderness and spectacular marbling. Literally translating to Japanese cow, wagyu is normally seen in the more high end steak shops (like Wagyu Stone Grill), and commands a relatively high price depending on the grade of marbling (probably due to import taxes and other duties). When you think about it, though, no one is stopping anyone from getting some of these bovines and…

There was this errand for car repairs that needed to be done near the Malugay / Yakal Street area of Makati City to coincide with a lunch break, so it called for a quick, no-frills, comfort food lunch mission. Recently someone suggested to try out Wingman at The Collective. This was a familiar area, too, as Offbeat Cafe and their non-conformist burgers and sandwiches were also found in this hipster…

  For those who frequent the Salcedo Weekend Market in Makati, there is a high chance that you would have come across the Hillside Ranch brand of Roasted Beef Belly and Corned Beef. These are succulent chunks of bovine that have been sacrificed for the ever demanding consuming public. An invite for a taste test of these Hillside Ranch beauties was held at Trellis in Makati City. Apparently, the purveyors…

Ray: First of all, a disclaimer: These shots of booze and calorie intensive food were taken over a course of a few days and not as one glutton-fest evening. It is just impossible to eat and drink all that food (OK fine it is possible, but just not gastronomically practical). On the great institution that is the London pub, I am a big fan. I am a fan that any…

Stonehenge, it is definitely not overhyped. UNESCO heritage site that is a place of influence for the ancestors of this land. Looking at the stones and imagining just how the multi-ton boulders had to be shipped from its quarry site in Wales boggles the mind.