The dust has settled, and there remain four. The four bartenders from Manila who have made it past all the challenges of the Diageo World Class Bartender Philippines for 2015. It was no easy feat, as each and every challenge required to dig deep from within their knowledge of the craft, understanding of the base flavors, and sheer inspiration and determination to elevate their skills to make the cut. And…

Along Jupiter Street in Makati City, you cannot miss this big-ass sign: This is the sign of the Lazy Bastard, purveyor of fine burgers, and the currently Best Hotdog in Manila: The Honey Parmesan. It’s a small shack that specializes in the food, but you can easily miss this other place hidden inside it that specializes in the booze… …. And it is currently the hottest Speakeasy style bar in…

Internationally-recognized Pepita’s Kitchen, with the Lechon Diva, Dedet dela Fuente Santos, at the helm, collaborates with Diamond Hotel, and takes centre stage at their Corniche restaurant buffet as they offer Feasts from the Filipino Kitchen until June 14, 2015.

The craft beer scene is alive and kicking even in the tropical paradise of Hawaii! This is was such a pleasant surprise during this trip, as even in Manila, the craft beer scene is really taking off.   A stroll into this trendy district near the Ala Moana area where street art and food fairs abound reveals the location of Honolulu Beerworks, home of the fine craft beers this side…

It is recommended that you visit before everyone else finds out about this place. The Gilarmi Lounge is one of the establishments that the Discovery Primea has launched this year (First one was the fantastic Tapenade Mediterranean themed restaurant). Paying tribute to the landmark Gilarmi Apartment that used to tower the Ayala Avenue in the old days, the Gilarmi Lounge brings back the nostalgia of how it felt to have one of…

Craft Beers have always been an advocacy here. It disrupts the status quo that beer should only be produced by mainstream conglomerates and that there is no other way to enjoy it other than getting intoxicated beyond the point of appreciating the finer craft of brewing the said popular drink. But places like The Perfect Pint give hope that non-mainstream, locally made brews have a place in the Manila booze scene,…

A few months ago, Tapenade, the first of many restaurants of Discovery Primea, opened to the public. Tapenade was to be a restaurant that features some inspirations of dishes that can be found in the Italian, Spanish, and Mediterranean regions. And with rave reviews from both blogs and printed media, who can’t not think of having Mother’s Day there? Tapenade had a set menu for that day (they called it…

Prepare to have your heart stopped… both figuratively and literally. So rare that a single dish deserves more than 500 words that usually is enough to describe a whole restaurant, but there are exceptions, both meals and desserts. Add this to that reveled list. Sizzling Kansi. What looks like just some usual bowl of chopped meat resembling sisig topped with a roasted bone marrow just hides in plain sight the…

If there is one great suggestion for people who live in Metro Manila, it is to walk around the Makati Central Business district on a Saturday evening. You will really have a great time, with relatively blowing winds even at summer time, and you get to see the majestic buildings without being distracted by the horrendous traffic that comes with the regular work week. So this stroll was from the…

ALL THE STEAK YOU CARE TO EAT.       So few statements have that much impact to so many people. Not to isolate the people who don’t eat meat, but the carnivore craving in majority of the population speaks to an inner and very elemental essence in life: To be sustained to survive. Of course with modern living these are not as obvious given the varied selection especially of…

“See you at the top.”     To those who follow the Manila club scene, this statement is all too familiar. 71 Gramercy is the premiere club on the top floor of the highest building in the Philippines: Gramercy Residences. Named after the floor where it is situated, it has played host to the clubbing elite, with trendy beats and fantastic cocktails. As a matter of fact, one of their…

The Peninsula Manila has been one of the more top-of mind hotels lately for family staycations. Can’t seem to pinpoint the reason for such. It might be because of the excellent location at the Makati business district (which, by the way, is soooooo lovely to stroll around and discover some bars and restaurants on Saturday nights when it is less busy than usual). Or it might be that all the…

Il Ponticello has successfully reinvented itself recently, with a more grown up vibe coupled now with culinary reiterations of classic Italian inspired dishes fit for a more distinguished palate. It’s like the place grew up along with its old patrons, who are now looking for the finer things in life than the old buy-one-take-one shots of the infamous blue cocktail called Azzuri. And part of this growing up is a…

Part of the En Route to Hong Kong for a 36 hour layover series: Have as much tasty roasted goose from the best rated places here. In previous visits, it was and always was Yung Kee as the default place the get roasted goose. Everyone knows it, and it has stood the test of time. With time, of course, comes change, and there seems to be someone new… and just one…

This is not the first time at House of Wagyu Stone Grill. In fact, House of Wagyu’s Eastwood branch has been a common place for the family to go if the demand for that occasion was to have one of the best tasting steaks in town. But this is the first time to try something very special, that it needed the participation of no less than the people from the…

It all started with a simple phone call. Christophe Bourrie, Remy Martin’s ambassador for the Southeast Asian region, was making his rounds and discovering how some clients in the area have stored the precious Louis XIII cognacs as long as the 1940’s. It then gave him the thought that there might be someone out there who he has not yet met that has an even older bottle. And the only…

A few weeks ago gave an opportunity to stay at the Le Monet Hotel in Baguio. This is one of the more known upscale hotels in the area, what more having it situated inside the Camp John Hay grounds. Returning back to Manila and missing the cool weather and scent of pine, it gave time to reflect on what made the 3-day stay comfortable and memorable (aside from the cool…

      Bartending and the art of mixology have gained a massive foothold in the Philippine food scene the past two years, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Proof of which are the opening of some of the places that puts more emphasis on the technique of the craft rather than the amount of alcohol needed to get your drunk and on your way. Previous years have…

Let’s do a quick statistic about China: 3,700,000 square miles, second in size only to Russia. 1.35 billion people population, second to none. 22 provinces, all with their slightly distinct cultures and practices. And with that, their version of Chinese cooking. Chinese cooking in the Philippines is mainly Cantonese style, the kind you will find in Hong Kong. But as mentioned, there are even more styles out there. So the…

This may sound like a biased opinion, given the fascination of ours for buffalo wings (we even made various recipes for it), but it really is high time that this makes a comeback. Enough with the milk tea and the ramens of the past two years (something that seemed really peculiar given how hot and humid the Philippines is). While yes they are still a staple, the Manila food scene…

This list may be a skewed, one-sided reasoning given the penchant for the writers here for the delectable concoctions, but after some thought and a quick history with hands-on cocktail making hosted by Diageo Reserve for a select few individuals at The Curator in Manila, one must wonder why must everyone learn how to make a cocktail? By Merriam-Webster’s definition, a cocktail is “an iced drink of wine or distilled…

Christmas is for family. That’s exactly how we, the KTG, wanted it celebrated.