Sunday Brunch at the Peninsula in Makati

Sometimes you have to treat yourself to something very special, something like a Sunday Brunch at The Peninsula in Makati, Manila. There are of course many great places to have a Brunch, but we thought to start with the Peninsula.

The hotel is already impressive but what impressed me most was that when we drove into the garage, the security came immediately as our car was too high, they guided us in a special parking slot that we could after our Brunch drive out again the same way......which we did and they made sure nobody would drive down while we are on the "wrong" road......now that is service and friendliness, the Brunch already started really good.

We were a little early so had time to browse through hotel, shopping is not great and sort of done like an after thought.....but there is a small pastry shop with home baked goods, yummy that is for sure.

While browsing we walked into the most amazing cupcake trolley and they had these little lollipops....chocolate pralines on stick, just amazing

The buffet is huge, the choice is amazing. It actually spreads over 2 restaurants, one having the more traditional Asian and Filipino dishes and the other the more continental, international dishes

There are plenty of action station, the chefs are busy at work, but at the same time looking well after the guests. They still have time to explain the food and chat to the guests.

The Pizza Station is another highlight, there is not just the normal Pizza but a sweet one as well and it looked absolutely delicious

Eating Brunch is a long and slow affair. You don't go there to have a quick bite to eat, no; you want to take your time and sample a bit of everything. I started with some continental cold meats, Oysters and smoked Salmon, all was of top quality, the cold meat on the photo is Bresaula, one of my absolute favorites!!!! It comes from the Valtellina region and is air dried beef.

Then I went on to try the Sashimi. There is a swell Sushi, but for me the rice fills my tummy too fast, so I skipped the Sushi. Sashimi was delicious with really fresh Tuna and Salmon

Then a main course, roast Prime Rib was so juicy and tender and a little Pork Belly, nice and crispy.

Then a bit of Tempura, Calamari were tender and overall great and crispy

No meal is complete with some cheese. I love cheese but have to say that the cheese selection was a bit disappointing. Never mind, it was still nice and the Croissant was fantastic. I love a good Croissant with a bit Brie

And then of course the desserts. I do have a sweet tooth and must say that I could have gone wild and have a lot more, but after all the great food I already had, I think I would have popped

There was still a little space, so I did go for seconds.....with a lovely cup of coffee, the Berry Panna Cotta was super light and delicious

So overall it was amazing. If you go, take the Champagne Brunch package, then you can wash down the delicacies with Moet et Chandon, something that is hard to beat. 

Its more fun in the Philippines: Mount Mayon

The second part of my miniseries to Mount Mayon which is the most iconic volcano in Philippines. Mt. Mayon is one of the most perfect shaped cone volcanoes in the world and yes it is still very active even so when we were there it was not just very quiet, but totally hidden away in the clouds.

The road to Mt. Mayon from us is a very long one, not just in Kilometers, but the roads are not the best while we went, there is a lot of building and upgrading being done at the moment so one has to stop often at red light. On a positive note, the scenery between Lucena and Naga is absolutely beautiful, we tremendously enjoyed the drive. Just after Lucena the road has a diversion with a beautiful curved road, take that one, it is a lot of fun driving through it I felt like being in the Swiss Alps driving up a pass road.

Then there is the traffic. It is actually better driving the good 500 km during the day as at night the visibility is not great and there are plenty of trucks and buses who seem to prefer driving at night. During the day there are of course plenty of jeepneys and tricycles

We stayed over in a town called Naga, there is not much I can tell you about this town, we only arrived late around 9 PM and looked up a hotel in Tripadvisor…….which was a bad choice. The room was OK but breakfast was terrible and the restaurant full of cockroaches, we just left as quickly as we could. No I won’t tell you the name of the hotel but of course I wrote something in Tripadvisor….

So, let me come to the volcano, the one, the famous one…that we actually didn't see because of the clouds. The best photo opportunities are from the Cagsawa Ruins. Cagsawa is a town that was founded by the Spanish in 1587 and was totally buried by an eruption on February 1, 1814. Only in the 1930ties the town was excavated and a made into a tourist attraction. Even today Mt. Mayon is very active and tourists are advised not to go hiking without a guide. Only 2 month ago some German tourists lost their life while hiking and walking into a dangerous area with deadly gases

If one imagines a sunny day, I have to admit, it would be absolutely stunning, and there are plenty of souvenir stands where one can buy little memorabilia and food. The volcano is not far away from Legazpi, the next major town, so Legazpi is actually the best point to stay over. We stayed there for one night. Unfortunately the mountain was still covered the next day so we have no choice but come back here in the future again

There is still more to explore here but more about that in my next blog.

Magnum yourself

Manila has its own Magnum Ice Cream shop where you can make your own Magnum. This is soooo cool, an individual Magnum. There are shops as well in Hamburg, Paris and Istanbul, but to have one here in Manila is just absolutely amazing. The location is on the 5th floor in Aura Shopping Mall, one of the hip shopping malls in and around Manila. 

I always had a bit of a fetish for Magnum, I love the rich flavor of the ice cream and the lovely chocolate around, but to make your own flavor is just incredible. We had so much fun making our own flavor of Magnum, our own personalized Magnum.

You can choose from 2 ice cream flavors which is chocolate or vanilla, then from 18 toppings and 3 different dipping chocolates so you can make your own piece of art.

We took 2 extremes, one I call death by chocolate, it was with chocolate ice cream, milk chocolate dipping and then all sorts of chocolate toppings, the other one was the sweet delight, vanilla ice cream with a caramel chocolate dipping. The toppings were white crunchy chocolate pearls, mini marshmallows and freeze-dried raspberries which just looked so lovely and gave a bit of acidity to the extremely sweet concoction

There are some strange toppings available like broken chips and broken pretzels.....strange?? Yes but it actually goes well. The saltiness brings out the chocolate flavor even better so even so it sounds strange, it goes well with chocolate

Magnum Manila offers more than just Magnums, one can actually eat there with savory and sweet plated desserts available. The savory menu includes about everything from sexy crostini to pasta and salads all the way to the roasted Rib eye 

Cheese Room at Soneva Fushi

I think it is time to brag a bit again. It has been a while since I last wrote about the resort I am working for as Executive Chef. This time I like to show you some photos of our cheese and cured meats room.

Like the chocolate room, the cheese room is always open and mostly it is included in the room price. Mostly meaning during breakfast and lunch you can go wild, but if you feel like a nibble some artisan cheeses and cured meats during dinner or late afternoon, then we charge a small fee.

I spend a lot of time with the sourcing of these cheeses and meats. We have one main supplier, called Vanilla Venture where we buy most of our products from, but from time to time I can find something else that is special and I will put it in the Deli Room.

From time to time we have as well the owner of Vanilla Venture coming out here to do some training with the chefs. This is really important as most of the cheeses are really special. They are made in small batches, many times from raw milk. One of my favorite cheeses is the Tomme that is made from Goats milk, something really special.

The same is for the cured meats. We don't just have Parma Ham, no, we have different types of Pata Negra, the famous Spanish ham, we have the Ham from Bayonne, one of the best available, everything is local, the meat, the herbs and even the salt for curing comes from the River that is in that region.

Of course we have Asagio Speck from South Tyrol, a cured ham that is smoked as well for a wonderful intense flavor. We have about 5 types of salami, from Italy and Spain, I could not tell you which one is the best, they all taste fantastic

We have the possibility that you cut your own meat or we have a couple of plates of pre-cut delicacies. One of them I just have to mention is the Truffled Mortadella....it is just so sexy, the smell of the truffles, the finesse of the meat, all just too good to eat!

Then of course there are all the condiments, the olives which we marinate ourselves, the Kumquat jam, the Membrillo, a Spanish quince pate and of course the freshly baked bread. Now I am sure you can imagine why I have a daily quality control here in the Deli Room, just have to make sure all the meat and cheese is top!

I think I can say that the chocolate and the cheese room are something absolutely unique here in Maldives. I have not heard about any hotel that has something similar. This is why Soneva Fushi is well known for the food, it is not just the cooking, but as well the special offering we have here for our guests.

Restaurant Review, Pepper Lunch in Aura Mall, Manila

This is the first time we went to the brand new SM Aura Mall in Manila......and wow, how fancy it all is. A total contrast to Market Market which is less than 5 minutes walk, basically opposite Aura Mall. The Mall is not yet fully opened, there are quite a few shops still not ready, but overall it is a very nice Mall, loads of space, everything is still shiny and polished, so definitely worth a try

There is a food court on the top level, next to the movies and there is a nice choice of food stalls, this time we wanted to try out Pepper Lunch, simply because the line in front of the restaurant was the longest one of all food outlet and I always like to go there where all the people go, it must be good. And good it was indeed. I was amazed at the simplicity of the concept, you choose your dish and then the chef just prepares it quickly on a sizzling hot metal plate, WOW.

The restaurant is a fairly new chain restaurant and there are branches popping up everywhere in Manila, but this is special, you see what they do on the plate. The choice in Aura Mall is a bit small, if you want to have a wider variety you need to go to Rockwell, but beware, the prices there are quite a bit higher.....location and rent I guess.

We had the Pepper Beef and the Teriyaki Beef, both were extremely nice and hot, yes of course, it is a sizzling plate and the food is piping hot. Be careful when you eat it or when you get it from the till as I was full of little sauce splatters over my shirt as I did not think about the food sizzling right in front of me, so to take precautions, even if a little late I used the serviette to protect me, hehehe, still plenty off little spots!

The idea is actually that you mix everything together, there is a pepper butter in the rice, so with mixing it it melts beautifully and flavors the rice. As the restaurant name gives it already away, it is peppery, so if you don't like black pepper, than this restaurant is nothing for you....we loved it.

Filipino Restaurant and Shop in Zurich

How exciting, I found out that there is a Filipino Restaurant and Shop in Zurich. Missing the food I just had to go and check it out. So off I went with my dad who never had tasted Filipino Cuisine.

The day is slightly overcast, actually just perfect to go to Zurich by train and walk around a bit. It has been a while since I was here last time, so of course I was quite excited. We took the train to the main station, then did a couple of things before taking a tram to the restaurant and shop. It is not in the main center, but a little away and one has to take the tram. The good thing is that it is directly at the tram station, one cannot miss it.

The name is Golden Asian Restaurant and shop and is straight at the tram station Limmatstrasse 199, exit Quellen Strasse. One cannot miss it.

The restaurant is small but clean and the menu was a bit reduced when we came, I think there is not too much business at the moment, but I can imagine that there is more happening on the weekends in the evening when everybody goes there for Karaoke

We had Chicken Adobo which was very nice and of course we had a San Miguel with it, can't drink local beer with the food, it has to be authentic. My dad liked it very much, the first time he had it and it was a new experience as the flavors of the Filipino Cuisine is unique. With the Adobo we had of course rice and spinach that was cooked in coconut milk and there was a little pork belly in it, this was just absolutely stunning and I will try that one out soon.

Of course I had to buy something as well, the store was not as full as on the website, but most importantly I got some Tocino Powder, so I am cooking Tocino before leaving Switzerland which is soon.......

As normal for any Filipino restaurant all over the world, and I have seen a couple on my travels on ships, one can as well do money transfers back to Philippines, this is something that is very important and of course one gets the cheapest phone cards to call the loved ones all over the world.

I have the link for the restaurant, so any Filipino in Zurich or coming to Zurich, pop in and say hello, have a little piece of home

http://www.goldenasian.ch/index.htm

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everybody

I hope you all have a fantastic time and get this super maximum chocolate load we all don't really need but so much like. There is nothing nicer that eating all the chocolate bunnies, sugar coated eggs, marshmallow eggs and all the other sweets, then feel sick and guilty......but having enjoyed every bite!

Here at the hotel it is not all about the chocolate eating, no, it is actually a super busy day and everybody is running around like....Easter Bunnies, trying to get everything ready on time.

We are serving a big Easter Brunch and we are fully booked since weeks. You know how it is, everything is  fully booked, the waiting list goes on and on......and everybody comes, never mind if they have booked or not. We are ready for the big storm of guest, the battle Royal at the buffet, the trying to re-fill faster than the guest eat....yes it doesn't work all the times.

The array is actually quite big, you come in and get given a glass of Champagne....and there are Oysters as well, of course Champagne and Oysters belong together......and then it starts, there are lovely salads, cold meat platters with Parma ham, poached lobster and Norwegian Salmon, there is a Sushi station for the lovers of raw fish and then we have all the main courses from the buffet, the action station with fresh mussels, a carving station with lamb, chicken and rib eye.......going out side for the BBQ, grilled a la minute for our guests and then of course there is the desserts........the center piece of our Easter buffet.

As usual there is a slow start on the buffet, but after about one and a half hour we were hit by the wave......just refilling as fast as possible, trying to get through the people queuing for the food. Pool is shouting that they need help, they just got swamped with short orders.....everything is full, our waiters are on roller skates, but they can hardly get all the orders in time to the guests, one of our roller skaters at the pool is actually int eh Ghana National Skating team.....so he is fast believe me. No worry, I sent another chef outside and a stewarding to keep everything clean.

It is pumping now, for good 2 hours it doesn't sop, the life music is loud, the guests have a good time, the restaurant looks like an ant hill with the ants crawling all over the buffet. Short orders in the kitchen are on the pass, room service, bar and lobby is pretty hectic.....not every one wants to sit in the Restaurant.

4 PM........it is calming down, we will still have guests till nearly 5 PM, here everybody eats late, that is why the brunch only starts at 12

 

6 PM........everything is set for dinner, all is calm again, we are ready to serve the next meal. Banqueting is ready too, we have a wedding for 200, lucky it is buffet, so it is a bit easier

 

10 PM......Quiet evening, 70 a la carte, the day was good, the banquet is on going, but the food part is finished, another exciting day here in Accra comes to an end

Exploring Accra: The Deli @ the Moevenpick

No, it is not a restaurant revue, not at all. It would be silly to write a restaurant revue about the restaurant we just opened, no, no. We leave that to others

 

So yes, I am here now since good eight month and had a fabulous time at the Moevenpick. We changed a lot, implemented a lot, are doing new things all the time, but the one major task I had this year was the opening of our Deli Shop.

We had many meetings, brain storming sessions. then had trials and we had an opening date.....which of course passed, then a new date.....which passed and then, one beautiful morning in the GM briefing we got the news. The plans had arrived and the containers with all the furniture and everything else was on the way....together with a new opening date.

Never less, that opening date still passed, but the building was already so far that we know quite exactly when to open......which was today!

It feels strange, after 8 month knowing what we wanted to do, we are actually doing it.....not exactly the way we planned, but we are pretty proud that it is working. I am proud, it is working well from day one and will get better every day.

Since one week I actually stay in the hotel as I start just before 6AM to make sure everything is going over to the Deli and is good, I help with preparation, with the set up, change a bit here and there, write new recipes as we see the original ones are not working as we want it and then of course still run the kitchen. Then at night around 10 PM I make sure everything is getting packed away, transfers are written and nothing is wasted.

The past nearly 3 weeks were really intensive. We employed new staff and started the training, most of the staff we employed because of their personality, not knowledge of sering. We wanted the right Vibe.....we got it and the knowledge is so much better than at the beginning, it is great to see the team in The Deli

So what is on offer?

There are of course the sandwiches, especially the Panini. Of course I am byist, but I have to tell you that there are no nice Panini in Accra except here. And that does not come from me, but from several guests I have chatted to today. You can have about anything on it, Parma Ham, Smoked Salmon, Ham and Cheese, Curried Chicken Salad, Tuna Mayonnaise, anything goes. So either you have a panini or a freshly baked baguette.

The we serve sushi, we got 6 individual flavors and then they go as well as a combo, very nice to have them on a Friday night before going out.

The next station is Pasta and Asian soups. You choose from Penne and Spaghetti and then have a choice of 5 Sauces. The portion is nice and big, so even the big eaters are catered for. Asian soups are prepared a la minute and you say what you want inside. Egg noodles, rice noodles, vegetables, beef or chicken

What we see is a total runner is the little lunch buffet we have with the local food. Jolof Rice, Plain Rice, and daily changing specialities like goat light soup, tilapia light soup, Agushi Stew and of course for Sunday we have Ebunuebunu with Fufu......want some recipes???? OK, they will come soon

We have as well salads, freshly squeezed orange and pineapple juice, all sorts of drinks from juices, beer, wine and even bubbly. Yes, why not indulging in some sushi and smoked salmon sandwiches and having a glass of bubbly, it comes in half bottles, so perfect for a little tete a tete.... you can even sit outside on the terrace and enjoy the evening breeze

Of course we have a wide range of pastries, but what I want to mention is the Macaroons.......homemade and lovely, I have some of them every day.....no you will not see a photo of me enjoying them and see what happens to my belly, hehehehe

Last but not least our Ice Cream. We import our own Moevenpick Ice Cream, 7 flavors and yes, they are lovely, again, there is nothing that comes close to this flavor in...no not just Accra, but the whole of West Africa. OK, I am exaggerating, but I just love Moevenpick Ice Cream. I grew up with it, love it and eat it whenever I can

I hope you like the photos and when you are in Accra, pop in and say hello. It is a great place to chill. Maybe even hop in the pool, have a great afternoon, chill out and relax.