Jeffrey's Manila Restoreview Roundup

Angels Kitchen, Connecticut Ave, Greenhills

This restaurant has an identity crisis. The restaurant's walls are bare. The back wall is painted green, but the side walls are white. There's a couple of old 70's style floral leafs, and some mirrors, but other than that, the restaurant has no attitude or message to convey to say "This is who we are".

The thin bread crisps they serve as munchies are bland and not crunchy enough. They taste like they're old and given to you just because they don't want to give you fresh ones. Granted, they serve pate with the bread crisps, but the pate itself is quite tasteless. Even ;
The Pumpkin Soup was decent. However, it was inconsistent as we ordered it twice, and it was good on the first order, but the second serving tasted bland.

I tried the Lamb Chop Curry? It was alright, nothing spectacular. Nothing to write much about. It's pretty standard. Lamb... covered with curry.

Their "Fruit Splash" is more like "Not Enough Fruits mixed with too much ice". I could barely taste anything. It was mostly watery and made me feel like a retard for drinking something with no flavor.

The cuisine is mostly home style cooking. Home style Filipino, and other regional home style dishes in general. It's mainly Filipino cuisine, but not limited to, there are some select dishes from different regional cuisines, like Malaysian, and Indian. It's more of a potpourri of dishes anyone can prepare at home.

The one thing that does redeem this restaurant is its desserts. The Banana Chocolate Cream Pie is deeeelish! Not enough chocolate though, or else the balance is perfect.
The Apple Pie covered in caramel was quite scrumptious. Incredible crust! Oh my! The one issue I had is that the pie is served cold. The waitress also told us not to get it a a la mode for the pie because it's already covered in caramel. She was wrong, customer's always right. It tasted better after we got the vanilla ice cream anyway, but the pie would have been even better served hot.

Overall rating: 4/5

Zucchini's Vinotek and Grill (Redux)

Strike, the lunch menu is exactly the same as their dinner menu.
Have I ever mentioned that their Apple/Pumpkin Cream Soup was excellent? No? IT IS EXCELLENT. Can you hear me now? IT'S EXCELLENT.
Their Tomato Soup is also top notch. This is the first time I've tried their French Onion Soup, and now I've come to the conclusion that the soup entrees are Zucchini's best offerings.

The Duck a L'orange was tres excellente. Duck is one of those dishes where you either cook it right, or it tastes like crap. I was delightfully surprised with the texture, but mostly the Rosti Potatoes that came underneath the duck pieces.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Cyma Estiatorio, 1/F Greenbelt 2 Ayala Center, Makati

Attitude! This place is overflowing with it. With the unified "Opa!" from the staff upon lighting of an order of "Flaming Cheese" and the white stucco walls and chic modern Greek hybrid murals and lighted glass, it's a very relaxing dining atmosphere.

I've forgotten what I ordered, but most of the dishes were pretty good. The salad is excellent. The one thing I didn't like was their lamb, and the Greek potatoes, they weren't sour enough. But it's not fair for them, any Greek I taste has to go up against my experience with food at The Mad Greek.

Overall rating: 4.2/5

Jeffrey's Manila RestoReview 2008: Zucchini's

Zucchini's Grill and Vinotek, Quezon City

I have to come out and say I'm a little biased about this place. My previous trips here have been nothing but beyond expectations. I can still taste their wonderful Cream of Apple and Pumpkin Soup (with roasted walnuts and apple chips) and the Lamb Lollipops with Saffron-infused Rice.
However, this actually works against them for my review today. I was expecting nothing but pure gourmet ecstasy. Sadly, I was not as impressed this time around.
For appetizers, we shared a Sea Scallops dish served multiple ways, and a Duck Breast Salad. The Sea Scallops dish had nothing memorable and was mostly mush. Even the element served with foie gras lacked flavor. The salad looked pretty appetizing but alas the duck was overcooked, and eventually renders the dish flavorless just as a salad dish with overcooked meat.

The soup never fails to impress. I tried the Roasted Mango Soup instead of the usual Apple/Pumpkin. It tasted more like Squash soup as it was more savory than sweet. I think it was probably a squash soup mixed with some mangos, and mango bits to give it a little bit of a sweet after-taste.

The Lamb Lollipops a la Provencale (with Escargot Ragout, Cauliflower Puree, and Zucchini Florentine) was pretty interesting. The taste of the lamb paired with the Provencale sauce was quite disappointing, but I was more interested in the sidings. The Escargot Ragout had a very subtle taste but a very distinct presentation, it was mixed light and airy, similar to a garlic mash. The Zucchini Florentine was some spinach contained in a section of zucchini, covered with some melted cheese. Disappointed by the taste, but presentation is still wonderful.

Dessert? I can't really remember if Zucchini's has good desserts or not. I ordered the "Frozen Coconut Souffle". I've never heard of such a thing.... souffle, that's frozen? (Okay, maybe it's because I'm just not an experienced gourmet.) Plating, presentation, and originality are all off the charts. This was some crazy concoction from the chef's demented psyche. The base of the dish was thin slices of pineapples caramelized with sugar and created little saucers of pineapples. On top of that in the center was some type of frozen coconut custard, similar to panna cotta, accented with a cherry on top. This was more a work of art than food. Visually impressive, but hard to eat. The custard was alright, but the pineapples were very hard to cut, and definitely way too sweet.

Overall rating: 4.5/5