Discovering the wonders of Canadian wines

"Canada boasts of high-quality grapes, excellent growing conditions, and investments in world-class wineries that have contributed to the growing success of Canadian wines both at home and abroad," said Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder, in his opening remarks during the wine cocktail reception he hosted for food media and representatives from the beverage industry last night.

Featuring a selection of premium Canadian wines at the Makati Shangri-la Sage restaurant and bar, he added that "as we bring Canadian wines closer to the Philippines, we are proud that Canada is garnering well-deserved attention as a wine producing country." The reception gave guests exclusive access to a selection of red and white wines.

"Wine consumption in the Philippines has shown reasonable growth over the past years. From red to white to sparkling to ice, Canada offers premium wine products that can certainly address the Filipinos' growing appreciation for wine," Ambassador Reeder added.

The wine producing regions of Canada enjoy an ideal climate for the slow maturing of grapes which results in the right balance of acidity and sweetness. They said that ninety-seven percent of the Canadian wines are produced in Ontario and British Columbia. And consumers can be confident of the quality and authenticity of the origin through the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), which is a government-sanctioned regulatory system.

While the bottles are not yet available in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia are already enjoying the availability of Canadian wine. It is expected though that the availability of these wines in the Philippines is in the not too distant future.

Tiffany in Korea: Gobong Samgyetang 고봉삼계탕

Tiffany in Korea: Gobong Samgyetang

Amidst finals month, field work in Nigeria, job-hunting, and various reports for different stuff, I found the time (indulged) to come to Korea to attend my friend's wedding. I also started writing a more personal (random) blog with friends I met in Japan. 

It's only our second day here and already I feel right at home. After arriving at the airport, we headed for information to ask about where to get wifi. It's around 400 PHP a day to rent one and we felt that it would be very convenient (and affordable) to be connected (GOOGLE MAPS YES). 

We headed to Hotel President where I'm sharing a room with my Chinese friend, Xiao Xiao. It was perfect having her with us because apparently, so many Chinese work in Korea and everywhere we've been, she's our point person speaking to the different people (wifi person etc) in Chinese. She was also the only one who looked up good places to go to so when she suggested Gobong Samgyetang for dinner, we all just said LET'S GO! 

The restaurant is near exit 5 of Euljiro Station. Just go to the direction of Starbucks, turn left, see Fridays and it's by your right side.

Samgyetang (Php 590)

They are known for their samgyetang, a soup dish with a whole chicken stuffed with rice. It has different healthy herbs like ginseng. When we told Yuri, our Korean friend, the next day about having samgyetang, she also informed us that it's very nutritious and high in calories (good calories, yay?).

Just ordering samgyetang should be enough for you. We also ordered chijimi, which I thought wasn't good at all and sort of regretted ordering.

Gobong Samgyetang 고봉삼계탕

199-13 Euljiro 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul

Therese in the Philippines: Torch Restaurant

I know that Torch has been open for quite a few years now, but I was only able to try it during one of my visits back home last year.

It's hard to see the sign if you're coming from the other side

There's a smiley face on the wasabi! So cute!

White Truffle Sausage Panizza | 429.95 PhP
    Grilled Italian sausages drizzled with white truffle oil on a fresh, oven-baked panizza topped with mozzarella cheese

Cream Cheese Salmon Roll | 339.95 PhP
    Deep-fried crispy sushi roll filled with salmon and cream cheese, topped with bonito flakes and served with unagi sauce and Japanese mayonnaise

Lychee shake | PhP

Chicken Cannelloni | 494.95 PhP
    Golden fry cannelloni stuffed with chicken and mozzarella poured with arrabbiata alfredo sauce

Salpicao Medallion | 479.95 PhP
    Medallions of Certified Angus Beef, wrapped with bacon and served with garlic parsley rice and sauteed French beans

Torch's Signature Roll | 399.95 PhP
    Sushi roll filled with soft-shell crab, ebi tempura, unary, tamago, and Japanese cucumber, topped with fresh wakame seaweed, kani and ripe mangoes

Steak Fondue | 879.95 PhP
    Melt-in-your-mouth Ribeye Meltique Beef, done your way. Comes with five different sauces from five different countries

Steak Fondue | 879.95 PhP
    Melt-in-your-mouth Ribeye Meltique Beef, done your way. Comes with five different sauces from five different countries

Bread Pudding | 149.95 PhP

Panna Cotta with Fresh Fruits | 179.95 PhP

New York Cheesecake

We loved the Salpicao Medallion because the meat was soft and it was done just right. We also loved the Steak Fondue because the beef really melts in your mouth. The fondue was a new and interesting way to eat food. I say that because we normally don't think of fondue and steak together, and it's a fun way to bond with your friends. I just wish there was more meat. Heehee. For dessert, the New York Cheesecake wasn't on the menu but we saw it on the display shelf so we ordered a slice. I wasn't able to take note of the amount though. It was suuper good that we even brought home another slice to eat the next day. I love how they also serve it with blueberry so that if you're also into blueberry cheesecake, just slather (can I say that?) that on top and voila, instant blueberry cheesecake!

Address: 63 Connecticut St. Greenhills, San Juan, 1208
Operating Hours: Mon-Tues: 7:00-0:00, Wed-Sat: 7:00-3:00, Sun: 7:00-0:00
Contact Number: (02)-477-3771
Facebook page: Torch Restaurant

Exploring Shangri-la's East Wing: Epicurious & Foodless Plate: Foodstagramming for a Cause.

If you haven't dropped by Shangri-la Plaza's new wing yet, you're missing out on a lot of interesting eats. I've only eaten at Kettle, Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen, and Epicurious but I'm itching to try Green Pastures, Spaetzle and Chops. Soon.

But let's talk about Epicurious, a deli-restaurant hybrid.

You can pick and choose from their selection of breads, cold cuts, cheeses, marinated meats, etc... and have them serve the food to you. Apart from the above, they also stock various kitchenware, cooking ingredients, etc. Their engaging staff helped us pick out some items for our dinner. One of them suggested frying the cold cuts which isn't normally done, but it turned out great!

Clockwise from top: Chorizo Pamplona Spicy, Chorizo Pamplona Spicy (Fried), Jamon Serrano, Jamon Serrano (Fried), Manchego Cheese. Not in photo, Veramonte Riserva Merlot and Sourdough Bread. (P1,950)

Our appetizer was that beautiful platter above accompanied by a Merlot and some bread. The fried cold cuts were sooooo good, definitely a unique take on what you can do with deli meats. (Fry 'em with egg and garlic rice for a stepped up silog.) The spicy chorizo particularly was a winner.

Clockwise from top: Rib-Eye Steak (P1.75 per gram), Rosemary Chicken (P.6 per gram), and Kansas Pork Belly (P.65 per gram). Not in photo Chicken Schnitzel (P.6 per gram).

The mains were a bit disappointing as their plating was rather unceremonious --whatever meat you had them cook along with a serving of rice. No garnishes to make the dish look visually appealing. The "steak rice" (P75 per order) was also pretty disappointing: it's basically just butter, Worcestershire sauce and corn. As for the meats, we had mixed feelings in our table but altogether the food wasn't bad considering the reasonable pricing!

Overall, Epicurious still needs to work out some kinks but has great potential. They've just opened after all. It's definitely worth a visit after a month or two.

Props: Wonderful ambiance, friendly staff, decent selection of cold cuts and cheeses.
Slops: Incomplete pricing, sparse plating of "mains".

EPICURIOUS
East Wing, Lower Ground Level.
Shangri-la Plaza.
02-5707741
epicuriousmanila@gmail.com

I also wanted to take the time to share this advocacy that I support - Love Food Don't Waste from Healthy Options! Did you know that Metro Manila wastes up to 2,000 tons of food daily. That's crazy considering the people who could have benefited from all that food! Let's do our part in making sure the food we buy/order gets consumed in full.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "I grew up in a household where we had finish our meals." or "We always eat our leftovers." I'm like that too. That's why Healthy Options is making it easy for us to help reduce food wastage through their Foodless Plate initiative. Basically, just take a photo of an empty plate after your meal, include the #foodlessplate hashtag in your post, tag Healthy Options and post to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram; and Healthy Options will make a donation to Hands on Manila's Eat to Feed program. (Full instructions in below infographic)

 

My #foodlessplate from EPICURIOUS

For more information on how you or your household can help reduce food waste visit www.healthyoptions.com.ph or like them on Facebook.

Until next time,
Ozy