Phoenix Court Bellevue Manila

Phoenix Court
2/F Tower Wing - The Bellevue Manila
North Bridgeway, Filinvest Corporate City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City
+63 (02)771-8181 local 2211



For dinner during our visit at the Bellevue Manila, sister and I headed to the Phoenix Court for some Chinese dining. Opened last May 26, 2012, the Phoenix Court is the newest dining hotspot that boasts a spacious and cozy area.  Aside from the big dining area, they also have four private rooms that can seat up to 25 persons.



The Phoenix Court do have an extensive menu that offers a lot of variation including Cantonese and Szechuan dishes. Malaysian born chef Cheong Kwan Loong is the restaurant's executive chef, who has had  a lot of experiences in Chinese cuisine.



The table set up was very simple, and I personally liked that there's no lazy susan (I am just not a big fan of it). Anyway, there was this plate of peanuts on the table for guests to munch on while waiting for the food to arrive. Sister didn't like it, but I did - it's not the typical boiled peanuts, there was something used to season it and it was interestingly good.



Poached Hainanese Hong Kong Chicken. Thinking what to eat was difficult because there was just a lot to choose from. Our family's a big fan of the Hainanese Chicken, so when the waiter asked us to choose something from the appetizers, we quickly agreed to get this. This was the half serving (whole serving is available, too), and we loved it so much, my sister and ate it all! Of the three dips, I love the herbed ginger the most.



Yang Chow Fried Rice. Sister wanted to eat rice for dinner, so we went for this. The rice was actually a meal in itself, but despite the many flavors in the rice, it was still nice to eat together with any of the dishes we ordered.



Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style. Believe it or not, I still haven't really tasted duck (apart from this spoonful of minced duck rice bro had years ago), so when the waiter asked me what else would we like to eat, I told him I might go for duck as well. Duck meat sure tasted different than chicken, and while I still love chicken more, sister and I did love this choice. The meat was tender, the skin still had a little crisp, and the sauce was just fine.



Sauteed Fresh Scallops with Asparagus. I may be a little off track from my weight loss program, but even if I wanted to taste a lot of dishes, ordering two was already enough for me as I knew my sister and I couldn't eat that much. However, with two meat dishes, I wanted to taste a little different, so I went for this as I miss eating scallops and I want to have a bit of vegetables. I was surprised at the size of the scallops - the other Chinese restaurants we went to didn't serve scallops this big. It was a very simple dish, but it was good as well. The scallops can be overwhelming, so my sister only were able to eat 2 each... but I did eat a lot of the asparagus because it was so crunchy!



Green Mango Shake | Grape Yogurt Smoothie. My favorite watermelon shake is available, but for this dinner I went for my next favorite - green mango shake. I knew the meat dishes would be rich, having something tangy might help clean the palate. Grapes aren't our first choice for fruit drinks, but the yogurt was the thing that caught my sister's attention.



Mango Sago. Tummies full, we were asked if we wanted to have desserts. I was a bit apprehensive if I'd go for it or not as I am not really into Chinese style desserts, but the server suggested we try this. Sister had the first slurp (we had separate bowls, by the way) and her eyes went big. I asked her if it was good and she told me it was delicious, but I might not like it because she knows I am not into ripe mangoes. It made me a bit interested hearing her comment and seeing her reaction to it, and when I tasted it, it was indeed awesome! It was creamy, it was full of mango goodness as if it was melted ice cream with sago! It was a wee bit sweet, but overall it was something I hope I can re-create at home.



Butchi. Our very friendly server really wanted us to taste their butchi and gave us a piece each. It sure was different from the other kinds I tasted - this one had a black colored filling compared to the light brown fillings.

This dinner was truly something I'd cherish. It was a little bittersweet as I wasn't able to share it with mom and brother... but sharing this with my sister made me happy. Our tummies were really full after eating, and the leftovers they offered to wrap, which I gladly accepted so I can take it to mom and brother.

This month - June 2012 - the Phoenix Court is having their Prawn and Crab Special. Among the choices are King Tiger Prawns  baked with Chinese mayonnaise or garlic butter, Live male crabs cooked with Singaporean Chili Sauce, as well as Crab Shell stuffed with crab meat and butter mushroom and cream.

Now that is something I hope to taste - I just love prawns!

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Jovial Foods Fig Fruit Cookies Review

I was first introduced to Jovial Foods Gluten Free line of products though Azure Standard.  Ordering though Azure is how I saved myself from early grey hair and death from excess worry (LOL!!!).  Through Azure I do not have to worry about the the lady who thinks, "I-got-here-first-so-I-can-buy-all-the-gluten-free-foods" available for the whole month at our ONLY gluten free product store for 50 miles.  Azure is ordered online once a month and is delivered via tractor trailer at a specified "drop".  For me the drop is just a stones throw down the road.

I have not had a good fig newton type cookie since I was young.  Fig Newtons are what I ate for breakfast EVERY MORNING in high school along with a cup of tea.  Taking the first bite of this cookie took me right back there.  They are so heavenly too.  Anyone would enjoy these cookies, not just gluten free folks. As an added bonus, they are also organic.

So there you have it, the gluten free replacement for Fig Newtons.  Give them a try!  If you live local to me, just let me know and I will bring you over some. 

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The greatest Paleo Banana Bread EVER!

The best banana bread that ever was, Paleo or otherwise!

Okay so you are wondering what the heavenly dessert bread is that my husband packs for his lunch.  Isn't he on a diet?  How did he loose his 9 months pregnant belly anyway.  Some diet?  He tells you of all the CRAZY restrictions of this "paleo" thing and your response is, "I can not diet like that, look at all the good stuff you have to give up".  What will I eat if I want something sweet? Right then he gives you some of this heavenly bread and tells you its not all that bad. You think, "OMG thats allowed on the diet?"  Where can I find that recipe.   Well Im fixin' to tell you that right now.  ;-)

First thing I do is set a banana aside wrapped in a paper bag to over ripen.  We are looking for extremely ripe and soft here.  This takes a few days or longer if you have kids that "find it" and eat it anyway.  Bananas do not last long AT ALL at my house so this part is the trickiest of the whole recipe. The recipe will not turn out quite as nice with regular bananas. I did figure out that if you have one really good banana the other two do not have to be extremely ripe (see kids fining bananas and eating them comment above).  3 overripe bananas is ideal though.  They need to be (at a minimum) just ripe enough to for your food processor or blender to liquify your bananas until they are smooth and without chunks.   Smell the bananas when you puree them, aren't they so sweet?  So sweet in fact that you really don't need more than the minimal amount of sweetener this recipe suggests.  Just trust me on this one okay?

First things first.....I am not the owner of this recipe! Elana is over at Elana's Pantry.  Here is the the link to the brilliant lady who created it.  Usually I do an extensive search and find very similar duplicates to any recipe I try and link them beneath the recipe.  Not this time, this recipe and combination of ingredients is truly unique and she should be commended for her culinary talents.  

Elana's Pantry Paleo Banana Bread

Slightly adapted to Elana's version over at ElanasPantry.com.

Ingredients:

3 VERY RIPE Bananas
3 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Raw Honey (regular will do if you cant get raw)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 cups Almond Flour (I am using Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda


I do make a few changes from the suggested products the recipe owner uses because of local availability. I am outlining below the changes I made and why.  The amounts I used are still the same as the original recipe.   First Elana only suggests you use Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour.

Almond flour is not to be confused with almond meal, which contains whole, ground almonds that still have the skin on them. Almond meal, or almond flour that is not blanched, will not work for the almond flour recipes on this site. 

Change #1 ~ Almond Flour
Life as a gluten free mommy living so far from the city means you must special order certain products.  But what if you want to give this recipe a try with the items you have on hand?   My mission is to help you create recipes with ingredients you can find locally so I conducted a little experiment just for you!
:-)

I tried this recipe with blanched almond flour I made myself, with Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour that can be found in our local supermarket as well as the Honeyville Almond Flour I special ordered. I wanted to see if the statement above is true.  Honeyville made the finest flour and therefore the closest to regular flour products. The differences I experienced was that the Bob's Red Mill and home made Almond Meal does tend to stay more moist in the middle.  It takes a little watchful eye on the home made and store bought almond meal but it can be done.  I simply baked it for the longer suggested time frame.  If the part of the world you live in is challenged by humidity than my recommendation is to lower the heat in the oven and cook for slightly longer.  You could also pulse your almond meal in a blender for a minute ~ careful not to over do it!

Note: This Almond Flour experiment was only for the Dessert Breads and not any other product such as Cookies or cakes.

Change #2 ~ The Oil/Fat
The second thing I changed was the type of Oil she suggested. Olive Oil, while an approved paleo oil, is not very popular to cook with in the Paleo world. Olive oil, however, is fine with me.  I exclusively use Olive Oil at my house so I replaced the vegan Palm Oil Shortening with Olive Oil.  It works just fine with this replacement.

Change #3 ~ The Salt
I did not use Celtic Sea Salt, just your regular old Walmart no frills variety white box salt. Elana says Celtic not as strong so your dish may be salty.  I personally do not find it salty with converting with regular salt but I halved the salt she calls for anyway.  As Elana suggests, feel free to suite your taste.

That's it.  So head on over to Elana's Pantry and check out her other awesome Paleo Diet recipes!  Free free to ask questions if you have problems.

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Crunchy Refrigerator Dill Pickle Spears Recipe

I never made pickles before so why now in the midst of all the summer madness?  The excess cucumber harvest forces me to explore new territory.  After all the hard work you put into your garden, you really hate to waste such a wonderful harvest blessing and must do SOMETHING with all this abundance.  For several weeks we were having cucumbers in our green salad, making cucumber dishes like cucumber noodles and cucumber salad made entirely of cucumbers. My dear sweet hubby started giving me pickle suggestions. Okay so pickles......not coming from a family who put up the harvest I had to re-invent the wheel with this.  I started to explore the backs of the pickle jar to see what was in pickles to make my own.

Just wait until you boil up the pickling brine.  The aroma is absolutely heavenly and not at all over powering.  The brine smells just like you would expect pickles to smell like.  I am not overpowering this recipe with too many pickling spices. I want to just keeping it simple.  Lots of recipes on the web add mustard seed and a pinch of fire like cayenne pepper.  The taste I am going for is more of a simple refrigerator pickle.  The kind you find in the refrigerator section of your supermarket.  The kind your KIDS will eat.

6 cups of Water
1/4 cup Salt (Kosher)
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 pounds Cucumbers (about 5 small)
8 large Garlic Cloves, whacked open with a knife
      (minced could also be used)
4 teaspoons of dried Dill Weed
8 whole Black Peppercorns

• Clean the glass jar and lid thoroughly in your dishwasher on Sanitary Cycle or wash with hot soapy water, dry and boil in a large pot on stove top.
• Combine the water, salt and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Remove from heat and add Garlic, Dill and Peppercorns.  
• Allow brine to cool to room temperature. 
• Wash the cucumbers well with vegetable brush.  Slice into halfs, then quarters and slice in half lengthwise.  
• Pack the cucumbers and the remaining ingredients in a 2-quart (half gallon) glass jar and pour brine over them, making sure to cover the cucumbers completely with liquid. 
• Store, covered in the the refrigerator. 
• The pickles will be ready in at least 7 days, but its best you wait longer.
• Pickles keep in the refrigerated for several months.

Check out these other great recipes on the Web:

McCormick Refrigerator Dill Pickle Slices

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Napoli Ristorante Pasta Putanesca

Usually on a Friday night, my mom would watch movies and eat out with friends at work. Last Friday, they went to watch Kimmy Dora and when she got home, she asked me if I wanted to eat some "mid-night" (at it was around 9pm) snacks. I told her I will just reheat it for breakfast tomorrow.


Mom took home leftovers of their Pasta Putanesca, which they had at Napoli Ristorante (SM Fairview). The leftover wasn't that much, but it was good enough for me to have a hearty breakfast as my sister isn't into this type of pasta.

I am slowly loving the taste of black olives. I love that it's tangy yet salty. Actually, this pasta dish I loved because it was flavorful. The tomatoes cut the saltiness of the olives, and the mushrooms felt like I was eating meat.

Thanks for the take home, mom.

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Menu Plan Monday: Week of June 18th 2012

I was at cub scout camp all last week.  There was a new director this year and she did an incredible job.  In my humble opinion, it was the best year yet.  My son is just entering Webelo's 1 and he already earned 5 pins and re-earned lots of the loops that are required as a Webelo's.  His goal is to be a Super Achiever and is well on his way now thanks to camp.  My daughter even went with us, the gracious director allowed her to be a Tiger in the Tiger cub den, man was she excited!!!   We got lots of exercise and had a blast.  Being Paleo and allergic to wheat while at camp was quite a challenge but nuts, fresh baked meat sliced in my lunchmeat slicer and fresh fruit and vegetables saved the day.  At first I thought we would starve to death. I still have my old eating mindset with me where all that physical activity would mean I needed more food.  That was really not true, I could go a long time on a protein and veggie breakfast and a hand full of almonds mid morning. My kids and I ate a plate of sauteed eggs and veggies for breakfast (equal portions of egg/veggie) before we headed out for camp at 5 am.  I packed a banana for the kids to eat before they started their day at camp at 8:30 ~9.  I was good without the banana and we all kept nicely for the day until lunch time.  I find that the longer we do without grains, sugar, legumes, beans etc. the less hungry we get.

I believe I started the ketosis process just a few days ago and I'll save you the tell tale sign since this is a FOOD blog... LOL!  So far I lost 8 pounds.  You know what???  I was totally happy at the bigger weight and that is the HONEST truth.  This whole diet idea was my husbands for himself.  If I am not good at anything else, diets I can do well so I only got on board to support him.  He lost 18 pounds so far and let me tell you his clothes are starting to look ridiculously large on him!  LOL.  He says he likes his clothes big since he spent way too much tine with his clothes too tight.  I guess we all could relate to that at one point or another.  As for me, I'm pulling out my packed away never to be fit into again shorts this summer! ;-)

Remember those excess harvested cucumbers from two weeks ago? I turned them into pickles end of week before last.  I will blog the recipe I used this week.  Here is one of three giant jars of pickles.  I packed 5 regular sized cucumbers into each jar.

Pickles are a great Paleo Snack

Saturday:

Grilled London Broil, Cauliflower Puree, Broccoli

Sunday:

While I am at Church I will have a loaf of Udi's White Bread Copycat Recipe for Bread Machine.  When the kids get home I will serve them sandwiches.  Adults will not eat bread so salad for us.

Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Meat Sauce, Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. This picture is gluten free spaghetti, but you get what I mean right? Minus the bread for adults. Kids will be served Cheese biscuits with their dinner.  I made the cheese biscuits up ahead and freeze them.

Monday:

Paleo Stuffed Peppers

Tuesday:

Roasted Chicken Thighs, Butternut Squash Puree, Sauteed Cabbage

I that last cabbage to get out of the garden this week so two more days

of free vegetable sides for us.  I don't know about my hubs but I have been

loving the cabbages this year.  Sure will miss then when they are gone!

Wednesday:

Leftover London Broil and Cabbage Stir fry

Instead of Leftover Buffet as featured on most blogs I love to pull my leftovers

together to make a stir fry.  I really love the taste of cabbage in these sort

of dishes.

Thursday:

Turkey Burgers topped with Lettuce, tomato, Sweet Onion and Pickles and 

Sweet Potato Fries.

Looking for inspiration? I can help in three different ways.

1. Head on over to Orgjunkie.com and visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday.
2. Visit Heather at Celiac Family, the Gluten Free Menu Swap headquarters!
3. You can also view my past menu plans here 

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Pastry Corner (The Bellevue Manila)

Pastry Shop
The Bellevue Manila
North Bridgeway, Filinvest Corporate City
Alabang, Muntinlupa City
+63 (02)771-8181 loc. 8016



A few days before May ended, my sister and I had a staycation at The Bellevue Manila - a five star hotel in Alabang. My sister and I truly enjoyed our overnight stay and was so overwhelmed by its beauty and spectacular amenities. We had the Deluxe Room, but it was the biggest of all hotel rooms I stayed at - the bed was so comfortable and the bathroom was classy.

We got to roam around the hotel - checking out the poolside on both the Main Wing and the Tower Wings of the hotel and had a much needed massage at the Mandarine Spa. Apart from the awesome architecture and design as well as the other amenities at the hotel, one thing that made this day one of a kind was the food. Well, we weren't able to check out the Vue Bar as it is closed every Sundays, but all else, we got to try.

Writing about the dining experience at the Bellevue Manila will be long, so I decided to cut it into three posts, starting with their Pastry Corner.



Located at the Ground Floor of the Main Wing, the Pastry Corner offers homemade cakes, breads, pastries, and to-go snacks. Samples of their pastries are served at Cafe d'Asie as part of their buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which is a great way to showcase the the goodness of their food. A lot of people rave about their pastries - one customer (who was there the time I take pictures) said he frequents the Bellevue Manila just to buy their ensaymada.


I wasn't able to taste the Ensaymada, but I did take home the Chocolate Cake pictured at the left side. It's chocolate beyond chocolate, probably the most chocolate-y cake I have tasted. For it's kind, the p900+ price tag was way worth it... actually part of me felt the price was slightly cheaper than what I expected it to be.

Sister bought 2 pieces of Cinnamon Roll with Cream Cheese (which I wasn't able to take a picture of) as the Ensaymada was already sold out...again, something worth its price (p55 each) as it was big, the bread was soft and it had a lot of cinnamon and raisins. The cream cheese topping was so thick, that we wished the hotel is just near our location so we can buy their pastries whenever we crave for it.

This month of June, the Pastry Corner has three special cakes for sale:

• Brazo de Mercedes - Custard-filled meringue made of eggs and sugar.
• Crema de Fruta - Soft, multi-layered cake containing cream, custard, gelatin, and candied fruits
• Sansrival - Crunchy cake made of layered crisp meringue covered with butter cream and nuts.

Whether you're staying at the Bellevue Manila or not, you are most welcome to buy at the Pastry Shop. It's open from 7am to 9pm, but if you live quite a distance away from the hotel, you can phone them first to inquire about the availability of the products.

Next post will be about our dinner at the Phoenix Court.




    

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