(PART 2)
This Christmas, Circuit Makati’s got your cravings covered. Check out the restaurants offering Asian favorites, fresh seafood and warm holiday drinks. Drop by for dinner after the Simbang Gabi, to be held at the second-floor chapel, 6:30 p.m., starting Dec. 15.
ASIAN FLAVORS
Black Canyon Coffee
Thai food and stir-fry
Pad Thai paired with milky Thai iced tea is Black Canyon Coffee’s bestseller, along with the spicy papaya salad, tom yum soup and bagoong rice. The weekend breakfast menu features Korean bibimbap, salpicao, sausage and mushroom omelette.
Coffee choices are aplenty, as well as cakes and matcha mixes.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m., weekdays; 7 a.m.-11 p.m., weekends
Shrimp Bucket
Superb seafood
Shrimp Bucket serves shrimp, mussels and crab tossed with your choice of sauce: Mardi Gras, Coco-Sol, Coco-Curry, French Lemony Pepper, The Spaniard and, our favorite, Salty Eggsperience which goes well with the meaty shrimp dipped in lemon-pepper sauce.
Sides include fresh-cut fries, greens, buttered corn and good ol’ garlic rice. Make sure to order the Salt & Pepper Crab and Crispy Belachan Pork—succulent lechon kawali with garlicky bagoong sauce.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Shabu Shabu Ichiban
Unlimited Japanese food!
Hotpot has a dated image, but Shabu Shabu Ichiban from Japan is hotpot made hip. Diners can choose from “shabu shabu sets,” explains marketing officer Keiko Sato.
The basic Set A has unlimited meat, dumplings, kimchi, veggies, egg, udon and rice. Set B has all of Set A, plus shrimp tempura, sushi and sashimi. The indulgent Set C includes Alaskan King Crab legs.
Sets are priced at P488-P1,888 per person. There are 24 soup bases; the most popular are Tonkotsu and Spicy Miso. All sets come with chicken wings, Kushikatsu (skewered bean paste cutlet), fried ice cream and drinks.
There’s also sake and Japanese beer like Asahi and Kirin.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and 5:30-10 p.m., daily
Shi Lin
Taiwanese cuisine
You can’t go wrong with the Shilin Fried Chicken, Braised Beef Noodle Soup, Fried Rice with Porkchop and Egg, and the well-loved Xiao Long Bao.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Seafood Island
Family-style boodle feast
Seafood Island serves Filipino fiesta food: sinuglaw, chicken inasal, adobo sa gata, dinadakan. Plus seafood, such as oysters Rockefeller, garlic-pepper crab, clams in coconut and garlic-smothered “Jumbangus.” All goes well with extra extra extra rice.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
PIZZA AND PASTA
Steveston Pizza Co.
Fulfilling your pizza fantasies
Steveston Pizza Co. from Vancouver, Canada, is an all-pizza place with over 30 items to choose from. The Princess Pizza has a crown of crab meat, prawns, salmon, basil, tomatoes and cheese. Caveman pizza is loaded with pepperoni, bacon, beef and cold cuts. A bocconcini ball (mini fresh mozzarella) adorns the center of each whole pizza. Prices: P300 for the basic cheese to P1,899 for the premium, says marketing manager Vanessa Lavares.
Store hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Va Bene Pasta Deli
Intimate Italian dining
Va Bene offers Italian dishes served in an elegant café setting. It’s a romantic date place, and an intimate venue for family celebrations. Start off with the Polipo salad with braised octopus, tomatoes, olives and arugula in lemon dressing. Share a margherita pizza and creamy truffle pasta. Indulge in some duck ravioli. Go healthy with an eggplant tortellini. Relax with a cappuccino and a basil panna cotta.
Have a glass of wine, or a whole bottle. Va bene, after all, means “all right.”
Store hours: 5-11 p.m., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; closed on Mondays
COFFEE AND ALL-DAY BREAKFAST
Palm Corned Beef Corner serves “cornsilog” and coffee. Army Navy’s Breakfast Burrito has steak or longganisa, toasted hash browns, scrambled eggs and cheese.
Check out Outré’s Milo Dinosaur and Pistachio Gelatos. Enjoy a Honey Apple Chai Tea Latte at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Chill with a Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks, and enjoy the Christmas breeze.