When people dine in a hotel coffee shop, they more or less know what to expect. There are bound to be several live cooking stations (pasta, crepes, pizza) and buffet staples like smoked salmon and roast beef.
While the familiar can be comforting, it can also turn boring.
To avoid this and provide its guests more options, Conrad Manila’s all-day dining outlet, Brasserie on 3, now offers a Chef’s Table aside from the daily buffets. A minimum of four guests who reserve two days in advance can choose from four set menus consisting of dishes paired with wine, whiskey, cocktails or craft beers.
“We’ve been open for half a year already and while guests appreciate the buffets, we also wanted to showcase the talents of our executive chef Thomas Jakobi,” said hotel manager Harald Feurstein.
Aside from Brasserie on 3, Jakobi oversees the operations at China Blue by Jereme Leung and C Lounge, and manages the culinary requirements of the hotel’s catering, banquet and in-room dining. Despite his busy schedule, he was able to come up with four different menus for the Chef’s Table.
Multitalented
Unlike regular a la carte items that customers order off a menu, the Chef’s Table consists of dishes that Jakobi will prepare himself, assisted by his staff. Get ready to spend anywhere from two to three hours for lunch or dinner. Food this special is meant to be savored.
At a recent press preview, we sampled items from the four menus, with the corresponding tipple (wine, whiskey, cocktail or beer). By the end of the meal, many of us were in high spirits if slightly tipsy.
We sampled marinated Scottish blue label salmon paired with a Manhattan cocktail; dim sum with prawns, pumpkin, ginger, mango and vanilla with Chilean wine (Mont Gras Reserva); and rib eye MB5 with onion mousse and morels paired with an Australian Shiraz (St. Halley, Gamekeeper’s Shiraz Grenache Touriga 2014).
Two desserts capped the meal—iced goat cheese with berry essence and honeycomb foam partnered with a Spanish sherry (Nectar Dulce, Pedro Gimenez), and a chocolate and whiskey “burger” with “Rusty Nail” cocktail made with Chivas Regal Extra and Drambuie.
The Chef’s Table came about because, as Feurstein put it, “we didn’t want Brasserie on 3 to be known primarily as a buffet restaurant.” He was quick to add, however, that there was nothing wrong with buffet restaurants, only that there were already so many in the city.
“Chef Thomas is multitalented; he was able to come up with four 8-course menus in a short span,” Feurstein said. “The Chef’s Table aims to elevate the senses for the discerning connoisseur and presents a whole new dining experience.”
Brasserie on 3 is at 3/L, Conrad Manila. Visit www.conradmanila.com or call 8339999.
