It’s easy to blame the coming holidays and visiting balikbayan for our continuous feasting. But really, it’s these new dishes and desserts that have many people dining in restaurants or ordering to enjoy at home.

 

Sarsa’s Kansi Rice Noodles

Inspired by the Malaysian noodle dish char kway teow, this dish was created and first introduced by chef JP Anglo at the World Street Food Congress. It became such a surprise hit that it was inevitably included in the Sarsa menu.

It’s Anglo’s third kansi dish in the resto, and like the others that came before it (traditional sour soup and sizzling kansi), the Kansi rice noodles do not disappoint. The dish comes topped with beef chunks, crispy beef flakes, garlic and bean sprouts.

Sarsa Kitchen + Bar is at Bonifacio Global City, Legazpi Village, SM Mall of Asia, Rockwell Center, SM Megamall.

 

Dessert du Jour’s Caramel Butter Cake Bars

Mara dela Rama-Poblete has become a household name for her decadent desserts, the most popular of which are the Gateau de Crepes and Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte.
Her latest offering marries her late father’s fondness for the choco bars of our youth—Butterfinger, Snickers, Tim Tam—and her two favorite flavors, chocolate and caramel.

The cake bars are a a multilayer beauty, with caramel butter cake at the bottom and hand-churned caramel butter on top sandwiching choco almond sponge and caramel mousse. The bar is then encased in a choco nut coating and crowned with milk chocolate whipped cream.

Call Dessert du Jour at 0917-8116272, 0917-8036272, 4052580.

 

CBTL’s Matcha Affogato

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf contributes to the ongoing madness for matcha by secretly offering three beverages to its matcha-loving customers. They’re all off-the-menu, but just say the magic words and you’ll have a cup of green tea goodness in no time.
The Matcha Macchiato consists of matcha latte and a shot of espresso. You can have it either iced or warm.

My pick is the Matcha Affogato, ice blended green tea latte with coffee and topped with a swirl of cream. Now that the word is out, it’s time more people went green!

Visit www.coffeebean.com.ph

 

Xiu’s dim sum menu

It may have taken some time and a lot of convincing, but Xiu has finally released a range of Cantonese favorites, which includes Spinach Dumplings, Pork Spareribs with Tausi, puto-like Malay Koh, Fried Spring Rolls, Masachi, and Ham Sui Kok or Fried Crescent Dumpling, and mochi stuffed with pork and mushrooms.

It’s a mix of traditionals and some that have been given a twist, like the Radish Cake, which is presented in a different way—fried cubes on a fried nest topped with generous amounts of green onions and homemade XO sauce.

The Birthday Buns are like siopao in the shape of a longevity peach and filled with lotus paste and salted egg yolk. This menu is available only for lunch, except Sundays.

Xiu Fine Cantonese Restaurant is at 115 Connecticut St., San Juan.

 

Ollie’s Cookies’ ‘Champorado’ Cookie with Toasted ‘Pastillas’ and Pangasinan Salt

Semiretired pastry chef Oliver Isidro wanted to start his own business, so last March, he launched his line of cookies, including the Classic Choco Chip with Maldon Sea Salt, Orange Mint Choco Chip with Almonds, Milk Choco Macadamia, and Dried Cranberries with Himalayan Pink Salt.
The champorado cookie is the latest addition. “All the flavors of my cookies are western, so I decided to make a Filipino-inspired variant that’s nontraditional,” he says. The chocolate rice pudding cookie is topped with a whole piece of pastillas.

Call Ollie’s Kitchen at 0926-6136392.

 

Locavore’s ‘Adobong Baka sa Gata’

Locavore has become a pitstop for traditional Filipino dishes cooked with a dash of creativity. Thanks to chef Mikel Zaguirre, we have all been introduced to the likes of Kimchinigang, its signature Sizzling Sinigang as well as Ginataang Kaldereta and Duck Lugaw.

The formidable group recently added dishes, and as expected, it brings more whimsy to familiar Pinoy fare—without tasting superficial. There’s Queso de Bola Tart, so in season, and the Hot and Sour Ox Tail Sisig, a spicy and creamy mix of pig’s liver, ears and ox tail, with slivers of red onion and a fresh egg.

But the standout is the fall-off-the-bone braised short ribs adobo in coconut cream, mixed with sigarilyas (wing beans), hard-boiled quail eggs and cherry tomatoes presented in a sizzling skillet. Beware: It demands lots of rice.

The new menu is available at the Kapitolyo branch, and will roll out in the Bonifacio Global City branch soon.

Locavore is at 10 Brixton St., Kapitolyo, Pasig.

 

Grace Park’s Filipino Breakfast

Grace Park recently opened its doors to Manila’s early risers and started offering a tight breakfast menu. There’s Brioche French Toast with organic bacon; eggs cooked the way you want it, served with two slices of grilled sourdough and served hot in a cast-iron skillet; and spicy rice with dried bago sili or fried eel.

What’s hard to ignore in the short menu is the Filipino breakfast with six viands to choose from, among them corned beef, adobo flakes, spicy tuyo and lamb tapa.
Of the lot, the chorizo duet consisting of Alaminos Pangasinan and Naked Ilonggo Chorizo makes you polish off your plate easily, especially since it comes with garlic brown rice and egg.

The breakfast menu is available only on weekends, and each dish comes with a free cup of coffee or fresh fruit juice.

 

Grace Park is at One Rockwell, Hidalgo Drive, Makati City

 

Classic Confections’ Chocolate Pecan Pie

We have come to expect nothing but delicious fare from Baba Ibazeta-Benedicto’s kitchen. Her new restaurant, Nono’s, is proof of this, drawing families for its honest-to-goodness homestyle fried chicken and pork belly balsamic adobo.

Her desserts are commendable as well, as her Nono’s Chocolate Oblivion and Lemon Torte prove. She recently introduced a new range of pastries that would surely make for perfect holiday treats, such as S’mores Tart and Naked Red Velvet Cake.

A must-try is the Chocolate Pecan Pie with a hint of espresso to cut the sweetness. The buttery pastry crust has a chocolate toffee pecan filling and just the right amount of crunchy pecans for that satisfying bite.

Classic Confections is at Greenbelt 5 and Nuvali. Nono’s is at UP Town Center and Podium.

 

Brazorria de Lasevil’s ‘Brazo de Bola’

It’s a rolled cake that will be available only during the holidays.

“I was brainstorming on our Christmas offering for La Brazorria and decided to create a queso de bola filling since it’s a Noche Buena staple. Fortunately, it blended well with my recipe,” creator Pixie Sevilla says. “I introduced it during my Assumption Velada dance practice and my batchmates loved it. That was all I needed to finally launch it.”

Today, it sits with her other brazo creations, such as the one with a salted egg filling and another with an ube filling.

Brazorria de Lasevil is at Ayala on the 30th, Pasig City

 

Hey Handsome’s Braised Jackfruit

Born out of the recent vegan collaboration of Hey Handsome and Grassroots Pantry, this dish is successful in proving that plant-based food can be delicious and have staying power.

Braised unripe jackfruit takes the lead in this Indonesian curry, which is served with Chinese broccoli, fried tofu and steamed rice.

The garnishes—cucumber stick, beetroot powder, dehydrated leeks, cilantro oil and galangal powder—all lend depth to the dish.

This is just one of the many new dishes chefs Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar have added to the Hey Handsome repertoire. Others include a smoked duck sausage, BBQ eggplant with salted egg, and salt-baked seabags with nam jim kai.

 

Hey Handsome is at G/F, Net Park Building, 5th Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.