Le Jardin: Cuisine de Gils of Trois Gourmands at BGC

Le Jardin Cuisine de Gils of Trois Gourmands is the newest French restaurant in Manila, located at the Penthouse of W Fifth Building, 5th Avenue corner 32nd Street in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The restaurant officially opens its doors today, May 7, to the public.



This newest food spot in BGC offers a romantic garden themed ambiance, coupled with great authentic French food, inspired with distinct Filipino ingenuity prepared by Chefs Hasset Go and Jonas Ng. Both chefs trained under the celebrated French Chef Gils Brault of Le Trois Gourmands in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.



Le Jardin offers a choice of a 3-course meal, a 4-course meal or a 5-course meal, with all set courses including a truffled egg appetizer, freshly made cheese, palette cleanser, and freshly baked bread. If you want something light, go for the 3-course set meal, while if you are starving, go for the 4 or 5-course set meal.



I love the ambiance of the garden-themed restaurant, with the industrial high ceiling, which compliments the whole out of Manila look, and offers a distinct inviting atmosphere to unwind and simply enjoy what's served on the plate. The appetizer came out first, the scrambled egg was light and fluffy, and the truffle oil just killed it. It was a symphony.



I got the 4-course meal, which included a cold starter and a hot starter. I got the Salad de homard or the poached lobster salad, which is a delicately plated lobster tail and salad that's seasoned and refreshing. You cannot go wrong with this dish!



I immediately finished my salad, which was followed by the Soupe de citrouille et Foie Gras Poêlé or the Squash soup with seared foie gras. Foie Gras, a food product made of the liver of the duck or goose that has been fattened, is one of the most popular and well-known delicacies in French cuisine. It happens to be one of my guilty pleasures (once in a while). I both loved the squash soup and the foie gras, and they both go well with each other, in fairness.



The palette cleanser immediately followed by appetizers. Lemon sherbet with tomatoes and basil oil. It was simply refreshing and yummy. I am ready for my main course. ;)



For my main course, I got the Pave de thon et foie gras poêlé, aux truffle or the Grilled tuna steak with foie gras and truffle sauce. One thing is for sure with me, foie gras and truffle, and the rest is history! I finished this right away. The tuna came from General Santos city or GenSan, which explains why the tuna is really good quality. The foie gras was rich, buttery and delicate, while the truffle oil was just divine. This is certainly a must try dish! :)



One of the things Le Jardin prides itself, besides good authentic French food, is that they carry a good selection of wines, imported from France, and can only be found in the restaurant. I tried the CHÂTEAU LA CALISSE ROSÉ 2011, which was a good choice. I would definitely have this piece for my wine collection.



Besides the food and the wine, they also make their own cheese, which is an all together tedious process of fermenting. This, however, is an acquired taste, as each one is aged and fermented differently to achieve the desired taste. Asked Chef Hasset which one is his favorite. He said, "the smellier, the better." I guess to each his own, as it really depends on the taste and the taster.



For dessert, I got what they recommended me, the Dessert de Gils, which would probably be the best dessert (I thought) as it is the namesake of Chef Gils. I was correct, as this concoction of vanilla ice cream, raspberry sorbet, strawberries and nougatine, was no less than heavenly.



With Chef Hasset Go :) Thank you brother for the wonderful experience!

Brasserie CiÇou caters Istituto Culinario launching

It was my first time to eat at Celebrity Chef Cyrille Soenen's Brasserie CiÇou, (formerly famed CiÇou at the Hotel Celeste in Makati City). Thanks to the launching of the new culinary school, Istituto Culinario, I was able to try Chef Cyrille's French degustation, which covered the whole restaurant, including its kitchen.



Students of Istituto Culinario, together with Chef Cyrille, created the whole dinner for all the guests. The food served ranged from non-meat hot station, meat station, cocktail tables, cold station, pastry station, charcuterie station, and beverage and wine station, totaling to 7 stations all-in-all.

Paris Délice: Food Made in France!

Paris Délice, an alternative fast food restaurant situated along Juno St. corner Makati Avenue, carries authentic French food, which include breads, pastries, sandwiches, quiches and salads, at reasonable prices. I was invited to try out the newly opened restaurant a week ago, so I went with my friend. After tasting what they had to offer, we were impressed with the gastronomic experience we had!



Florian and Thibault, French co-owners of Paris Délice greeted us to their simple yet cozy restaurant. They explained to us the story of how the restaurant came to be, and how they prepare and present their food to the public - made with ingredients imported from Paris, and made fresh out of the oven daily. With very high regard for quality and authenticity, Paris Délice offers French food as if they were made in France.



One of their best sellers, and my personal favorite, is the Le Lillois. It is one of their yummy sandwiches, made of chicken, bacon, mayonnaise, tomatoes, lettuce. A perfect healthy combination I can eat everyday for lunch. The bread is just so perfectly made, with the right ingredients complementing the taste of the whole sandwich. Not to mention, the baguette was to die for (I've never tasted anything of this quality in the Philippines, until now).



After the sandwich, we tried their Croissant and their Le petit pain au chocolat, and their popular Choquettes. Both the croissant and the le petit pain au chocolat were really fresh, soft, and tasty. The dark chocolate and the bread go well together, while the les choquettes, French cream puffs covered with crunchy nuggets of sugar, then baked until golden-brown perfect, were great with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, which they owners said to be both sourced locally.



I really love the place! In fact, the next day, I brought with me Pauline, our French trainee at the office to try if it will pass the "French taste." I know she was being home-sick and this might cheer her up, so we pushed through. Guess what, she was all smiles and really happy the moment she saw what was behind the glassed shelves. She wanted to order EVERYTHING :)



I ordered the Tomato Cream Soup with baguette (you just can't get enough of this wonderfully made bread), spinach quiche, and fresh lemon juice. She ordered a sandwich, and Coke. We had desserts after - Chausson aux Pommes (Apple turnover) for her, and Triangle aux Amandes (Almond triangle) for me. We were both happy and satisfied with our food!




She was extremely happy, really, she wanted to write a letter to the owners. We asked for a paper, she brought out a pen, and she wrote them...in French, of course. She expressed how happy she was eating authentic French food in Manila, after more than a month without it.



Paris Délice is open every day from 7am to 10pm. :) You may visit and add their Facebook page here. Check out Un soir à Paris Délice: Authentic French food at the heart of Manila for more information.