Rarely Ordered | Adventurous dining or insanity? You decide.

Closing this month of August, this post will be the closest thing to our 2nd monthsary! Yey! Two months of daring the menu is past us and we are still at it! Wooh!

This is also our second dessert review – and this time we reviewed the known but not so familiar Italian ice cream – gelato. Quoting Ricardo Cuna, the owner of the very famous Fiorgelato brand, that “Gelato is different from ice cream as it has significantly less butterfat making it more dense – which lets you taste the flavor immediately compared to ice cream.”

For this review, we went to a very historical Italian franchise – Amici in Thomas Morato. The original is now called Amici di Don Bosco near Don Bosco school, Makati founded by Chef Giorgio and Father Francis of said school. This place is reputed to serve authentic Italian – and is very famous for its gelato. The flavors you see here are ones we carefully selected – making sure nothing is to common to our readers’ taste keeping it Rarely Ordered.

Stracciata

Fiel: This actually disappointed me as it tastes basically the same as double dutch or cookies and cream. The difference is in the chocolate used – which is notable since it is bittersweet complementing the vanilla gelato. Still very ordinary though – 6/10.

Ren: Comparable not to cookies in cream but more to the double Dutch to average ice cream goers. The chocolate is hard and has a lingering taste making the gelato notable. Notable but still ordinary, so I give it a 7.75/10

Blueberry

Fiel: After tasting it, I find that blueberry probably isn’t up to the Filipino tastebud. The whole fruits used are frozen – making it bland whenever you eat a berry. However, I commend the use of natural ingredients making this easy on the palate. For those who like your desserts really tasting like the fruits, give this a shot! 8/10.

Ren: Could have been good gelato, it had a nice texture and the use of fruits was exquisite but what didn’t click for me was that the fruits were frozen making eating it a hassle than the flavor could have given off. So I give it a 7/10.

Mango Jubilee

Fiel: It has the same fruity feel of the blueberry gelato. This time, a variety of fruits were put in a mango gelato base. Creative and you can really tell the gelato itself used mangoes with no additive unnatural flavorings. Again easy on the palate. 8/10.

Ren: Again it could have been good but the frozen fruits just didn’t work for me. The soft texture of the gelato was in great contrast to the hardness of the fruits. If maybe we went in to get an earlier batch where the fruits aren’t as frozen like ice maybe it could have turned out better. The taste of mango was in the cream the taste of the other fruits could have complemented it but it was just too hard to get a mix of it in. A 7/10.

Hazelnut

Fiel: This is just fantastic! Tasting the gelato, you can feel the very finely ground hazelnut take its powdery toll on your tongue. Imagine eating Ferrero Rocher but without the chocolate taste – and I tell you the nuttiness of hazelnut is heavenly. It got consumed quite briskly haha. 9.5/10.

Ren: Not just a nut ice cream, no whole pieces of hazelnut on this one. The flavor comes from the hazelnut itself you can taste it as it has a bit of a powdery taste to it. A nice smooth texture as can be expected, but the taste is excellent as it captured a good sense of what hazelnut taste like. A solid 9/10.

When we went: Tuesday, August 26, 2008.
Where it is: Thomas Morato Food Strip!!!
Budget Range: Its just P50 a scoop – trust us its worth it.

This time we decided to make things simple as we reviewed the pioneer of pares – Jonas! Surprisingly, Jonas is only well-known to the people who have tried it as it proved memorable for them – good taste, great service and very affordable. Their most common dish is of course the classic pares, which is as its namesake a tandem – between Filipino style beef stew and garlic fried rice. We tried a couple of dishes then – an interesting twist to a classic and a rarely ordered item on the menu.

Chicken and Mushroom

Fiel: The chicken was very soft and the vegetables were done right. It almost frighteningly tastes like home cooking by my Aunt. It was rightly bland as it should be – although I am not a big fan of not so flavorful food. Good job though – 7/10.

Ren:It had a nice feel to it. the sauce was very light and didn’t overshadowed the steamed chicken giving it a slightly “homey” feel for the dish. a 7.25/10

Beef and Isaw Pares

Fiel: The highlight of this dish is the blissful mix of perfectly softened beef and the enticingly sinful taste of isaw. It has a salty stew, which was balances well with the garlic fried rice. I have tried other pares versions from other restaurants but this one bluntly outshines them for great taste and excellent value. For that, it deserves a 9.5/10.

Ren: The beef pares was great! You can taste of the marinated beef was able to go through the center of the meat, giving a somewhat presence of the sauce. with the addition of the steamed isaw it was able to give it a balance between taste and bland. A solid 8/10.

When we went: August 9, 2008, Saturday around 7PM
Where it is: Ali Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao
Budget Range: P100 for a very filling meal! XD

Rain, Fiel and RJ

This is the review that celebrates the return of RJ Palabasan – who just got home from Dubai after 7 months! RJ we miss and love you and we’re glad that you are back – you are indeed the proof that GMA must further secure the borders to our country.

We were actually supposed to attend a bloggers event sponsored by Coca-Cola; but when we arrived at Taste Asia, NO ONE WAS THERE! Turns out that the parteh was the day before! We’re sorry ate Aileen! We blame RJ! After getting laughed at by kuya Andrew, we decided to enjoy ourselves anyway by getting lost and eating where destiny took us!

Tempura restaurant at the Mall of Asia proved to be a very authentic yet very different sort of Japanese dining. First of all, they serve Japanese rice in all their dishes – which is a big deal because Japanese food really isn’t Japanese food without it. So for all other restaurants that serve normal rice – beware for this place rocks! Secondly, it is not as expensive as most authentic Japanese restaurants – so you get authentic Japanese food at about P150-P250 per dish. Lastly, they serve not-so-popular-here but very-popular-in-Japan dishes such as the Hamburger Curry Rice.

The three dishes featured here are novel – and they did not fail the Rarely Ordered expectations! And to top it off, we have a omfgsupergadengsizzlinghot reviewer in Rain Santos-Ocampo! This indeed is a great way to go! So here goes:

Buta Sansho Yaki (Pork Slices with Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach in a Special Sauce)

Fiel: The thing I loved in this one order is the variety of the stuff in it – which all complemented the sweet sauce nicely. The pork was soft, and cut in the same way as in Pork Asado. I love shiitake and spinach – which when all put together was a wonderful dancing variety while I ate it with rice. The sweetness wasn’t overpowering either. Very solid – 8/10!

Rain: This had a very good sweet sauce that blended well with the taste of spinach and shiitake mushrooms. Unfortunately, the pork slices in this dish didn’t seem to have much impact on me. 7/10.

RJ: The meat in this pork dish wasn’t very memorable. However, what made the impression in this dish was the Spinach – we were fighting over ‘em instead of the pork! The sauce was very good as it blended well with the pork and spinach. Recommended for those who like salty dishes. 7.5/10.

Ebi Bacon Furai (Fried Shrimp wrapped in Bacon)

Fiel: I felt that the bacon was non-existent for me in this dish. However, it was fried nicely and the sauce (which we theorize to be honey-mustard with Japanese mayonnaise and sesame seeds) was very good and different. Try imagining the taste – or better yet, try it! 7.7/10.

Rain: This went very well with the sauce. I loved the crunchiness of the batter and the subtle taste of bacon wrapped in shrimp. I was happy that the sauce they served to compliment the dish wasn’t the usual or common sauce one would expect to receive. 9/10.

RJ: I just HAD to try this dish. First of all, it has bacon; and everybody knows that bacon (and lesbians) make the world go round! It is also rare to find dishes with both shrimp and bacon in them – and it was awesome! I absolutely loved the sauce, which we deducted as honey mustard, Japanese mayo and sesame sesame seeds. I will definitely come back for this dish. 8.5/10.

Gyu Hamburg Curry Don (Beef Hamburger Patty Curry with Rice)

Fiel: This for me is just loooove – eating it made me feel some of my memories in Japan come back to me as I ate this dish happily there. So far, this is the only restaurant here that I know of that serves this – and trust me when I say they do it very well! The curry was blended just right and the hamburger patty was very juicy. For curry lovers out there, this is a must try. 9/10!

Rain: This had tender meat and was served with an ample amount of curry sauce mixed with veggie tidbits. The veggie bits made the curry sauce interestingly crunchy. I find that this dish reminds me of a regular Pinoy breakfast food because of the egg, rice, and meat combination only with the addition of the curry sauce and veggie bits- its a fun and filling dish! 8/10.

RJ: I got so used to eating Indian-style curry that I forgot how good other curry variants are. The curry sauce was excellent as it went surprisingly well with the patty. Eating a burger patty with curry sauce on a flat plate using chopsticks was a bit troublesome (we refused to use other utensils) but it was a fun experience. 7/10.

When we went: Saturday, August 9, 2008.
Where it is: Mall of Asia
Budget Range: About P150-P250 for good enough servings.

I would like to share a very common family dish usually prepared by my grandmother – Lola Liling I love you po! Thank you for feeding me everytime I visit you.

This is a good, interesting dish for the savory-sweet Pinoy tastebud. This is very easy to cook in under 40minutes – making it perfect for any sudden guests and unplanned eat-ins. In my case, I simply passed by the grocery store on the way home for the ingredients and an hour later, I was digging in. Since ribs are very low in fat and cholesterol and pineapple contains phytochemicals and antioxidants, this is a very healthy dish too!

Ingredients:

1 kg pork spareribs, chopped into approximately 2×2 inch slices if you want it on the bowl (good for 4-6 people)
1L Pure, unsweetened natural pineapple juice
1 tsp whole black pepper corns
4 Laurel Leaves
1 Small garlic, peeled and chopped

Preparation:

1.Under a low fire leave he pineapple juice to a simmer.
2.Add the rest of the ingredients, and cover but with a slight opening to let the steam pass – this should be for about 25 minutes.
3.You know it is ready when the pineapple juice is thick and brownish. Check with a fork if the meat is cooked just right.
4.Serve with rice.

Tips:

There is a longer version to this dish which can be applied to any dish with meat – which is to slowly cook it under a low, low fire for about 3 hours. After which, you can follow the steps shown here. The advantage here is that the meat will be much, much more tender.

You can cook it without chopping it into pieces!

Experiment with the thickness of the pinapple juice – some may like it more viscous or more watery. Just add a bit of water while cooking to adjust,