ABV

Eeds Lasala

5.0

Manila is slowly becoming a carne-loving town. The city is thick with barbecue joints, burger shacks, and an array of butcher shops. What I have found out in the last three years I have been doing food writing is Filipinos gradually welcoming the prominence of steak. Places like Makati and BGC are excelling in the establishments of steak restaurants. Those places that house the seared marvels, dried wonders and beckoning spirits, the celebratory confabs that require to be marked with a napkin wucked beneath our chins, a steak knife eagerly awaits that juicy slab of beef in a pool of its own juices on your plate.  I love steak. I have made many erros in my life but by far, eating beef has been my favorite misteak. Get it? From old classics that peddle in porterhouse to new-wave meateries where I can get my sirloin with a side of gnocchi or fresh salads or rich mashed potatoes, I have had the best in Manila. From time to time, something devious this way comes. A new player comes in to break the mold, the convention. A new steakhouse comes about to offer something accessible, something intimate. ABV is fairly new in the playing field. Mostly, it offers spirits and your usual bar treats, they are changing the perception. Steaks are often seen as a very intricate dish, intimidating to most degree, and costly in whichever way you look at it. ABV's Fete du boeuf humbly introduces itself as an interesting variety: far different from the steaks we have known. Steaks are often paired with red wine with salad on the side. As a general rule, steak is perfectly matched with a with a bold and high tannin red wine such as Petite Sirah or Cabernet Sauvignon or the bold taste of a Syrah. However, ABV's Fete du boeuf is introducing to a newfound experience of savoring the flavor with a Moscow Mule or Whiskey Sour or any cocktail drink. You may have heard the old adage, “red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat”, but who says you have to stick to the rules? Pairing steak with a cocktail drink is both inventive and uncanny. However uncanny it can be, it is completely a new and sublime eating experience. Steak is heavy and rich, and cocktail is a great and mildly palate cleansing. A citrusy but not overly boozy cocktail drink opens steak dining experience to new heights. The first bite of Fete du boeuf, I knew right away that I was offered a brand new sensory pleasure: it was a celebration in my mouth and in my mind. It was almost like a narrative that I couldn't search the perfect phrase for it.Another surprise with ABV's Fete du boeuf is the pomme frites. This was almost like fish and chips but prepared to a whole new level. The pairing might seem odd, a deviation of some sort. Usually, you see a slab of beef paired with mashed potatoes or pommes dauphine. This time, the simplistic approach to an already established pairing is almost iconoclastic. Nonetheless, divine and glorious. The rendering is simple and straightforward. It didn't need a grand gesture. The flavor and taste did a fantatsic job.ABV's Fete du boeuf was a statement that needed to be said humbly yet boldly. It was a gastronomical think piece worthy of being read over and over again. It is a wonderful story that could pacify a poet's soul in pain. It is the formal feeling after a great storm. It is all that. I wanted to end that delicious with a period but all I could think of is more. Eaten with any of ABV's cocktail drink, then it's a whole new world of gastronomic experience. Every single bite was an ovation on its own. I can imagine myself being back here only to experience this marvel. ABV's Fete du boeuf fit into that category of dishes where food, its ingredients when combined together, ignite a pleasure far beyond the capacity of either of its parts alone.The marriage of tastes and falvors of Fete du boeuf, cocktail drinks, and pomme frites have come together into the sort of exquisite yet so simple transcendental accord that will probably explain why the world we love is not at all lost, and in some ways, still beautiful.

Chyishyuan Lee

4.0

Awesome experience! The speakeasy vibe amplifies the outstanding craft cocktails. We also really enjoyed the food, everything we tried was great. Don't leave without trying the tater bombs!