Shaw Espresso

Trish Santos

My wife had been here before and she wanted me to experience this restaurant. We finally had the opportunity to go today.We arrived at 11:15 and we were seated right away. We ordered the Pad Thai of course, and Garlic Prawn and Pork Satay. While waiting for our order to be served we were given a small dish of caramelized peanut which was quite good. After about 15 minutes the Pad Thai was served. I must say it looked different from the Pad Thais in the other Thai restaurants we've been to - and we've been to quite a number of them. This was because it had some scrambled eggs that "surrounded" the noodles. As for the taste - it was the best Pad Thai I had. The Garlic Prawns were delicious and was prepared in such a way that it was easy to remove the skin without having to use our bare hands. The Pork Satay was good, if a bit hard. Thankfully the peanut sauce was not spicy and just the way I wanted it. For dessert we had the Sticky Rice with Mango. There were parts of the mango that weren't that sweet yet.Overall it was a good experience. This place apparently is very popular as it was full by the time we left (a little before noon) considering this was a weekday. My only nit was that they only had two staff members who worked as servers and cashiers. To their credit they both worked diligently and did their best to please the customers.

View More

CorsetDoll

The Christmas season is officially here, which means I'll find it even more difficult to attend to my "website duties." I am fortunate however to be able to go to Solstice by Ilustrado on a sponsored invite. It was a fitting activity to a very busy Friday.Solstice by Ilustrado is actually a tie-up two between known restaurants that have been merged together as one: Ilustrado, from the walled city of Intramuros, known for their classic and modern Filipino-Spanish cuisine, and One Way restaurant, that's been popular for its Italian food creations, especially its sour bread.Finding this place had been a bit of a challenge for me. It is actually found in the corner of Rockwell Drive, Makati. You can find the location through Waze. Note that they have parking spaces directly below the establishment. Prepare to be captivated with Solstice's sophisticated interiors when you visit the place. It gives off a cozy feel to a place with a very nice ambience.You will even feel more relaxed as a pianist plays a romantic tune while you dine. Aside from having a good selection of food items in the menu, the place is well lit and also well ventilated. If you are to impress someone, Solstice by Ilustrado is the place to go on on a date. The place is also ideal for office meetings, family gatherings, and even barkada meetups. My wonderful experience in this restaurant was kicked off with chicken and pork liver pate, that was deliciously combined with their homemade cranberry jam, and their crunchy and oddly shaped crostini. You may have an extra order of pate of your preferred serving size. I also had their baked eggplant, white cheese, and olives in filo, in just one big bite. It is definitely one for the books. You can tell that the eggplant was cooked well given its nice texture, and its taste combined really well with the black olives, sundried tomatoes, and feta and laguna white cheeses. The filo is lightly crisp, with its shell breaking into fine pieces.Then the staff served us a combination of Spanish dishes, the paella and callos Madrilena. It is a great combination, given that the two have a lot of similarities. The former was a mix of various seafood, meats, fresh veggies, and rice. It had a nice light taste to it. On the other hand, the latter tasted strongly of chorizo de bilbao and their slab bacon. The ox tripe was a nice addition to it too.As for the Italian dish fix, they served the shroom pizza, which had an ample serving of shiitake and king and oyster mushrooms; white sauce, three cheeses, namely, mozzarella, cheddar, and parmigiano, and truffle essence. It was simply delicious! The pizza was even made better with its thin sour dough crust. The pasta aligue had a very strong taste to it, that it will definitely surprise your palate. It can literally and figuratively, make your heart stop beating. The whole visit was capped off with their own creation of matcha cookies! It came with a yogurt dip that just made the cookies even taste better. You may also buy an extra order of this dip.Solstice by Ilustrado accepts reservations for events and corporate gatherings. The restaurant allows exclusive use of its main dining room, which can conveniently seat up to 120 guests. They will alsoprovide you with a reliable wait staff and an exquisite table arrangement. They also have live music performances to complete a nice setup.For reservations, please call (+632) 802 1891 or (+63 977 748 8861), from 11AM to 11PM daily. Follow @solsticebyilustrado on Instagram, and like their official Facebook page, facebook.com/SolsticebyIlustrado/ for more updates.

View More