A little busy this week so I didn’t have time to edit photos for a post, but rest assured a yummy one is coming up on the blog in the next day or so. So instead, I thought I’d do a W.I.B.E.L. post featuring my favourites from the meals I’ve had recently.

I attended a wedding reception some weeks ago and they held it in the newly opened Raffles Makati. It was the first wedding held in that hotel, and the couple picked a super classy menu for an evening of fine-dining.

(L-R) Roast beef and buttery shrimp; Two-coloured macarons with dark chocolate ganache filling; and my personal favourite: Guyabano Sorbet! I must learn how to make this amazing sorbet.

Another fantastic fine-dining experience is one that I always get when I visit Zucchini‘s. I’m not one who goes for the high-end fare very often, but when I do, it’s important to me that I get my money’s worth. It’s so easy to fall in love with the ambiance of the restaurant. It doesn’t look particularly cozy in the day, but coming here for dinner when all the yellow lights are dimly lit is a different story altogether. It gives one an almost romantic feeling, and to me the European vibe of the restaurant is strongest at this hour.

And of course, the food is as gorgeous as the ambiance. Everything is so gorgeously plated. It’s in places like these one can really cultivate a love for risotto. Above, a photo of their Duck Breast Risotto, if I’m not mistaken. And the Citrus Salad that’s almost too pretty to eat! Almost.

When we’re not eating in fancy restaurants, which is about 95% of the time, we always try to look for some new restaurant to try while we’re in the mall during Sundays.The Mu Noodle Bar caught my attention because of its interior design. It was very modern and had a minimalist feel to it, since the inside of the restaurant was black and the lighting was dim.

We had to order noodles since it’s their specialty. They serve it in a gigantic ceramic bowl and it’s still boiling when they set it down on the table. We also ordered some tofu with century eggs and pork floss (the version we cook here at home is better. Sorry!), fried mantou bread with pork asado, and finally my favourite for the meal, Sweet & Spicy Spare Ribs.

On another occasion, while we were walking around Mall Of Asia, we came across Boon Tong Kee, which is a famous restaurant from Singapore. Since I’ve never eaten in the original restaurant, I can’t make any comparisons. I can tell you their Hainanese Chicken is delicious, though probably not the best I’ve ever had. I didn’t add Hainanese Chicken to the photos below since it’s the typical food you order when you go to a Singaporean restaurant, so I’ll tell you about the other dishes I really enjoyed.

(L-R) The Fried Sambal Kang Kong with Squid was easy to like because I love the tang of the sambal flavour a lot. On the second photo is the Braised Yi Mien with Prawns. It was so good! Savory and saucy and definitely a must-try. For dessert we had an almond custard with chocolate. It’s so simple and so elegantly done, I couldn’t help but like it a lot.

We had our second round of dessert right after the meal when we passed by Sebastian’s Ice Cream Studio. They’ve been getting a lot of press lately because their artisanal ice cream flavours are based on Filipino favourites interpreted into ice cream. The sapin-sapin is a sticky rice platter in different colours and flavours, and somehow they managed to recreate that in ice cream form. They also have champorado flavour (I made it on the blog before), and mangga’t suman (mango and suman, which is another sticky rice delicacy). The Mangga’t Suman Ice Cream caught my Dad’s eye so he tried it (last photo). It tastes like mango and has the stickiness of suman. It’s a very good reinterpretation.

I was for some reason not in the mood for a sweet ice cream that day, and when I found out they had Green Mango Ice Cream topped with bagoong (fish paste), I ordered it without a second thought. Since I love actual green mangoes, I was excited to try this out. It felt kind of weird to eat bagoong with sorbet, although the sorbet tastes like frozen green mangoes thrown in the food processor. In my opinion, nothing can beat actual green mangoes with bagoong. That aside, I’m definitely coming back to try their other flavours.

We often find ourselves ending up in UCC Vienna Cafe when we’re too lazy to hunt for other restaurants to dine in. It’s this nice restaurant that serves an assortment of cuisines with a focus on Japanese and Italian fusion dishes. Their food is in a middle range price-tag.

I often order red-sauced pastas when I’m here, this time it was a dish with slices of salmon on it. The Beef Curry Rice was plated really nicely, and looks a little like a smiley face. They also have risotto although the grains aren’t as fine as the ones that specialize in Italian cuisine. For dessert, my family and I shared this tiny Toblerone cheesecake, which I really enjoyed. (That’s saying a lot since I don’t really like Toblerone.) It was so smooth, and not too sweet.

So that’s it for me for now! I’ll be gathering up more meal photos for my next WIBEL post.