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| The Classic Todd's Signature Flatbread Pizza (Php380.00) |
The Todd English Food Hall opened not so long ago, and supposedly being the first celebrity chef owned restaurant in the country, it got the top spot on my list of must-try-asap places. Being an ignoramus, I never heard of the name Todd English until blogs went abuzz over the opening of his restaurant in Aura. I went to research his name a bit before posting this and this is what I found out: 1. He's American who is an author, chef, television personality, and owns lots of restaurants, 2. He worked under Jean-Jacques Rachou, a name well recognized in the culinary world that I even heard his name being mentioned by other chefs a couple of times, and 3. He's cool for opening a restaurant here in the Philippines because that makes me less jealous of Singapore now.
Being new, well-anticipated and promoted, the place is packed! Queues pile up during meal times that we ended up sitting at the salad bar where we ironically chose not to order any salads. The seats were full, but the service was not bad despite having to wait a while before being fed. Actually, our orders didn't take that long that we even managed to see the trailers of Captain America at 2pm. So pardon the photos, I was shaking in hunger.
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| Friend: Is that Todd English? Me: No, he has white hair, Todd has black hair. Friend: Oh, maybe that's his father? Me: Maybe? They look the same. Is Todd English a family thing? Friend: I don't know. Me: I don't know either. But I saw his face on a blog. Good enough. ...Ahhh...sweet ignorance. |
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| photo c/o Cesca |
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| Salmon Sushi from the Raw Bar (Php350.00) |
The first thing I noticed about the salmon sushi was how thick the slices were, about 50% thicker than a normal sushi cut. Then, I also noticed how nice the stone plate looks. The wasabi, if I'm not mistaken, is fresh and not the powder kind because it was distinctly good on the nose. The sushi was good, it tasted more salmony than the shake sushi in other restaurants. With the rigs of muscles as seen in the photo, you have to chew it a bit before you feel it melting in your mouth.
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| Tuna Tartar from the Communal (Php280.00) |
The tuna tartar was more on the spicy side, even the three dots on the right seems to threaten my throat. The spice is the kind that makes you cough, not that kind the burns your tongue. It had a slight refreshing taste with the raw fish and cucumber vinegared in stylish fashion. The digicam kept focusing on the green thing in the center...it tasted like liquid guacamole. I say the plating is a little clumsy, but the taste was okay.
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| The Food Hall Burger from The Grill (Php390.00) |
We decided to get the burger because we thought that it's gonna come out in four sliders, a perfect portion for sharing. It turned up as a single burger on a messy bamboo chopping board. The presentation may be sloppy, but dude, the taste was right on the money. It was the best burger patty I had! The meat was cooked medium well and it was seasoned perfectly, but the best part was the meat itself. It was so darn good that I didn't even notice the bun or the other parts of the burger. This is something worth coming back for.
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| Mac n' Cheese with Truffle from Signature Pastas (Php390.00) |
When the pasta dish arrived we immediately laughed, not because it looked funny, but because it was truffle! My friend distinctly said she was having the mac n cheese with crab because we had been having too many truffle experiences in our last lunches that we had been avoiding dishes associated with it. We wanted it to be replaced but we were in a hurry to see Chris Evan's muscles that we chose to eat the dish instead of having to wait again.
Her only comment, "Oh my gosh! I'm cursed with truffles!" After a good laugh, we tried the dish and it tasted like truffles. On the bright side, they used shaved truffles and not just truffle oil, and that made the difference. In fact, the truffle was so distinct that it was the only thing we ever tasted. It overpowered the cheese and the green sauce thingy. I liked it though...but would not finish the entire plate on my own. It is best shared with a friend in my opinion.
My only comment is that there were two flies sharing our dishes when we ate there. It's a big turn-off. Eating at the bar caused for a very limited space and little elbow room as our plates filled the entire area. The servers do try their best to accommodate everyone, the only problem is that you have to spot them first as they have the tendency to disappear.
When the whole commotion eventually settles, I'd probably be back for the burger and try out the dessert.
5/F SkyPark, SM Aura Premiere,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
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