Bonifacio Global City is now a destination for leisure and fun especially for great dining experience. Within The Fort are Burgos Circle, Bonifacio High Street and the Serendra. These areas are greatly visited by people who want to enjoy food at its best. Recently, Tuscany Estates by MegaWorld located in McKinley Hill south of BGC opened and expected to be another addition to the food strips in the area with a lot of restaurants offering different cuisines around the globe.
Anton Diaz, the person behind the website Our Awesome Planet together with RJ Ledesma in cooperation with MegaWorld, launched an event a few weeks ago, the “An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour at Tuscany, McKinley Hill.” Tickets were sold at Php 1,000 with the food tour happening on four Saturdays of December.
What’s great on the restaurants in the area is that no two food places offer the same set of menu. You can expect food offerings from Thai, Mexican, Italian, American, Canadian, Japanese and German cuisines. The food tour started around 2 in the afternoon with RJ Ledesma as the guide in tasting the 20 dishes on 8 different restaurants: LES Bagels, Trattoria Poggio Antico, B&T Mexican Kitchen, Sauceria, Marciano’s, Main Street, Sophie’s Mom and Planet Grapes.
L.E.S BAGELS
For the starters, L.E.S. Bagels that serves New York-inspired bagels with L.E.S. stands for Lower East Side was our first stop. During our visit, they let us try their 14 choices of Cream Cheese filled on different types of bagels: plain, wheat, black Russian, pumpernickel, salt, onion, cinnamon, raisin, garlic and “everything”. The cream cheese selection includes: Plain, Scallion, Garlic and Chive, Vegetable, Herb, Jalapeno Cheddar, Caramelized Onion Raisin, Bacon Cheddar, Sundried Tomato and Basil, Sundried Tomato and Olive, Blueberry, Strawberry, Apple Cinnamon and Lox.
Because of the different types of bagels and cream cheeses, you can create your combination of Cream Cheese in a Bagel (1). I only tried 5 Cream Cheeses (and forgot what types of bagel were used): Blueberry, Strawberry, Apple Cinnamon, Bacon Cheddar and Herb. I love the Blueberry and Strawberry among the five. The cream cheese was overpowered by the bacon on their Bacon Cheddar. Aside from the bagels, we also tried their Caramel White Cholocate Fudge and Regular Fudge which were both yummy.
TRATTORIA POGGIO ANTICO
First batch of appetizers were served at Trattoria Poggio Antico serving Italian cuisines from the name itself which means “a diner on a hill.” A bunch of wine bottles were used to decorate the interior of the restaurant. We were also offered a wine to be paired with the appetizers: Prosciutto con Melone (2), Crespella del Poggio Antico (3), Pomodor e Mozzarella Crostini (4) with assorted pizzetas and Oyster Sur Pate di Fegato (5) (Oyster on Liver Pate). Of the samplers served, my pick was the Crespella del Poggio Antico which is a crepe stuffed with ham and cheese with mushroom in truffle oil. I also suggest the prosciutto.
B&T MEXICAN KITCHEN
After the Italian appetizers, Mexican appetizers for batch 2 were offered at B&T Mexican Kitchen. B&T stands for burritos and tacos, famous Mexican foods. Different sizes of sombreros placed overhead of the counter really add to the Mexican dining experience. Food served were Chipotle Chicken Pizza (6), Mango Glazed Habanero Chicken (7) and Taquitos Especial with Barbacoa (8). The crispy chicken wings glazed in mango sauced were really great. You can compare it to the ordinary Buffalo wings but having the mango taste that adds a unique flavor to the meat.
Their Taquitos Especial is a four-piece fried/torched rolled tortilla filled with mild shredded beef, chipotle adobo, jalapeno peppers, and melted cheddar cheese. On the other hand, the Chipotle Chicken Pizza is a roasted thick tortilla with chipotle adobo sauce, cheese, pico de gallo, chipotle chicken, and mozzarella cheese.
SAUCERIA
The last batch of appetizers was served at Sauceria which implements an artisanal way of preparing dishes. We dined on the second floor of the restaurant with the retro inspired ceiling. Dishes were Tuna Tataki (9), Zaru Soba (10) with homemade wasabi sour cream dip and Feta Cilantro Tomato Cocas (11) presented on a weaved bamboo plating. Tuna Tataki with sesame seeds were really tasty when dipped in their sauce. Since I hate wasabi, I didn’t enjoy the Zaru Soba that much.
MARCIANO’S
Finally, after visiting four restaurants and was already half-full, we had the main course at Marciano’s. It is an Italian-American restaurant which is famous for having a Hollywood-inspired menu. We were able to try their Woody Allen Linguine (12) and Dow Jones (13). Woody Allen Linguine is pasta with Shitake button and oyster mushrooms with prosciutto in truffle cream sauce. Together on the sampler plate is their Dow Jones, a US T-bone steak with a savory sauce on roasted vegetables, potato wedges and a square of their pizza.
MAIN STREET
Next stop for another set of main dish was Main Street, the first Canadian restaurant in the Philippines as per RJ Ledesma. Food served were Poutine (14), a common Canadian dish which is a thick-cut fries with beef gravy and cheese curds and a Wagyu Burger (15), a Kitayama beef in sesame bun and served with tomato relish, cheddar cheese and house sauce.
We were supposed to be trying out their Organic Maple and Candied Bacon Artisan Ice Cream but due to the unavailability of some ingredients, we were only able to sample their S’mores ice cream (16) having the right amount of sweetness well complemented with the marshmallow and chocolate bits.
SOPHIE’S MOM
Additional desserts were offered at Sophie’s Mom, a very homey and artsy place to hang-out along the food strip with its cute pink motif. They let us taste their specialty Oreo Cheesecake Cookie (17) and the Flourless Chocolate Cupcake (18), a dark chocolate terrine with salted caramel whipped cream.
PLANET GRAPES
Last part of the food tour was wine pairing courtesy of Planet Grapes, where you can have wine without the drama. We were allowed to try one red wine (19) and one white wine (20) during our stay in their store. I tried Chateau Tire Pe Diem Merlot 2011 which is a great pair for baked chicken, grilled beef, spicy pasta dishes with mild cheeses. For the white wine, I sampled the Crane Lake Moscato 2011 which is perfect for desserts like pies, cakes and breads as well as for berries and salads.
Aside from the wines, Planet Grapes also offers platters that can be paired along with the wines.
Joining the food tour was an awesome experience because you will be given the chance to try 20 dishes from 8 different restaurants that were properly curated by Mr. AwesomePlanet himself to ensure that participants will get to try different cuisines from around the world that are being offered in Tuscany. Aside from this, the owners of the restaurants were also present to share their concepts in putting up these food places as well as their processes in coming up with the food they offer.
