Festive Feasts from Five Renowned Chefs

The trees are lighting up! Holiday songs play on repeat, festive feasts adorn tables, and social calendars fill up fast.

The holiday spirit is in full gear and there’s no stopping it! Preparations and reservations must be made early to avoid the rush. Naturally, a big part of the holidays is planning where to dine. After all, the Yuletide season is a time to rekindle our relationships with family and friends. What better way to do that than doing so over good food paired with great conversations this Christmas?

To help you decide where to book those all-too-important gatherings, here is a dining guide to some of the best holiday menus in Manila that esteemed chefs have prepared.

China Blue by Jereme Leung

Up the ante and treat your loved ones to a symphony of delightful flavors as conducted by no less than China Blue’s Executive Chef Eng Yew Khor. In terms of style and presentation, Chef Khor ably brings to life the culinary vision of Asian cuisine pioneer Chef Jereme Leung who is regarded as one of the world’s best chefs.

Luxury envelops you from the minute you step inside the establishment to the time you take your seat and marvel at the glorious view of the bay. The blue cascading iridescent light fixtures bode of fortunate things to come (and they do!). So you can’t help but sit in anticipation.

This year, loyal patrons and new diners alike will experience a gastronomic journey as they partake of the Christmas and New Year Set menu of China Blue. “I will use different cooking techniques to highlight the individual dishes. For Christmas, the deep fried lobster salad sets the tone for the rest of the set. For New Year, it’s the roasted suckling pig with crispy mantou sheet that takes center stage,” according to the Malaysian-Chinese chef. Both dishes symbolize plentiful blessings and prosperity. Meanwhile, wok fried rice (unity) with Chinese sausage, BBQ pork and egg white pearl is present in the first menu. And the year starter set features crystal noodles (long life) with chicken sha cha. 

Extraordinary Culinary Celebrations

We were lucky to sample the New Year Set menu and were blown away after just the first bite of the suckling pig. How to achieve crispy skin yet keep the sinful layer of fat in between that and the succulent pork meat underneath? Only Chef Khor and his team knows. Outstanding dishes for us include the roasted duck with special lychee sauce. Additionally, there’s the steamed king prawn with coriander green lime sauce, and the deep fried garoupa with mango calamansi sauce. Already on a Chinese cuisine all-time high, we were astounded by the dessert which came in a big bowl. The chilled white coffee pudding with salted butter caramel bubble pearl is perhaps the best dessert we’ve ever had. The combination of flavors and textures in this seemingly simple saccharine-bitter bonne bouche is simply divine. 

China Blue by Jereme Leung is located on the 3^rd level of Conrad Manila, Seaside Boulevard, Pasay. For reservations, call 0917 6504043.

Sanso Café

Next is Café Sanso’s menu. It’s an inspired ode to the the bright, surreal landscape artworks of revered Spanish painter Juvenal Sanso. Located right next to Fundacion Sanso in San Juan, the café and the museum enjoy a symbiotic relationship where visitors of the museum head to the dining place after a visit and vice versa. “We served purely Spanish cuisine when we opened in 2014. But through the years, our menu has evolved to neo-Spanish-Filipino – developed to satisfy the palates of our clientele. This fusion marries traditional Spanish dishes and Filipino flavors. One paella dish has a heaping pan of saffron rice topped with steak and a 12inch bone marrow. Like a work of art, I want my food to evoke a multitude of feelings,” says Executive Chef JB Calungcaguin.

Passionately Meticulous

The café’s unassuming façade belies its extraordinary and unique food offerings. There is no calorie counting here! Learning of the place by word of mouth or through mouthwatering posts on social media, guests come here hungry and expectant. And so did we. We love the crowd favorite roast beef with bone marrow sinigang served with gravy infused with the sour broth, the surprisingly crispy skinned and citrusy chicken inasal, the sisig y liempo de papel, the thrice cooked churassco pork belly, and the paellas.

Even the dessert deserves high praise. The inventive 24karat Jamon Serrano bibingka is all at once fluffy, savory (the not-too-salty salted egg sits at the bottom of the 4-inch high delicacy), and sweet (once dipped in the caramel sauce and topped with a thin slice of Asiago cheese). Every bite feels like Christmas morning in a spoon!

Sanso Café is located at 32 V. Cruz St., Baranggay Sta. Lucia, San Juan. For Reservations, call (02) 700 40093.

Prologue D’Fined 

Every day is a special celebration of fine food at Prologue D’Fined. Conveniently located inside a posh BGC mall, the fourth iteration of the Prologue brand offers a repertoire of elevated dishes uniquely interpreted by acclaimed Japanese Chef Hiroyuki Meno. “Here at Prologue D’Fined, we promote freshness, exquisite flavors achieved through layers of textures, and inventiveness in every dish. All of our ingredients come from the finest sources. Truffles, for example, are flown in from France. Hokkaido scallops are harvested from the northernmost islands of Japan. And our authentic wagyu come from Oita prefecture,” narrates Chef Meno.

Exciting & Unexpected Flavors

Our picks from the menu include the pumpkin flower tempura (appetizer) made from stuffed scallop and shrimp mousse inside sweet padron peppers and laced with turmeric aioli and cream. The  flavorful roasted pumpkin soup with coconut foam and goji berry was heaven in a bowl! And the unassuming potato gnocchi made from spinach and artichoke, tomato confit and paired with parmesan crisp are favorites.

If you want a more filling pasta choice, then order the beef garganelli. This star of this dish is the rich beef cheek burgundy sauce with mushroom, topped with tomato cream foam and tomato crisp. For mains, you must try the melt-in-your-mouth Japanese A5 beef which is a perfect 10 in our books! Accompanying the dish is a side of onion compote and arugula wasabi relish.

The buttery, tender cubes dish is well worth its hefty P3,300 price tag as it delivers a singular gastronomic experience unlike any other. The steak frites charcoal grilled US ribeye 300g is also excellent and best eaten with your choice of wine.

Prologue D’ Fined is in Grand Central Park Ground Floor, Mitsukoshi Mall 8^th Avenue, corner 36^th St. Taguig. For Reservations, call 0927-3225052.

Guevarra’s by Chef Laudico

Aptly named after the street where the American Colonial house is located, Guevarra’s has been serving its well-loved dishes buffet style for a solid decade. We visited on a random Saturday evening and were surprised to find the sprawling compound teeming with people. The main hall was packed — with more eager guests waiting outside for their time slot. Believe it! This neighborhood gem has become so famous that families need to make reservations in advance!

Filipino Classics at its Finest

Behind the success of Guevarra’s is the husband and wife team of Chef Roland and Chef Jacqueline Laudico. Studying first at the Culinary Institute of America, he then worked in France before heading home. She is a skilled baker having trained under French Master Chefs abroad. Together, the two have built certainly a laudable following via Chef Roland’s exceptional savory dishes and Chef Jac’s baked wonders.

“We make everything from scratch. No shortcuts in our kitchen. No buillons, no canned vegetables. We even make our own peanut butter and bagoong (fish paste) for the kare-kare! Meron din kaming sariling lechon-an sa likod. Guevarra’s also takes pride in sourcing our produce directly from our partner farming communities as well as from our trusted meat and fish vendors. This way, we practice fair trade, sustainability, and are able to offer our food at competitive prices,” says the couple. 

Local Faves

At just P799 a plate, guests get to enjoy everything on the buffet tables that run the entire length of both sides of a long hallway. Forefront is one of the best carving stations we’ve seen. A big slab of roast beef, two extra large crispy belly rolls and a perfectly roasted pig with glistening crispy skin (lechon!) were the main draws that night. Our favorites are the seafood paella, chicken satay, the Japanese station, and the delectable mango sans rival cake. The birthday ditty was sang a total of five times during our 2-hour stay which only proves that Guevarra’s is the place to hold celebrations. 

Guevarra’s By Chef Laudico is located at 387 P. Guevarra St., corner Argonne St., San Juan. For reservations, call 0917 311 2222.

The most important spirit of Christmas is enjoyed through food!

Whether it’s a meal for two or a party for 20, a budget of a thousand or fifty thousand. Remember the true spirit of Christmas is spending time with our loved ones to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Cheers to everybody! Merry Christmas and a Bountiful 2024!

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