business Archives - Between Bites - Bites of Food, Travel and Lifestyle

Leaving No Steaks Unturned at House of Wagyu Stone Grill

January 21, 2015 by Janey

First time I dined at House of Wagyu Stone Grill was back in 2009 at their Eastwood branch while the last time I visited was in late October last year, this time at their Greenhills branch. The restaurant still boasts of its handsome sophisticated interiors highlighted by their chiller inside the dining room which displays their select wines and Wagyu beef.

Stone Grill’s culinary focus is their Wagyu beef and its signature style of cooking the beef tabletop on top of a hot stone grill. Wagyu beef is considered a premium cut of beef due to its exquisite marbling. Beef lovers will find satisfaction in the range of Wagyu beef available at House of Wagyu Stone Grill.

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Wagyu Stone Grill

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Pleased to note that attentiveness and attention to detail are still apparent in their service. What I particularly like about House of Wagyu is the ability to leave the cooking preference of your steak unto your own hands.

On the Table

Oyster Rockefeller Php 500

One of my favorite apps at House of Wagyu Stone Grill is their Oyster Rockefeller. Topped with white sauce, salty bacon bites and Parmesan cheese then baked to perfection with little burnt cheese parts that I love. I can finish one whole plate by myself.

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Gambas

Another one of my favorite starters

Traditional Caesar Salad Php 300

Romaine lettuce, croutons, bacon and freshly shaved Parmesan. It was light, fresh and crisp with spears of sharp flavors from the bacon and Parmesan shaves.

Mitsuyado Seimen Ramen, House of Tsukemen

December 3, 2012 by Janey

I dig deep in my pockets with a semi-chilled hand struggling to grab some yen. It’s 2 degrees outside and my bones are shivering in the cold. My buddy and I have passed a few restaurants and have peered at many glass displays of plastic laminated dishes. My mind calculated conversions several times and finally, I was ready to enter the opened door covered in black clothe and finally order dinner.

I enter a recently opened restaurant along Jupiter Street and I thought I was right smack back in a street alley in Tokyo, Japan 6 years ago. There is a street cart, a barbershop, store fronts, cobblestones around that give an illusion of being in the country of the Rising Sun with ninjas waiting to slide down the roof shutters and pounce on you with karate chops.

The only stretching of the fingers happening here is my balancing act of holding chopsticks while picking food off my plate or soup bowl.

UCC Coffee franchised Mitsuyado Seimen from Japan and made it available locally. Let’s see what it has to offer.

On the table

Karashi Tsukemen P250 / regular

Mitsuyado Seimen Ramen with a sub line of House of Tsukumen makes me deduce its specialty is Tsukumen. I hit google and typed the word on the box. Tsukemen literally means dipping noodles. Noodles are served with dipping soup and toppings on the side, deviating from the usual way the Japanese eat ramen.

Cold noodles lay on a white plate with a bowl of soup or more appropriately, dipping sauce. The way I ate it was to pick up the noodles with my chopsticks and lower it on the red dipping sauce. I watch as the semi-thick noodles slither in the small bowl absorbing what it can from it swimming spree. I take a bite of the newly soaked noodles and a sip of the soup and enjoy the chewy texture and spicy flavor.

Marutoku P80

If you feel you want more toppings on your Tsukumen, order the Marutoku which is a small plate of all extra things you might need to accompany your ramen or Tsukumen, like yasai or chopped sautéed veggies, seaweed, char siu or pork slice, and the soft boiled Japanese egg.

Pick Up Sticks at Yakitori Kitchen, Grilled Meats at its Best

January 12, 2012 by Janey

After much loved visits at Yurakuen for their all-you-can-eat Teppanyaki, which I easily rate top of its class, let me draw you to another facet of Japanese cuisine that I’m also a fan of. Yakitori is skewered bite-sized pieces of variety of meat, but chicken is commonly used or chicken offal, and sometimes favored ingredients of garlic, asparagus, enoki mushrooms and the like. These grilled items are placed on small bamboo spits and grilled atop charcoal.

Yakitori is not all about just grilling meats. That specific Monday in December, I visited Yakitori Kitchen, which Richard and I both eyed when we’re at the area (both times dining at L’Entrecote). I came from Kualu Lumpur just hours before dinner and albeit tired, I couldn’t pass up the chance to finally try the newly opened restaurant with the Club. If you know me enough, you know I absolutely love barbecued meats.

Yakitori Kitchen specializes in grilling meats using only export quality ingredients. They also use pink sea salt from South America to season certain barbecued meats, you can immediately taste the difference.

The Wine Museum

February 25, 2010 by Janey

Jayvee invited a few friends to the Wine Museum last Wednesday for an open discussion on promoting travel opportunities in the Philippines with the Travel Cooperative of the Philippines (TCP). TCP’s mission is to help expand the reach of travel co-ops in the Philippines and in other countries.

TCP is the first IATA accredited travel co-op. Robert Lim Joseph, chairman and CEO of TCP, says that the organization aims to educate and train the travel agents, tour operators and other stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry in order to usher a culture of tourism that values love of country.

The Wine Museum has all the tradition, romance, and enchantment of a museum, a hotel and a wine restaurant. It’s a family-oriented establishment with rooms to stay in and good colonial and Spanish cuisines. It also serves as a Wine Education Center where it also houses seminars on proper tasting and the wine industry.

The dining area offers a selection of wines from different countries, which are available by the bottle or glass. They also have a Wine Station where the wines are dispensed by a computerized wine vending machine imported from Napa Valley, California.

On the Table

Gambas Al Ajillo PHP 100 – PHP 300

Paella PHP 220 – PHP 580

Sole Fish (I forgot to take note of the name)

Crispy Toro PHP 270

Malunggay Lemon Drink

Quite refreshing!

(I wasn’t able to take note of the wines they served us or the strawberry coffee liquor -long day at work, that’s my excuse)

Service is friendly and professional. Other than the delectable Spanish food, wine enthusiasts are provided a choice of 24 wines at anytime for tasting in glass sizes of 25ml, 75ml and 150ml.

The Wine Museum

2253 Aurora Boulevard (formerly Tramo Road)

Pasay City, Manila

(632) 853 5894

The Wine Museum Album

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Wagyu Stone Grill

August 20, 2009 by Janey

From the same group that brought you Melo’s, Wagyu Stone Grill is situated at the far end corner of the new Eastwood Mall. Despite not in main sight of the general vicinity of the other restaurants, Stone Grill is creating a major buzz in its little corner. The glass door leads you to its reception where chillers for wine and Wagyu beef are visible on each side. The high ceiling, wooden floors and low lights emphasize the handsome sophisticated interior, as well as the pint of brown and white.

Stone Grill’s culinary focus is their Wagyu beef and its manner of cooking. Wagyu beef is considered premium cut of beef grown from the Wagyu breed of cattle that was before exclusively raised in Kobe, Japan. It is world-renowned due to its exquisite marbling, which is usually graded at 12, compared to American Prime beef graded at 6. Despite the intense marbling that translates to higher fat content, the fat is different from more traditional cattle meat since its mono-unsaturated fat.

On the Table

Green Peas Soup

The order of Wagyu comes with 2 orders of Soup of the Day. The green color sets off an impressionable dreadful tone –reminiscent of vegetable soups kids avoid. It is quite suggestive of bland green peas pureed into a soup with croutons on top. Despite lacking in excitement, the warm potage was still a welcome enjoyment before the main entrée.

Pasta Pomodoro PHP 350

Their pasta pomodoro is a very simple pasta dish with plump fresh tomatoes as its sauce. Spaghetti is cooked al dente with fleshy semi-sweet ripe tomatoes that have a lot of sweet tangy flavor.

Chey Samantha Wine PHP 450

French wine that has a hint of raspberry and cherry, very light and enhances the taste of the pasta

Wagyu -New York Strip 350g PHP 1,750 ++ (+ 12% Tax)

The wait staff approaches the table with a reddish pink slab of marbled meat, lean and not heavily marbled. He places it on top of the scorching stone block and advises us not to let the meat remain too long on one side. Watch the stone grill in action as it sears the wagyu and create an outer brown crust differentiating the tanned (medium) against the pink (rare) part.

The siding on a white plate included deep fried potato wedges that had the right amount of saltiness and tasty vegetables cooked in olive oil, crunchy soft texture.

The stone grill allows flexible cooking variations –rare, medium, medium-rare and medium-well depending on your liking. Be sure to be aware of how soon the meat cooks. Seize it from the stone once desired doneness is attained. Rare to medium-rare can release that inner carnivore in you.

This very rich cut of meat should deservedly be the most expensive cut as the Wagyu delicately melts in your mouth in rich luxurious quality.

I prefer my meat with a tad more fat in it, but since Stone Grill’s version is on the lean side, flavor can be quite limiting, thus seasoning with a pinch of natural sea salt and pepper is only but likely. The exceptional meat has that velvety goodness that bleeds with mouth-watering delight.

350 grams is equivalent to 12 ounces, which is good to share for a hungry two. The price at PHP 1,750 (approx. US $ 35) is not so bad. The only gripe is prices are exclusive of VAT, which sort of blindside you a little despite the fine note on the menu (aren’t menu prices required to be VAT-inclusive already? The only thing one should calculate for is SC –service charge). 220 grams go for PHP 1,095. The dinner set us back by PHP 3,000.

Wagyu combinations are also available. Pair your 180g New York Strip/Top Sirloin/Ribeye Wagyu with choice of one dish: Pasta Pomodoro, Pasta Alfredo, pan seared scallops, fish and chips, siding of the day, or king prawn. The serving is good for one so it might be more prudent to order the meat and pasta separately to share.

Adequate service is apparent with the wait staff being very attentive with a smile to your table needs without being intrusive and overeager. Despite a not so extensive menu, Stone Grill is a must-try for beef lovers since it offers excellent Wagyu that increases eating quality through the beef’s tenderness, juiciness and naturally enhanced flavor where cooking can be left unto your hands.