Classic Beef Wellington

By: The Moody Critic

At last, a restaurant that really knows how to cook steak!

I asked for a medium well steak and what did I get? A genuine medium well with a meat done throughout and with a slight hint of pink at the center and wrapped in a dura mater of puff pastry. With its glistening brown exterior, the sear was indisputably superb. You might forget your name as you take a bite of such tender and succulent meat. 

What is a steak without its sauce? The sauce, the dish's secret recipe for success plunged me into a state of euphoria. Among the variety of sauces, I believe that this one was born to marry this dish. Its diversity in flavor and spices complemented not only the well-seasoned steak but also the creamy mashed potato underneath.

I have searched far and wide for this extremely rare dish and I discovered that only a handful of restaurants serve this dish. A dish that represents tradition, art, and complexity should only be served by a competent restaurant -- a task LULU Restaurant was able to accomplish. 

Presentation: 8.5
Taste: 9.2
Texture and consistency: 8.4
Complexity: 8.5
Value for money: 7.9

Overall rating: 8.7/10
Mood: Euphoric

Resto: LULU Restaurant
Address: G/F V. Corp. Tower, L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village 1200 Makati City, Philippines
Full food name: Classic Beef Wellington
Price: P980.00
Serving: 1-2 person/s

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Philly Cheese Steak

By: The Moody Critic

I started with high hopes but ended up with broken dreams.

The culprit here was none other than the dry, hard, and coarse macrosomic bread. They used a bread which was either too big or too thick. In fact, just eating the sagittal half of the bread with all its filling will suffice. All I tasted in this sandwich was bread, bread, and more bread. The bread clearly overpowered the already limited cheese filling. Sadly, I didn't get that "dangerously cheesy" status by eating this sandwich.

After being served with a stone-cold bread, I therefore conclude that the bread could use some toasting. Applying the laws of thermodynamics, the coffee shop was not even that cold for the sandwich's heat to have easily dissipated.

Don't expect that you'll be using your bare hands with this food. You will need a lot of knife work in eating this sandwich because the bread was too crumbly and the meat and vegetables are all chopped or sliced into pieces. Everything in this sandwich has the the tendency to easily fall on your shirt. But on the positive side, at least the zucchini, tomato, and onion were not overwhelming in taste and quantity.

Lastly, after tasting those fries, I am sincerely hoping they didn't just use some take-out fries from a well-known fast-food chain which already served billions and billions.

Presentation: 7.4
Taste: 5.8
Texture and consistency: 4.2
Serving size: 9.3
Value for money: 7.3

Overall rating: 6.3/10
Mood: DISAPPOINTED

Resto: Baang Coffee
Address: 258 D Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Scout Fernandez St., Quezon City
Full food name: Philly Cheese Steak
Price: P160.00

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Angus Au Jus

By: The Moody Critic

Every time I eat at Racks, Angus Au Jus never fails to be included in my eating program. One simply cannot deny or ignore the quality of a genuine Angus beef.

Without any sauce, any sidings, or any elaborate plating, the Angus beef can definitely stand alone on the plate. The way the meat was seasoned was very remarkable. It is delicious on its own and any sauce would just serve as a bonus. Even if I would asked for a well-done steak, the meat would still remain very tender and juicy.

This dish comes with two sidings of choice. I would almost always choose mashed potato and macaroni & cheese out of the variety of sidings because of their caloric value. But if you're on the heavier side, veggie siding is the way to go!

I found the mashed potato shockingly lumpy and watery. Moreover, it was made very bland given that it has no accompanying gravy. The macaroni & cheese was basically "okay" but the macaroni was slightly undercooked. I almost knocked the living daylights of the waiter because my mac & cheese still had the bacon bits after I specifically asked him not once, but twice to remove them.

With an average size of around 13 cm x 10 cm x 1.7 cm, this beef dish can surely say "shut up and eat!". Sometimes, I would even fast for a whole day just to allot space for this dish because I usually had problems in ambulating afterwards due to my overly distended stomach.

Choice of side dishes:

1. Baked Beans
2. Corn Bread
3. Potato Salad
4. Gravy Fries
5. Mac and Cheese
6. Corn on the Cob
7. Coleslaw
8. Garlic Mashed Potato
9. Buttered Vegetables
10. Pasta Salad

Choice of Sauce:

1. Au Jus (comes with the dish) - Red wine plus the Angus beef's own juice
2. Racks' original barbeque sauce regular (on the table)
3. Racks' original barbeque sauce extra hot (on the table)

Presentation: 6.5
Taste: 8.3
Texture and consistency: 7.5
Complexity: 7.2
Value for money: 8.1

Overall rating: 7.7/10
Mood: Satisfied

Resto: Racks
Address: Ground floor, Entertainment mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
Full food name: Angus Au Jus
Price: P680.00

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