The Gallery by Chele

We booked for a Friday night at 7pm, but we arrived late past 8pm but they were kind enough to let us still have the Ten Course Tasting Menu with Wine pairing. Because in the morning when I called and asked “what if we ran late?” The receptionist told me that if we arrived past 8pm, our Ten course would be downgraded to an Eight course, as the time for preparation would also be adjusted.

Welcome – We have the welcome drink of their in house homemade kombucha, served in the classic look-alike bottle of a San Mig Pale Pilsen. I usually hate Kombucha, but this one was good.

Garden – Next, we go to their garden, we were served with this flower bloom tied with a leaf and there was vegetable inside which I didn’t pay attention to when the chef was talking.

Stvdio Lab – 3rd was scallop on top of a lumpia wrapper shaped with like those cupcake ridges, and topped off with some sort of cream or froth, which was a bit much and it overpowered the main star, which was the scallop.

Travels – This was the best of the 6 that were served. Its a cherry tomato infused with pork sinigang. They covered the outer layer with a mixture of something so that the soup would not seep out of the tomato. And mind you, the tomato was peeled. Now I know what Remy (Ratatouille) felt when he experienced that explosion of flavor.

Heritage – for this one, we were sat down and served on our table. Kare-kare bombom, a beef stew served inside a crunchy sort of cacao ball paired with their homemade bagoong with fresh mayo on the side. There was also this crunchy yellow ball with something yellow on top, looked like a small egg yolk, it didn’t taste anything notably.

Lutong Bahay – This was the one I liked the least. It was a green, sort of their version of Chawan Mushi, but when they poured in the soup. Mine didn’t blend so well even when I mixed it, maybe others loved it.

Tropical Ceviche
Oyster – banana – cacao

This was a cold dish and I loved it, the banana was also not overpowering, it blended so well that you could just taste a hint of banana.

Crab XO
Dashi – Ikura – Citrus

The crab was underneath this rich Ikura (red caviar) topped with Dashi (japanese stock for making Miso soup) with a touch of citrus to top it off. At first, my wife thought it would be too salty because of the Dashi, but she was surprised that it wasn’t, and it was so good.

Palawan Lobster
Uni – Potato – Calamansi

This was so good I was tempted to ask for white rice, though my wife stopped me. Normally, I’m not a fan of uni, mainly because of its texture and taste. However, they made it work here, the sauce and the potato, from what I understood, was the base of the sauce, and the Lobster was nestled in the middle of that rich yellow pond.

Fired! Pulpo
Octopus – Chicken Jus – Papaya

One thick, but short, octopus tentacle over chicken jus sauce. I thought it would be too salty, but the papaya mixed in with the Jus balanced the saltiness out.

Grouper Pilpil
Coconut – Collagen – Kailan

Coconut water with collagen topped over a perfectly cooked grouper, the kailan vegetable, which the stalks of it were normally crunchy was cooked so well that there were no bite to it, it felt like we were eating spinach.

Duck Roselle
Cacao – Banana – Hibiscus

A perfectly cooked duck with Roselle glaze, one the sides were two slices of cooked bananas and a generous cut of cacao to balance the savory taste of the duck. The presentation though I wasn’t very pleased about.

Pineapple Sponge
Dalandan – Dill – Granita

This was very refreshing and a great palate cleanser. The acidity was enough and the coldness was refreshing.

Wagyu A5
Beef Emulsion – Onion – Black Garlic

This was a bit of a disappointment, aside from the serving size, which was a given. They’d serve you with Beef emulsion, and not a real cut of beef. For context, beef emulsions are a combination of finely chopped meat and fat, usually used in making bologna, sausage and meatloaf. It was too savory and the rice that came with it was salty as well.

Mucilage
Meringue – Sorbet – Ganache

I told my wife and told her that starting tonight, I want my Koko Kruch to be served like this! Because the meringue looked like giant Koko Krunch flakes. Kidding aside, the meringue was soft and combined well with the sorbet that was inside.

Chocolate
Cardamom – Kombucha – Nibs

This was too sweet for our taste, even when you say that the purpose of the Kombucha was to balance the sweetness out. Even the Kombucha was a different one from our welcome drink, this one tasted like vinegar of some sort. I only had a bite and a sip of it. They also served a bibinka with cheese on top, as with the above, it was too sweet for my taste.

For the wine pairing, I forgot which one was paired with which, but the photo here was served in order (left to right). Their pairings were great by the way.

Its an additional payment if you want to have the wine pairing.