Local Euro Trip

Many of us would want to experience the most talked about “EURO trip”. I could say it’s in everybody’s bucket list. Most of us would want to explore Europe; their history, culture, and offcourse their Food.

Food lovers like me are into their cuisine. Europe, especially France is where our culinary history started and moulded the different cuisines around the world today.

Here in the Philippines, a lot of restaurants have opened and revived classical European dishes or what we call haute cuisine. There is one in particular that satisfied my appetite for French classical cuisine, it’s in the heart of Makati near Rockwell called “Savoy Bistro”. Their dishes are inspired by the early European cuisine.

Chef Robert Liyla a Swiss chef residing in the Philippines for more than 20 years whose owner of the restaurant introduced us to his classical European cuisine. It caught my attention when he was talking about his menu; it was dated back since 1837. In my mind, I was thinking that he had a lengthy research and kitchen test development of his recipes. He humbles me because up to now he still calls himself a “cook” regardless of his years working as a chef.

The place was stylish, dimmed lights in some areas, good for bringing a date or chilling out with friends after a long day at work. There is also an art gallery located at the second floor, for artists and art enthusiasts.

                                                              Dining Area

The service was great; it made me feel that we were looked after. They made sure that our glass was always full and chef always went around our table to check on us and ask us how the food was.  Well the food was always sumptuous.

He served our table 4 courses; appetizer, fish course, meat course, and dessert course by the end of the night we were all full but we wanted more. 

For his appetizer, we had mussels in white wine and cream with an accompaniment of bread. As the food arrived on our table, I can smell the aroma of the dish; it tickled my taste buds as soon as I’ve tasted it. The dish was simple, only a few ingredients were added like shallots white wine and cream for the sauce and there I remembered the saying “less is more”, the flavours of the ingredients were not over powering each other.

For the seafood course, we had poached sole fish with lobster bisque and mashed potatoes. This dish was “to die for!” Everything at the moment was perfect, the texture of the fish was soft, the mashed potato was creamy and to complete it, the lobster bisque lifts up the flavour of the dish. My plate was clean afterwards J

           Poached fish with Lobster bisque and mashed potato

By the time the meat course was served, I was halfway full but I still had the appetite. As soon as the grilled beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce and ox tail with pimento risotto was laid on our table, my eyes feasted on the looks of it and there I was indulging myself with another classical dish by chef Robert. The grilled beef tenderloin had a kick into it because of the peppercorn; the doneness of the meat was medium rare, how I normally eat my steaks. The braised oxtail was so soft that it fell of the bone and it really went well with the pimento risotto that had a hint of Parmesan cheese in the end.

                                          Grilled Beef Tenderloin Steak with Peppercorn sauce

                                                 Braised ox tail with pimento risotto

Finally for our last course, we had a tasting dessert plate sample. It had dark chocolate mousse, passion fruit Pavlova, classic crème brulee, and cranberry cheese cake. His desserts were all good and was not too sweet. The classic crème brulee was so smooth that it melts in your mouth and won’t taste any eggy flavour in it. The passion fruit was fresh and had pulps, it made me reminisce my days when I was studying in Le cordon Bleu, opening up a fresh passion fruit and slurping its pulps and juices.  I even asked chef Robert were he gets his produce and his reply was “I get everything abroad and have it flown in the Philippines”, so basically I am eating authentic European dishes in the heart of Makati.

                                                      Passion Fruit Pavlova and Chocolate Mousse

                                                     Creme Brulee

                                                   Cranberry Cheesecake

Dining in Savoy Bistro gave me an impression that I can still experience the great European culinary adventure without spending a lot of money traveling half way around the world just to taste their cuisine. Chef Robert who’s passionate about his work and creation brings it here for us.  

                                    Dining at Savoy bistro with Ayunan Gunting, Chino, and Chester Dapo 

Savoy Bistro Makati is open Monday - Sunday 11:30 am-2:30 pm & 6:00pm-10pm

For reservations call: 896-5667.

Bon Appetit!