Culinary Superlatives

아로스 칼도 – 제대로 일하고 싶어하는 사람은 거의 없고, 우리는 해요.

롱가니자 – 필리핀식 아침 소시지 중 최고입니다. 우리 식료품 저장실에서 만든, 약간 마른 편이고, 단맛이 살짝 나고 매콤한 맛이 납니다. 아무도 이보다 더 잘 만들지 못합니다. 겸손하게 알려드립니다.

망고 – 신맛이 나고 단단하며 섬유질이 거의 없는 세부 망고는 멕시코나 아프리카의 가난한 친척들과는 전혀 다르며, 감정가들 사이에서 세계 표준으로 간주됩니다.

드워프 파인애플 – 과육이 아닌 바삭바삭한 맛, 그리고 자연스럽게 달콤합니다. 심지어 껍질도 맛있습니다. 의심할 여지 없이 지구상에서 가장 좋은 파인애플이며 세부와 인근 섬에서만 판매됩니다(마닐라는 확실히 아닙니다).

엔사이마다 – 오래된 레시피를 사용하여 만든 우리 제과점에서 만든 것입니다. 배경에 관계없이 모든 어린이에게 사랑받고 있습니다.

크루아상 – 가볍고, 얇고, 버터리하지만 기름지지 않습니다. 파리에서 이보다 더 나은 크루아상을 찾는 건 어려울 겁니다. (사실, 우리는 한 번도 본 적이 없습니다.) 저희 파티시에가 직접 만든 크루아상입니다(리조트에서 제공하는 모든 빵, 페이스트리, 디저트도 마찬가지입니다).

Pan de Sal – 아마도 제대로 만든 마지막 남은 필리핀식 아침 식사 빵일 것입니다. 쫄깃하고, 늘어나며, 미묘한 밀 맛이 납니다. 필리핀 손님 중 일부는 집에 가져갈 12개씩 주문합니다.

Prawns Tempura at Fiji – Tiger prawns almost as big as chicken drumsticks, coated in rice-flour batter and deep-fried. Certainly the best in the country, our tempura would hold its own in Tokyo, or anywhere.

Black Lechon at Themed Dinner Buffet – Roast suckling pig, cooked on the premises using our own special recipe and cooking process. Cebu roast pig is widely-regarded by Filipinos as the best in the country, and Plantation Bay’s is about as good as Cebu gets.

The World’s Best Kare-Kare at Kilimanjaro – Philippine oxtail stew with banana flowers in peanut sauce, served with shrimp paste on the side. There’s nothing quite like this dish anywhere else in the world, and ours is the World’s Best. Messy and fun: eat with a spoon, and leave the Hermes ties and scarves at home.

Hand-Prepared Caesar Salad at Palermo – Nothing like American Caesar Salad, the Philippine version (some would say, original) is thick, creamy, garlicky, lemony, and piquant. This dressing doesn’t keep at all, and so must be prepared from scratch each time it is ordered. When our waiters are having a good day, our Caesar outshines the best from Manila; on a bad day, it’s still better than anything east of the Pacific.

Spaghetti Carbonara at Palermo – Almost exactly like the best in Rome, but richer.

San Francisco Bay Style Calamari Tenders at Palermo – A sweet, tender, crusty calamari treat, with our own special savory sauces.

Bicol Express at Fiji – Succulent pork, coconut milk, and chile come together in a regional favorite, but less spicy than usual.

Beef Steak Teriyaki at Fiji – Juicy tenderloin cubes with the full flavor of the Japanese hibachi original.

Spaghetti Peperoncino at Kilimanjaro – This classic spaghetti dish also known as ‘Spaghetti al Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino’, is made only of simple ingredients, fresh sliced garlic sautéed in fine olive oil though not browned, chopped mild green chilis, and crushed black pepper. It is usually finished with shaved Pecorino cheese. We put more ingredients into our dish than Italians normally do, giving it a stronger, “in your face” flavor, that you absolutely won’t find a match to in Italy. So, it’s not “authentic”, but it’s better.

Kagoshima Wagyu Sirloin at Palermo – World’s Best Non-Japanese Method of Cooking Japanese Specialty Beef. In Japan, their super-marbled beef is prepared on a low-heat teppanyaki cooking surface, usually done Medium Rare, with the fat trimmings mostly discarded. Here at Plantation Bay, we have a totally different take on how to extract maximum flavor out of the world’s richest beef — by char-broiling at High Flame to make a Maillard crust, then continuing to cook on Low until Well-Done. (Ignorant meat purists can stop reading now.) This results in an incomparable meaty flavor contrasted with burst-in-your-mouth pockets of seared fat. It’s an emotional, mystical experience.

Chile con Carne – Our meat is diced, not ground, and we use just the right amount of chili powder and other condiments, kidney beans, and fresh bell peppers (“chile” means pepper as in bell pepper, or is a shorthand way of referring to the whole dish; “chili” is a spice). Then we mix in yesterday’s leftovers and simmer for hours. Trust us, this is the way to do it. South-of-the-border purists might not be impressed by our “moderately spicy” chile, but if your standards are based on what’s generally available in Los Angeles or in cans, this is as good as it gets.

Hot Dogs – Really! We didn’t make them, but we searched high and low for the world’s best, and came up with a tie: Hebrew National Jumbo (all-beef), and Armour Kielbasa (beef, pork, and turkey). Then we went through a heck of a lot of trouble importing them. Plantation Bay is the only place in Asia (and probably the US, too, for all we know) which serves the two best hot dogs in the world.

Barcelona Breakfast – Our take on the Barcelona favorite, with the ordinary-sounding ingredients turned into something magical.

Char-broiled Hamburger – Our patties are made in-house with a precise blend of different cuts of beef, and go through a multi-stage grinding process to assure the right texture and cohesion. Then they’re seared over a real fire, with the flames licking all around. In all our travels in America, we haven’t found any burger, anywhere, at any price, as outright delicious as ours. And you can quote us on that.

Three Chocolate Fascination at Fiji – Know what Guy Lian Fruits de Mer Belgian chocolates are? Our mousse cake is built on a similar concept, layering white, milk, and dark chocolate flavors in a single chocolate-lovers’ delight.

Home-made Ice Cream available in all restaurants – Extra rich and extra creamy Homemade Ice Cream (Peanut Butter Chocolate, Vanilla, Mango, Strawberry, Jackfruit, and Ube).

Crepes Samurai at Fiji – Just about the most mouth-filling and refined way to enjoy mangoes.

HALO-HALO SUNDAE at Kilimanjaro – Halo-Halo: the term means “mixed up” and this is a mixture of Filipino fruit preserves and custard. The favorite Filipino dessert, and we make it even better. All ice cream instead of shaved ice.

Stonehenge Fudge at Kilimanjaro – Architecturally speaking, a magnificent erection.

Flaming Alaska Resurrection at Fiji or Palermo – An old-fashioned dessert “resurrected” with extra-thick merengue coating a home-made ice cream core, the “igloo” then flamed at your table. Enough for two, a memorable indulgence for one.