Cafe Ysabel

March 07, 2016 Phantasm Darkstar 0 Comment(s)

It was my first time to attend a lunch foodie meetup with Zomato and my experience was phenomenal. I used to receive invites but it always had a conflict with my schedule. It's a great thing that I was free on this time of day. 

Zomato held a foodie meetup at Cafe Ysabel and it was an honor for me to be invited there; together with Zomato's top reviewers and bloggers.

Located at 455P. Guevarra Street, Addition Hills, San Juan City, Cafe Ysabel is housed in an authentic 1902 ancestral home for about thirty years. Furnished with turn of the century tables and lamps, the restaurant gives a romantic vintage ambiance. 

Four Seasons. Four seasons with whipped cream and midori on top. Fresh and creamy, made extra luscious with the whip and midori. Suits me well because I'm a whipped cream addict. 

Vegetable Bread. This was a complimentary dish while we wait for the food to be served. It goes well with their olive oil dip. It was really good that we still asked for more throughout our meal. Smells enticing as well. 

Jake and Christine's Crisp Smoked Fish Wantons in Salsa Verde. I liked how they came up with their variation of wantons; deep fried, the filling is fish instead of pork, and with salsa rather than the usual wanton sauce. It's a bit salty but good enough to stimulate your appetite. 

Bobby Chinn's Pizza. A flat bread of goat and fresh cheese, smoked tomatoes, fresh arugula and red wine shallots and prosciutto. Tastes good and the arugula are really fresh and crunchy which give a contrast of texture with the dough. 

Silk Road Salad. Crunchy and exotic textures of oriental sausage, noodles, apricots, smoked salmon, mango and greens in an apple spice dressing. We had a little difficulty dividing this among the group because of how it was plated, but it really looks beautiful. There is a mix of flavors that contrast each other: from the salmon, to the sausage, and the sweetness of the mango. Very creative but I find it average.

Juan Sole's Roulade. Served with crabmeat, spinach puree and hollandaise. This is definitely my fave pick. I'm not sure if it was 100% pure crab meat because it had more of those artificial crab sticks, but it tastes absolutely good. Soft and delightful; looks light to eat but totally satiating. 

Capampangan Caldereta. Tender braised goat meat in red wine and olives served with saffron rice. I was surprised that they used goat meat for the caldereta so it tastes a bit different from the beef caldereta of which most Filipinos are used to. The taste of the saffron rice did not seem to differ from the plain rice, though. 

CYB (Cafe Ysabel Burger). A double patty burger with foie gras, roasted onions and peppercorn gravy served with truffle fries. This luxurious dish, foie gras on the burger and truffle on the fries makes it expensive. I like that their burger and fries are not oily but it still tastes average. 

Peter Pan Pie. Chocolate ice cream, butterscotch and Belgian chocolate in a cookie crust. They did not call this Peter Pan Pie for no reason. It reminds you of childhood and brings you to Neverland.

Junjun's Chocolate Souffle. Served with an amaretto sauce. I am not a fan of souffles but the almond taste of amaretto works well with it. 

Mandatory groupie with co-Zomato foodies, the Zomato team, and of course, Chef Gino Gonzales of Cafe Ysabel. Thank you so much for the invite, Zomato. I had a great lunch time with you guys. Even if it was my first time to meet you (this group, though), I did not feel out-of-place and everyone was super friendly and with epic humor. I love this team! Yay! Looking forward for more foodie meetups.