Good Food and Good Friends

My dear friend Charity made an unexpected call yesterday for a dinner invite. I know she's toxic with work she can't even have a birthday leave so I thought we'll just see her during our usual Friday get together. But since she really wants to spend her special day with us what kind of friend am I to let her down. Never mind if it was raining cats and dogs that day and that except for her and Pau, Lai and I have a nasty cough and cold.

She was even kind enough to fetch us from our workplace just to make sure we won't get rained on. Our venue was Cafe Ysabel in the heart of San Juan which is actually a 1927 ancestral home furnished with period furniture, frescoes and wooden ceiling fans in a glass-enclosed porch overlooking a garden. Too bad we forgot to take a photo of the facade and the interior of the place. Renowned filipino chef Gene Gonzalez is in the helm of the said restaurant with a premoninantly spanish cuisine.

We started our meal with hot, freshly baked foccacia bread which we dipped in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese. The bread was so crusty and tasty we ate it with gusto forgetting that we still have to save some space for the other food ordered by the birthday celebrant. Soup was the house specialty Sopa Ysabel, their own version of clam chowder and was followed by a huge serving of ceasar's salad and another kind whose name I forgot to write down.

When the main course arrived ~ halibut encrusted in almonds with a pesto dressing beautifully plated, we just have to shoot a photo for a more visual blog entry.


You kind of wondered if I can still manage to eat dessert when I'm busting in my seams from all those food but the huge slice of tiramisu and chocolate cake is just too hard to resist.

I really felt so full that when we checked out a coffee shop near the entrance of ABS-CBN (a television station) compound I opted for peppermint tea while my friends had their fancy coffee. Another hour of easy talk and we finally called it a night.


photos taken by my friend pau(www.bandstalker.com)