My hubby and I are among those who are intimidated, as Lolo Dad's is an establishment that often tops the list of society's creme de la creme as the fine dining place to be. To our surprise, it wasn't really as financially debilitating as we've made it out to be. A four-course set menu complete from appetizer to dessert was pegged at P980, something which we found to be quite reasonable given the type of food they were going to serve.
For starters we had the Pop-Over Bread with Herb Butter (P130 for 3 pieces, pictured above right). Take note that there is no complimentary bread basket. The Pop-Over Bread had a crisp outer shell and soft egg muffin-like interior. It was served freshly baked too, so the aroma was wafting through the air and tempting us to reach out as soon as it was laid down our table. My hubby isn't really fond of breads but was the first to comment on how good it was.We decided to go for the Set Menu to get the most bang for our buck.
Dinner Set Menu (P980+ per person, exclusive of 10% service charge, changes weekly)
AppetizerSalmon Gravlax and Smoked Prawn with Mesclun and 1000 Island Coulis (pictured above)
SoupSpinach White Cheddar Cheese with Fleuron and Herb Foam (pictured above, left)
Main Course
Skirt Steak with Onion Ragout (pictured above, right)
Served with Pesto Potato Puree and Vegetable Gratin
DessertTerrine of Tiramisu with Peach Tartlet and Seared Banana (pictured above)
Alternatively, if you're not big on meat, you can opt for Fillet of Halibut and Lobster Tail for your main course instead of the Skirt Steak with Onion Ragout. Since I'm allergic to shellfish, I chose to have the Skirt Steak with Onion Ragout.
I loved just about every single dish in the Dinner Set Menu. Everything was just perfect, from the appetite-whetting salmon and smoked prawns, flavorful spinach soup -- if I were a child I would have asked for seconds!, tender and juicy steak, and delicately delicious desserts.
The vegetable gratin siding particularly stood out for me. It was primarily made up of carrot layers and I'm not very keen on carrots. Lolo Dad's alternated carrot and vegetable layers with cheese to form this little yellow and orange brick that was just unparalleled in terms of taste. The steak was also surprisingly good, in fact I daresay it was better than what I had at 145 F° Prime Steaks and Seafood.
The tiramisu was divine, I felt like I was biting into ice cream and cake at the same time. It was creamy and had just the right amount of sweetness. Peach Tartlet was rather generic and nothing really special. A cup of Lolo Dad's freshly brewed coffee capped off a lovely dinner.
Service was impeccable, but then there were very few diners last Saturday night so there really would've been no excuse for lousy service. There were something like at least two servers manning our table (there were ten of us in the group) who were always ready to assist us with whatever we needed. The interiors are very plain, white, and generally just... plain. I didn't have a problem with it because everything looked immaculately clean.
Just as we were finishing up with coffee and dessert, a rat (take note, rat, and not mouse) darted across to the corner of the room. It moved so fast I wasn't able to capture it on my digicam. This had a couple of waiters scrambling to check the curtains and the plant in the corner in an attempt to locate the rat. I don't know if they ever found it since we were already quite done at the time.
The rat incident didn't really bother me though because having a sister-in-law and a brother who both took up culinary arts and worked in restaurants, I've heard worse. Lots worse.
Lolo Dad's Brasserie
G/F 6750
6750 Ayala Ave., Makati City
813-6750
Like this post? Subscribe to this blog by clicking HERE.
Become a Facebook Fan for more updates from Animetric's World.
