Westgate Alabang Food Crawl 2018
Westgate
Center in Alabang has been in the foodies’ radar for sometimes now. With its
sprawling complex filled with numerous restaurants
and bars ranging from comfort food up to exquisite fusion and world cuisine,
a discerning foodie or someone who just loves to eat would find Westgate dining
experience something they’ll always want to come back for.
Last July 19,
2018, we were invited to a Food Crawl to explore and taste the special cuisine
of the four of the many restaurants located at Westgate Center namely Earth
Origins Marketplace + Cafe, Neil’s Kitchen, Butamaru and Alba Restaurante
Espanol.
I love food crawl. I get to taste the special menu
of each participating restaurant and through this, you tend to gain a lot of
insight into what makes a restaurant click with its customers, how each food in
the menu is as special as the next one and how awesome it is to see the passion
for food of the owner/chef and how it translates to one delicious meal.
FIRST STOP: Earth Origins Marketplace + Cafe
We kicked off at Earth Origins
Marketplace + Cafe, the go-to destination for the wellness and dining
needs of the Alabang residents’ active, healthy lifestyle. Earth Origins serves
homemade healthy dishes that is quite delicious and flavorful and contrary to
popular belief, homey and healthy food can be yummy too as I found out when we
get to partake Earth Origins Appetizers, Burgers and Paella. Even their drinks
are heavenly too. (I still long for their Blackberry Ice Tea!)
We sampled and munched on their toasts, wraps and
salad offerings. The Ricotta Cheese with Blueberry Jam Toast is a must-try as
well as its Crabstick Mango Wrap with probiotic Kefir sauce and Nature Farm
Salad. For someone who doesn’t eat much vegetables, I can’t believe I ate two
pieces of the Korean-style friend Cauliflower!
As for their burgers, the Blue Cheese, Classic Beef
and Veggie Burger and the Chicken-Pulled Adobo Style is too die for. Sandwiched
between black buns that is infused with activated charcoal, the burgers are
quite tasty and very filling.
But wait! There’s more, if you love Paella as much
as I do, then you shouldn’t forget to order their All Meat and Seafood Paella.
Yes, order both of them.
At Earth Origins Marketplace + Café, you can also find
food items like condiments, wines, snacks as wells as home and bath
essentials that is made from natural ingredients.
SECOND STOP: Neil’s Kitchen
From Earth Origins Marketplace + Café, we
walked and zigzag a little bit to reach Neil’s Kitchen. From afar the white building is a beauty to behold and we spent a few minutes taking pictures of
its façade. Upon entering the place, we were delighted upon seeing its
whimsical stair. We saw that the place was already in full capacity since it’s
lunch time.
Chef Neil Ramos, widely known in the catering business and a popular
chef that can concoct new twists to Filipino food, was there to warmly welcome
us in one of the Instagram-worthy area of the resto – the Neil's
Kitchen's My Father's Bookstore.
Before the sampling, Chef Neil explained to us that the Neil’s
Kitchen’s menu consists of modern Filipino comfort food. And before you think
that most of the dishes are fusion food because of its exotic names, think
again because all the food retains the integrity of the Filipino dish, its just
that Neil’s Kitchen present it in a whole new modern way to bring them to the
next level so that it can compete at the world’s stage.
As the dishes were served to us, we marvelled at how all of them
are visually attractive and Instagram-worthy. For me, the Escargot de Gata, Ayala
Alabang “AA” Batchoy, Menudo Mania, “Sloppy K” Beef Caldereta, the 5th version
of the restaurant’s Sinigang - Wagyu Sinigang - Gyudon Style, Ohh-la-laing, Adobo
Project, Alabang Fried Porkchop with Gravy Rice, Shrimp Pad Thai and the Sinigang Paella w/ Grilled Pork Belly are ALL a MUST-TRY!
The same can be said to their desserts.
I’m telling you, do not leave without trying the Fried
Suman, Mangga and Chocnut, the Puto Bumbong with Buco Jelly and Toasted Coconut,
the Sweet corn Maja BB Special and the too-die-for Turon de Napoleon. This
alone, will make you want to eat at Neil’s Kitchen every day.
THIRD STOP: Butamaru
I was longing for ramen for many days now because it has been raining in
the city for like two weeks and ramen seems like a good idea. It’s a good thing
that our next stop on the food crawl was the Butamaru.
If you’re hankering for an authentic Japanese menu then Butamaru is the
right place for you. With its Japanese-style dining setup, you get to enjoy their
best-tasting ramen and its ever-popular Katsugyozayaki, Truffle Gyoza and the Fried
Truffle Gyoza.
As for their best-tasting ramen, the menu comes in 5 basic kinds: Ramen Shio,
Miso, Tantanmen, Shoyu, and the Curry Tantanmen. What sets this ramen apart to others
is that it uses broth made from the traditional Kyushu tonkotsu simmered and
cooked for 16 hours. We sampled their Original Shio Ramen, Ramen Curry
Tantanmen and my favorite - the Spicy Miso Butter Ramen.
Another must-try is the Spareribs which comes in four flavors namely the
Spicy Glazed Spareribs, Buttered Parmesan, Original Glazed and the Soy Glazed Spareribs.
Our final stop was the poshest Alba Restaurante Espanol. With
more than sixty years attached to its name, the Alba Restaurante Espanol has
been the Home of Traditional Spanish Cooking™ in Manila. It has been satisfying generations of discerning food
lovers enamored by the enticing flavors of Castilian cuisine.
As for me, it’s good that I get to try again my favorite Callos
ala Madrilena and their heavenly, heavenly Canonigo!
Castilian cuisines are very flavorful and it shows in the dishes
that were served to us like the Jamon con Manga y Aragula,
Pollo Ajillo, Gambas con Tocino a la Parilla, Chorizo Fritos, Berenjenas Al
Horno, and the Lapu-lapu en salsa Verde.
At Alba’s you can also eat their famous and authentic
Paellas, the Paella Negra and the quite sinful Paella Filipino because it’s
topped with Sisig and Cochinillo.
Let’s not forget their dessert of Chocolate Tower, a layer upon
layer of chocolate goodness.
We finished the food crawl with a happy disposition and a belly-full of
food. I appreciate how Westgate Center have great foodie spots and I’ll
definitely be returning here over the coming months.
Westgate Center is a
premier development project of Filinvest Alabang Inc. in Filinvest City,
Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The 9.2-hectare open-air shopping and dining complex
boasts of a relaxing atmosphere perfect for rest and recreation.
Visit the Westgate
Center’s official page at facebook.com/WestgateAlabang.
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