We ate at Hai Chinese Restaurant and Chill-Out Bar at the newly opened SM Marikina for one of those lunch meetings. The name’s very misleading and reeks of a lot of pretensions: save for a big case of leftover beer bottles tucked underneath the wash sink and the stench of last night’s alcohol, there simply is no space for the supposed bar. The words 'Chill-Out' don't make sense especially since there are no lounge chairs, low tables or even banquettes to chill. I don't know what demographic they're after: the word 'chill' and the alcohol could appeal to kids, but the food tries so hard to become sophisticated. Either way, i’s more of a restaurant than a bar, and a restaurant that would oblige some spirited revelry if only to sell some more of their food. That, or you can assume that Hai’s food tastes good only if you’re drunk.


While Hai serves generally passable Chinese food, a lot of refinement can still be made if only to avoid the inevitable demise a lot of young restaurants and the bad practices they carry over from over-franchising. First off is the service: there is hardly any difference from the quality of fastfood servers from that of Hai’s. The staff is tentative and doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what food they have in order to make credible recommendations.


We did bite into the waiter’s recommendation of Salt and Pepper Squid and Yang Chow Rice and really found nothing special in them. Even if the squid’s batter was seasoned well, it was rubbery and the vinegar that accompanied it was overwhelmed by garlic.


The rice was ok. It did look like an anemic version Yang Chow Rice since it was too pale and needed more of everything from carrots to meat.


We also tried their Tofu and Brocolli Stir-Fry. It was good except that it was drenched in too much sauce.


For something new, we tried their Peking Style Fried Chicken. I was intrigued by the possibility of tasting some Peking Duck in fried chicken—if ever that was possible—but it was a terrible disappointment. It’s just plain deep fried chicken minus the batter garnished with scallions and served with hoisin sauce in a bed of fish crackers. It was tough and dry and really didn’t jell together.

Having tasted their Peking Style Fried Chicken, Hai should do their homework not just on Chinese food but on food in general. Hai should be concerned as to how they compare to other Chinese restaurants around, and customers shouldn’t be left to make food choices based on familiar staples such as Salt and Pepper Squid and Yang Chow Fried Rice—which really doesn’t compare to similar dishes served in other Chinese restaurants. Their concept of innovation is unnerving: just because you put sweet sauce and scallions on your fried chicken doesn’t make it Peking style at all.

Had lunch at Glorietta 4’s Food Choices (their name for the food court, made into a proper noun by the Ayala malls’ main antagonist) and grabbed some more Indian food at the New Bombay Express. It’s a hearty place to get Indian food, maybe not the best Indian food in town, but it’s definitely worth every penny (since it’s a little too pricey for the food court) and a little more distinct compared to the drone of oily ordinariness characterizing food court dishes.

The New Bombay Express loses out on freshness as their food is prepared for serving a huge crowd, but it definitely doesn’t lose out on flavor. It’s rich and pungent: rich curries, the balmy zing of coriander seeds, the textured spiciness of chili, yogurt and cumin and those things that launched a million expeditions that became both the birth and demise of nations. Like that double-edged sword of discovering the Orient, New Bombay Express’s flavors can work for or against them. Compared to other stalls selling food in the area, it doesn’t seem to be doing too well. I don’t know up to what extent the flavors can be localized, but then that could also mean the demise of the food’s quality. Hopefully, the New Bombay Express can keep its consistency, find a loyal audience who can see through what the food court stall is able to accomplish and attract them to come back regularly.


My favorite was the Roasted Eggplant and Okra. The smoky flavor coupled with a hefty dose of pepper won me over.


The Chicken Curry was good too. The sauce was creamy and frothy, and the chicken meat is soft and tender and breaks in the tongue allowing a rich marinade of flavors to burst through.


The Vegetable Samosas are nice though a bit overcooked. I like dipping them in the coriander sauce.


I also like the Vegetable Biryani Rice. There were hints of cumin, cinnamon and cardamom that were balanced well with the fried basmati rice.

I am replicating this after eating at Café Bola. Friends whom I had for dinner couldn’t figure out how this could come from the often neglected puso ng saging or banana blossom (but if you take the Filipino equivalent literally, banana heart), that’s only known to be used as one of those vegetables in dishes like kare-kare. It’s a fairly simple pâté, so I said even I could make it myself. They challenged me, and here is my version, and thankfully they liked it better than the one in Café Bola.


1 medium-sized Puso ng Saging, peeled-off its thick outer shell, cut into small ½ inch rounds
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
5 large basil leaves
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Place cut banana blossom in a pot full of boiling water, cover for about five minutes, or until banana blossom is cooked. Drain the water.

Place olive oil in a frying pan under low heat. Add the garlic and let it simmer until the flavor rises.

Add the banana blossom and season with salt and pepper. Try breaking them down into smaller pieces as you stir. Keep stirring for about three minutes or until the oil has been distributed to the whole mixture. Turn the heat off.

Dump the mixture in the blender or a food processor along with the grated parmesan cheese and the basil leaves, and mash to a pulp. Season with salt and pepper and more olive oil if needed.


If you don't have banana blossom where you live, you probably have artichokes. That will be a good substitute. It can be used a lot of ways. You can use it as topping for crackers like what I did with the photo somewhere in the middle of this post. You can add them to salads. Or use as a vegetable bed for steamed fish. I like it in my pan de sal (literally salted bread in Spanish), or small round breads. The only downside to it is that when we ate at Café Bola again a few weeks ago, they didn’t want to order this anymore and they insisted I make some soon.

I heard about Uno Restaurant from a friend who makes it a point to come there every month. It’s tucked in Scout Fuentebella, a house away from Tomas Morato, and provides an unassuming façade that’s in opposition to everything else you find in the area. While the individual establishments in Morato have embraced a more global aesthetic of neon lights, glass and steel, Uno Restaurant remains rustic: plain architecture that features concrete walls, glass windows, wooden furnitures and metal accents. It is a purist’s dream: its facade promises faithfulness to the essence of food and avoids the overzealous tactics of many restaurants to distract the senses in the hopes that it is these superfluous sensations we associate with the experience of food.


This visual aesthetic translates well to the whole eating experience. It has everything I like in a restaurant: simple décor, clean crisp white table cloth, sturdy wooden chairs, big windows that let the sunlight in, a menu that changes as often as possible, uncomplicated food prepared meticulously and delicately, frsh ingredients made from scratch, the smell of home-made bread, servings that are just right and really great desserts to end a meal.


For starters, we had Orange and Fennel Salad with Olive Oil. The orange provides the needed acidity to it and another layer of sweetness you just won’t get with any other fruit or vegetable. I just wished there were shaved almonds and cracked black pepper to this.


The Barbecue Chicken with Lemongrass was a treat. The chicken was cooked crisp outside and chunky and juicy inside. The best part of it was the tart taste that just zings through the charred protein without being too barbecue-like.


The Prawn Pasta was creamy, cheesy and surprisingly light. The shrimps were tender and wonderfully seasoned.


My favorite in this meal was the Dory Fillet Wrapped in Filo Pastry. The dish was seasoned well and its textures played in the mouth as the fish’s soft and somewhat creamy consistency played with the crustiness of the baked filo dough that covered it.


The desserts were to die for. The Cheesecake and the Fallen Chocolate Cake are an event in themselves. They’re very small portions but they go a long way lingering in the mouth. The Cheesecake was smooth and really one of the best I have had in a while.


The Fallen Chocolate Cake was velvety and melted in the mouth. The bitterness of the chocolate was tempered well by just the right amount of sweetness. I had this paired with an espresso, with no sugar, and sipping coffee between cake bites was just a joy.

The best part about eating at Uno is the warmth behind the food. It's reassuring to eat food that wasn't prepared by machines but by people who put in a lot of thought and love to it. Hopefully, it resists the urge to franchise.

Uno Restaurant is located at 195 Scout Fuentebella near the corner of Tomas Morato, just behind Little Asia. You can call them at (02)374-0774.