A warm dinner on a cold, rainy night

CEBU, Philippines – Select media people whose birthdays fall in the month of August were invited to dinner by Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa at the AQUA restaurant on August 28. At 4 in the afternoon, the sky was really dark with cumulonimbus clouds gathering quickly. So I started to drive from Talamban area to our designated pick-up point in Banilad.

Soon the rain began pouring like from a bucket and I figured out I would be trapped in the vicinity of the University of San Carlos. I decided to divert to Mandaue City via Cabangcalan  (National Power Corporation road). The downpour quickly flooded the roads, making traffic heavy all the way to Shangri-La Mactan. Indeed, weather patterns and the landscape of Cebu have really changed!

The dinner began with a First Course of Carpaccio di Salmone marinato Alle Erbe e Limone (Thinly sliced Salmon Fillet drizzled with Citrus Vinaigrette and Shaved Fennel Salad).

The word "carpaccio" means a dish of raw meat or fish, thinly sliced or sometimes pounded and served as an appetizer. Raw food is something my grandmother had advised me to avoid, because of the health risk. But in Shangri-La Mactan, I feel safe because of its stringent food quality controls. Do you know that they have a color code for their kitchen knives?

Second Course was the Fumetto di Gamberi, Calamari e Zafferano (Clear Seafood Broth with Prawns, Calamari and Clam flavored with Saffron). Years ago, I had a problem in making a clear broth because those microscopic food particles in a broth were difficult to remove. Then I learned that all you need are egg whites, mix it well, boil the stock and when whites solidify, all those particles have stuck to it. And the seafood soup was, as expected, delicious.

A pasta dish came next, the Tagliolini al Nero con Polpa di Granchio (Homemade Black Tagliolini with crab meat). Tagliolini is thicker than spaghetti and to color it black, squid ink is usually added. The presence of crab meat gave a nice contrast, a white color behind the black pasta and indeed it was full of flavor.

The Main Course was the Filetto di Manzo con Gorgonzola  (Beef tenderloin topped with Gorgonzola Cheese, Roasted baby Potato wedges and Caramelized shallots).

Gone are the days when I usually ask the kitchen to prepare my meats well done because many Cebuanos, including my father, do not like the presence of blood on the meats, fish or poultry. But things have changed and I now go for medium rare.

The tenderloin was really tender, succulent and tasty. Each dish was accompanied by wines (which I would later write about in a separate article).

Dessert was a moist chocolate birthday cake with a single candle on it. And, definitely, one candle was enough, otherwise Shangri-La Mactan might run out of birthday candles, excuse me, to truthfully represent the combined life years of Honey Loop, Jaime Picornell and, of course, your favorite food reviewer. The accompaniment of birthday songs made the dinner atmosphere very warm notwithstanding the cold, rainy night.