MANILA, Philippines - Can Peking Duck ever have crispy but non-greasy skin, and juicy and succulent but lean meat? Where do you go in Manila when you want hearty and unpretentious French onion soup and pan-seared duck liver that is worth each and every calorie?
The answers are in Philippines’ Best Restaurants 2010, with over 250 pages of restaurant reviews, guides and articles by noted food and wine writers and sponsored by American Express Selects. The Selects program offers American Express Cardmembers great savings of up to 50 percent off and special privileges when they charge their meals at restaurants participating in the Selects program.
At Lili, Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila’s fifth-floor Chinese restaurant manned by five master chefs from Hong Kong, a healthier version of Peking duck is no less delicious than its more traditional and greasier cousins, according to a brief review in the book. Classic French food is likewise available at Cuillere (Bonifacio High Street in Taguig), which feels like a genuine Paris bistro with its burgundy palette, chalkboard menus and memorable foie gras. Both restaurants are American Express Selects partners and offer Cardmembers privileges like 15-percent savings on food and beverage at Lili and chocolate éclair to end a meal of at least P1,500 at Cuillere.
Produced by Philippine Tatler, the book covers 145 restaurants with each rated for its setting, food, wine and service. The reviews are by 16 foodies headed by Chad Davis, food and beverage instructor at Enderun Colleges, who has served as food and beverage manager of Hotel InterContinental Manila and Edsa Shangri-La; Rebecca Disini who is a food blogger, restaurant consultant and was once the youngest regional chef of Unilever Foodsolutions Asia, Africa and the Middle East; and Olga Azarcon, who heads Moet Hennessy Asia Pacific Philippines, a position that gives her the chance to experience the best restaurants and bars wherever her travels take her.
Philippines’ Best Restaurants 2010 includes maps of most of the featured restaurants, telephone numbers as well as a listing of over 145 restaurants. It is especially useful because it also lists the signature dishes of each restaurant, the establishment’s restaurant hours and website.
For more information on American Express Cards and the Selects program, call the 24-hour Customer Service Hotline at 81-417.