C'est delicieux!

Hey, I am not a columnist for sale. When I write about places I want to go to or try, I am writing because they are indeed places I want to go to and try. For example, I write about the Jungian seminars because I truly enjoy them and want to share my enjoyment with others, not because I am advertising them. So when some people call me for more information, pardon me, I don’t have it. I always write the phone number you’re supposed to call if you want more information in the column. Call that number. Don’t call me!

I write about what I want to write. That’s all. You can invite me to your restaurant and ask me to write about it, I will not come. But one day when you least expect it, when you don’t know I will be there, I will come with a friend, order and pay. If I enjoyed your food, I will say so. If I did not, then most likely I will not write about it. It’s a surprise. If I get to know and love your food, then one Saturday you will read about it in my column.

For a long time now I have been receiving texts from a French restaurant that was first located on Pasay Road but has now moved to Annapolis Street, I never went. Finally one of my friends told me that she and her husband had discovered the place and found it delicious. That’s what is known in marketing as word-of-mouth advertising. I decided I wanted to try and invited my cousin Mia, who works in Marikina while I live and work in Makati. It was a good halfway point.

That’s how I strayed into what is now known as Brasserie CiCou (the small c with a sort of tail to indicate that it is pronounced as an s when speaking French). It is where the Italian restaurant of Preciosa Soliven used to be, around the corner from her Montessori school. You get an impression of coolness when you enter at lunch hour on an awfully hot summer’s day. The walls are painted blue-gray, the simple chairs and tables have a light finish and I immediately fell in love with the lamps over the bar, made up of something on which hung an assortment of glasses with stems. I thought that was not only clever but extremely charming.

The chandeliers and sconces were covered with false Boston ivy leaves and other faux plants that made them more charming nonetheless. The place gave off an air of comfort, like going to a friend’s house for lunch.

The lunch menus are on a small blackboard and you are given a choice. We chose the Soft Boiled Egg in Herb Crumbs, Sauteed Romaine and Beef Salami, Carrot Foam followed by Pan Seared Marinated US Beef Hanging Tender, Garlic and Shallot Confit, Marbled Potatoes, Fricassee of Seasoned Vegetables with Nougat Glace and coffee for dessert. Of course, neither one of us knew exactly what we were going to get but never mind. That mystery added a touch of excitement to lunch.

Our lunch was served on a black tile. The Soft Boiled Egg came crusted with a delicious looking brown crumbly thing and when I cut it a little yolk oozed out. Perfectly soft boiled, I commented. I love soft-boiled eggs and can always tell when something is done perfectly. Beside it was a rectangular clay-colored covered pot. That was the Pan Seared Marinated US Beef Hanging Tender, Garlic and Shallot Confit, Marbled Potatoes, Fricassee of Seasoned Vegetables. It looked similar to American beef stew but it was much more delicious.

The Nougat Glace, which I didn’t know because I am not a dessert eater, was also delicious, not too sweet, just right. Our bill came up to less than a thousand. Of course, we are both senior citizens but nevertheless it was a delicious lunch. I highly recommend a visit to Brasserie Cicou, the small c has a tail that my computer won’t produce and is pronounced as s.

Mia and I spent time browsing the menu. I was fascinated by Le Amburgueur, which sounds like an exotic cheeseburger because the cheese is the Swiss gruyere and it has both mustard and ketchup on it. Tres continentale, I will have to say and hope that my French passes.

Anyway I have my eye on the Pour la Famille menu, Duck Three-Ways. It is pan-fried duck breast, duck leg confit, duck pie, salad, crispy potatoes, orange sauce. Let me find three more people to share this with. Then definitely like MacArthur I shall return . . . to enjoy their delicieux menu.

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