STAR-studded culinary journey at Ayala Malls

MANILA, Philippines - Eats incredible! I could eat my way through Asia’s sizzling culinary destinations without having to leave the country. Impossible? A hefty no! Fact is, all I have to do is to mosey over to Ayala Malls and follow my nose to its fine Asian restaurants in Greenbelt and Fort Strip, Fort Bonifacio for what promises to be the most tongue-talizing journey of my life! Making it so much more exciting and rewarding is the ongoing Eat Dining Festival, a celebration of the city’s eats and treats, brought to you by The Philippine STAR, Ayala Malls, and BPI, and highlighted by STAR-inspired dishes guaranteed to dazzle the taste buds. And here’s the scoop: To get a STAR dish for free, spend P1,500 on your BPI card. Order a STAR dish and win an instant prize and get a chance to win in the grand raffle draw.

So, shall we hop aboard the food wagon? Our first stop is Kimpura, which has found a sleek new home at the fourth level of Greenbelt 5. It’s been the favorite destination for generations of Japanese food lovers these past 41 years. Mine, too! My love affair with Japanese food began with Kimpura. Make that Kimpura’s ebi (shrimp) tempura — that crunchy, munchy, archetypal deep-fried battered dish that combines all the essential ingredients of Japanese cuisine. For me, it was love at first bite! Enjoy it plain or with a dipping sauce mixed with a small mound of grated radish.

Kimpura’s Tempura Feast: Shrimply Irresistible

Shrimply irresistible is Kimpura’s Tempting Tempura Feast promo with its array of new tempura choices. Care for daikon (radish) tempura, ebi men tempura (prawns with misua), satsumaimo ninjin kakiage (sweet potato, carrot, and sakura shrimp) or horenso chikuwa kakiage (spinach, fish cake, and sakura shrimp)? For instance, get a Momo feast of ebi men tempura, satsumaimo ninjin kakiage, and daikon tempura for only P400+.

Earning a well-deserved spot in the honor roll is Kimpura’s new Dragon Roll — sooo luscious sushi with the rice wrapped around a piece of melt-in-your-mouth broiled eel (unagi) and cucumber, and topped with avocado or mango with salmon roe for garnish. Call it the king of wrap.

But of course, we didn’t forget to order the legendary Kimpura rice, which chef Greg Nava cooks before our delighted eyes at the teppanyaki table, like he’s been doing for the past 22 years now. He expertly mixes assorted meats and minced vegetables on the hot griddle, pours some sauce, sprinkles some salt and pepper, and throws in an egg to complete the ritual. I’d say it’s a complete meal in itself — rice and shine!

Other famous teppan items at Kimpura are the US Angus ribeye, prawns, oysters, and scallops.

But still the first thing I look for as soon as I’m seated at Kimpura is its dilis appetizer, which is Kimpura’s best-kept secret. “Everytime we take it out, people look for it,” says Lulu Palileo, Kimpura’s trusted manager for the past four decades. “So, we just had to put it back.”

It’s simply dilis-cious and it’s free! So, what else is free at Kimpura? For a minimum spend of P1,500 on your BPI card, you get a Star Gyoza (Japanese-style pork dumpling, P125/six pieces) for free! Order the Star Gyoza and get a chance to win an instant prize and a raffle prize.

Kimpura’s other home at Ayala Malls is located at the third level of TriNoma, Quezon City.

Then there’s Kimpura’s equally famous neighbor and sister resto Peking Garden, with branches at the fourth level of Greenbelt 5 and the third level of TriNoma Park, QC.

Peking Garden’s Peking Duck: A Lot To Quack About

Peking Garden is reputedly the only Chinese restaurant specializing in Northern Chinese cuisine at its finest. An all-time favorite and best-seller is, of course, Peking Garden’s Peking duck — it’s the place to go for probably the best Peking duck in this part of the East. It’s got a lot to quack about.

Archi Au, Peking Garden, tells us, “To prepare one duck takes all of 18 hours. When the duck comes in from China, it’s frozen. First, you blow-dry it to make the skin and meat separate. Then it’s boiled in a special sauce to make the skin crispy. You hang it out to dry for 14 hours. Then it’s roasted in the oven for half an hour and then deep-fried (it’s 80-percent roasted and 20-percent deep-fried).”

At Peking Garden, there are three other ways you can enjoy your Peking duck (other than rolling it in pancake wrapper) — as soup; deep-fried with herbs and peppercorn; and as minced meat wrapped in lettuce.

You probably know how to eat Peking duck more than I do. But have you tried Peking Garden’s Silver Supreme Pork Dumpling with Superior Soup? It’s the featured STAR dish that’s so souper it will soothe your soul.

A friendly caveat though: Refrain from ordering it if you’re on a date with the girl/guy of your dreams. Please read on.

Archie gives us some cool tips on how to enjoy this hot dish: “It’s a signature Northern Chinese dish that’s popular in Shanghai. We use handmade dumpling and we put the pork with crab roe, carrot, taro, etc. and soup (chicken stock) inside. You have to eat it while the soup is hot.”

Easy! But here’s the rub: You have to punch a hole in the center of the dumpling with your teeth so you can sip the soup inside. Be careful when you do as the soup might splatter all over your mouth. Pretty delicious but not a pretty sight!

Bound to be a certified prawn queen is Peking Garden’s new offering — crispy prawns with salted egg yolk, garnished with zucchini.

For groups of 12 persons (two’s company, 12’s a feast), Peking Garden can whip up set menus you can choose from — from appetizers to soup to main courses to dessert — priced from as cheap as P6,280 and up.

Red Kimono: Oh-So-Stylish Sushis And More

Make no mistake about it: Red Kimono is not a fashion store. But its very stylish interiors are more than eye candy and you’ll probably see the most gorgeous sushis, sashaying down the ramp, er, the sushi counter of Red Kimono. For instance, there’s the Cherry Blossom maki (only P275/eight pieces) that’s got pink tuna sashimi elegantly rolled around crabstick and cucumber maki (sushi rice) in an exquisite flower pattern. Or there’s Kurt’s Wheel maki (only P295/eight pieces), a stunning creation that features prawns wrapped around a maki stuffed with mixed kani (imitation crabstick), avocado, asparagus, cream cheese, and Japanese mayo, and finished off with a drizzle of chili garlic mayo and green tobiko (flying fish roe).

“These are some of the winners in the ‘My Maki Masterpiece Challenge’ which we held in September last year,” says Nameeta Dargani, who co-owns Red Kimono with husband Michael Dargani with whom she shares an insatiable passion for good Japanese food and traveling. “The contestants came from different culinary schools and some were children as young as 11 years old. They came up with their own maki creations and some of the winning pieces are now part of our menu. We keep launching something new every three months.”

An old favorite — which instantly became mine, too — is Red Kimono’s crispy prawn and dilis maki, a concoction of Ganga Dargani, Nameeta’s mother-in-law who’s vegetarian.

Red Kimono boasts a lot of green offerings. “We have a vegetarian menu,” says Nameeta who’s turned vegetarian. “Like we have our Kiyomi maki, a crisp and healthy salad in a maki created by Manila Pen chef Ryan Murada. “It’s got fresh, green veggies with mango, banana, Japanese radish, asparagus, cucumber, spring onions. We have our jumbo tofu roll and fully-loaded maki with shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, carrots, and tofu served with a special sauce.”

Of course, for meat lovers, Red Kimono has its premium steaks. And taking center for the Eat Dining Festival at Red Kimono is the Chicken Staryaki, now grilling with a special teriyaki sauce.

And now, Red Kimono raises the bar even higher. “We’re moving to High Street, Bonifacio Global City,” Nameeta announces. “We’re changing our name to Geisha by Red Kimono and becoming more upscale but not like those exorbitant restos.”

New Bombay: Old And New Attractions

It’s hot, hot, hot at New Bombay Authentic Indian Cuisine! A happy mix of good old-fashioned favorites and new dishes titillates the palate at New Bombay located at the ground floor of Greenbelt 2. But you don’t have to call a fireman to put out the fire in case you burn your tongue.

“We rate the spiciness of our dishes as mild, medium, and spicy,” says Rainy Khanchandani, operations manager of New Bombay. “The spiciness depends on the customer.”

Turning up the heat are New Bombay’s popular staples: chicken tikka masala (a curry dish of roasted chicken chunks with a mixture of spices in a creamy orange-colored sauce); chicken tandoori (chicken cooked at high temperature in a tandoor or clay oven, and spiced up with cayenne pepper, red chili, kashmiri red chili which gives its fiery red hue); garlic naan bread (chewy Indian flat bread fresh off the clay oven); and safroon rice (white rice sautéed in butter and simmered in saffron-infused water). Also on New Bombay’s heaping rice menu are spinach rice, cashew rice, tomato rice, vegetable pulav, greenpeas pulav, lemon rice, etc. New Bombay certainly knows how to rice to the occasion!

To make you smile is New Bombay’s STAR-inspired dish called Chicken Cheesy Nargishi Kofta (spicy meatballs). Some do like it hot and spicy!

Surely, this invigorating food trip has broadened my horizons — as well as my waistline! And it has left me forever STAR-struck!