A temple of modern wining & dining

Sunday is no longer the only day for worship. You wonder why during other days of the week, many followers flock to a nine-foot bronze Buddha in the heart of Greenbelt 2. Welcome to Temple Bar and Restaurant, described as a mecca to those with a taste for sumptuous food, excellent wine, free-flowing cocktails, and an ambience fit for the gods.

"Our philosophy is based on the modernized Pan-Asian cuisine, with Buddha as the focal point," explains Temple‘s general manager and chief think-tank Erik Cua. With a menu of rich Chinese flavor, Japanese minimalism, Thai spices, and colorful Vietnamese concoctions, your taste buds are sure to experience a trip to nirvana.

"We try to become the center of Asian cuisine, or the union of all its tastes and flavors. We take the traditional dishes and render it in a modern way by altering their ingredients and adding to them the Western taste and servings. Plus, the presentation is an art itself," adds 23-year-old Cua.

If you seek heavenly appetizers, Temple offers Salmon with Hoisin & Blackbean Eggroll, Temple Buddha Soup laced with moss and taro, Hoisin Chicken Salad and Oriental Seafood Soba. (No wonder Buddha is always smiling.) But more divine are their main courses of Kung Pao Chicken, Pan-Fried Halibut, Braised Pork in Shaosing Wine, and a sampling of its Temple Roasted Crab. (No wonder Buddhda is so huge!) My vegetarian friends love Temple’s crispy, yummy Fried Beancurd Sandwich with Hoisin Sauce, only P75 per generous serving for sharing. It tastes just like Peking Duck minus the cholesterol! But if you worship desserts like me, an order (or two!) of its famed Heaven Sent Chocolate Cake paired with its steaming Oolong tea will definitely make you pray for more. Another reason to enter the doors of Temple, Cua has this to add, "We have dishes for sharing and dishes for individual eaters. But everything here is reasonably priced."

But no worship can ever be complete without music. Make way for the established rituals of good music and wine as Temple shifts its mood after dinnertime. Powered by mood lighting and beats of progressive House music that envelop the air, you can’t help but raise your arms in praise and dance within the hip ’60s mod-style interiors fused with Asian Buddhist furniture. And, of course, Temple brings you to a higher state of wining with its wine list that varies from vintage to provenance and its patented concoctions straight out of its power-packed bar, such as the Buddha Dawn, Karma Nirvana, and its 7-Shootet state of Consciousness. As Cua puts it, "It’s not just a dining experience, but a place where you could have fun, relax, and soothe your beings."

If Temple is the place where the only sin is enjoying too much, I wouldn’t mind confessing to be one of its followers.