Eat, Love, Live!

MANILA, Philippines - They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Whoever popularized that statement must have been severely narrow-minded, because I myself am living proof that sometimes, that special route to affection may be shared by both sexes! After all, a lady likes being treated to good food too, you know.

And perhaps this is why, come the Feb. 14, the classic Valentine’s Eve Dinner remains the backbone of a successful and romantic Valentine’s date. As a matter of fact, this is when the leading chefs bring out their big guns — the parade of everything chocolate, the much-coveted cheese fondue, the immortalized aphrodisiacs, to name a few. With all these institutions brewing up every conceivable Valentine’s Dinner gimmick, it starts becoming more challenging to choose amidst a plethora of romantic and pseudo-romantic offerings.

I would therefore like to share a very pleasurable food experience I had just recently had... speaking as a lady, a foodie, and for a hungry driver named Erning.

What caught my fancy this month was a Valentine’s Day set menu offered at Lili, the quaint Chinese restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila. Perhaps what enticed me was the idea of breaking away from the usual European-inspired Valentine’s dinner, and exploring a unique taste of romance with kind of an oriental twist. It’s “Lovers in China” versus the usual “Lovers in Paris.”

The lineup of Lili’s Valentine’s set menu was very intriguing. It started off with a combination of appetizers: suckling pig, seaweed, strips of soy chicken and a robust hakao. The soup that followed was an awesome version of shark’s fin that I had never tried before — braised shark’s fin in a pumpkin soup base with seafood and crab roe! A combination of flavors that brought fireworks to my mouth.

Moving on to the main course, I was very pleased to have been provided a serving of steamed sea bass with garlic and vermicelli (a deliciously healthy course), followed by an awesome choice of meat — wok-fried angus beef with gargantuan scallops! (I love scallops, by the way. And they were cooked to perfection.)

And to complete that “surf and turf” vibe I was getting, there was a plate of a pan-fried king prawn with chili and garlic in coconut sauce. This is probably my favorite main course. (I found myself still eating its sauce even way after I had already consumed the prawn.) Dan-dan noodles were later served as the carbohydrate.

But of course, Valentine’s would not be Valentine’s without sweets. So the dinner ended with some strawberry pudding and a unique, glutinous dumpling filled with white chocolate, with bits of peanut tossed in. It almost tasted like a profound mochi ball, with a really smooth white chocolate core.

Busog moment: The author takes a break from her pre-valentine’s treat.

I am now in love with set menus because they continue to amaze me with how much variety they can bring to a single dinner. I find the serving sizes to be always perfect, enough to let me try a bit of everything. All the courses seem to harmonize together, sumptuous planets orbiting a perfect culinary universe.

Although this Valentine’s special set menu is only available on Valentine’s Day itself, Lili still offers a similarly amazing set menu for the entire month of February.

That’s still ample time to win over that hungry apple of your eye.