Secret Recipe - No More

So off I went one weekday for a lunch out with some colleagues. T'was quite a drive from Pasig to the Fort given that it was drizzling. Yet because we were all sick of the same old restaurants in the Pasig area, we all agreed to drive all the way to Makati to try out something new.

It was a celebratory lunch after all, given that my some of precious staff recently passed a food safety exam. Armed with the added know-how on food safety, not to mention our empty and growling stomachs, we excitedly browsed through the modern and beautifully made menu of Secret Recipe, just a stone's throw away from S&R in the Fort. Situated beside Zhu, I just can't remember the name of the building, well, we ordered 4 different dishes for all of us to try. Laksa, Tom Yum, Grilled chicken with peppercorn sauce and Lamb stew.

Laksa-rap
We started our meal with the Laksa, deliciously warm and spicy, the flat noodles and fragrant broth was a welcome treat to us hungry monsters. We all agreed that it was good to the last drop. Portions are actually for sharing - for two really, but if you have a big appetite like I do, you can definitely finish one serving yourself. Served with cubes of crunchy tofu and slices of squid tofu, the medley of soft and crunchy was an interesting meal in itself. I had to stop myself from slurping noisily the beautiful broth it had.

More spicy stuff
Next was our Tom Yum with prawns and again, it was deliciously good. The fragrance of the kaffir and the acid coming from the lemon provided a perfect balance to the dish. I don't know if we were just too hungry, but as soon as our next dish came - that's the Lamb stew, we all came to the conclusion that the drive was sure worth it. The stew used a meaty lamb shank and if you are like me and hate the "gamey" flavor inherent in lamb, you will definitely like this one since their preparation somehow masked the gaminess and the brown sauce complemented it well. Nope, this one isn't spicy at all. It is also served with mashed potatoes and is good for sharing. We had to order plain rice though - we aren't fans of Atkins, that's for sure. Gimme rice please?!

Call the fire department!
The grilled chicken with peppercorn sauce reminded me of a similar sauce made by a certain fastfood when they had in their menu a burger steak with peppercorn sauce. This one's really hot and of course, you had to stuff yourself with mouthfulls of rice just to counter the hotness. I on the other hand, love spicy dishes so this one's generally okay, although I felt that the chicken per se should have been seasoned more for a more flavorful version.

Happy Ending?
Secret Recipe boasts of its wide array of displayed cakes and pastries in its chiller showcase. The cakes are huge, about 10" in diameter and very tall that a slice of each is good for two as well. We ordered the mocha crunch, cheese choco and mango cake. We learned that the cakes were shipped from hmm, was it malaysia? singapore? gosh, i can't remember, however, all I can say is, I've have much better desserts made in Manila.

For the price of Php500 per head, I'd say it was reasonable and I'd come back for more of the meals.

Sweet!