Monday, April 28, 2008

LEMURIA: A unique dining experience in the City

When: April 25, 2008
What: Dinner
Where: Lemuria @ The Winery
5 Julieta Circle, Horseshoe Village Quezon City, Philippines
Tel: (+632) 724.5211 ; (+632) 722.2185
Mobile: (+63917) 525.0129

On Friday afternoon, theclosetglutton (moi) decided she wants to try Lemuria for dinner. So my hubby, being the wonderful man that he is, called Lemuria for a table for two :) This is also thanks to our friends DV and FV, who had brought up the restaurant name to me. Having never been to this restaurant (Lemuria has been in business since June 2006), we had difficulty looking for it. It was inside Horseshoe Village in Quezon City (near Santolan). We ended up taking another entrance of the village, which turned out to be the wrong one-- the road leading to Lemuria was under construction. So we had to double back to another entrance, and in the process, spent some 20 minutes more on the road before getting to the other entrance and into the restaurant itself. I was hoping the run- up to this dining experience would be more painless, but alas, it was not. But again, the stomach was growling ever so loudly, so there was still plenty reason to look forward to Lemuria.

Compliments of the chef:Good starters. Quail egg "biscuit" and some meat floss "sandwich"

My husband ordered the Goat Cheese and Beets Souffle. Php 420+It's an excellent starter dish, I must admit. I loved the beet-sweetness of the souffle, with the goat cheese.

I ordered the Seared Foie Gras and Braised Cabbage with Figs Glaze. Php 880+It's a delightfully sinful dish, one that you cannot miss at Lemuria. Oh cholesterol, cholesterol. Note to self: Must "sweat" this foie gras out tomorrow. 100% necessary. :D

Braised Lamb Shank was nothing extraordinary. Php 880+Hubby was rather disappointed. I tasted the meat, it was as what hubby said-- "flavorful, but not that great".

My dish, the St. Pierre (fish fillet confit, tarragon oil, lemon thyme butter, porcini). Php 780+I enjoyed the fish throughly, and the nice taste of the shredded sugar-y lemon rinds (or at least I thought they were), but I simply loathed the lentils that "held" the fish. I honestly think the fish would've worked much better with a mousseline of potatoes.

For dessert, we went with the Valhrona Chocolate souffle with glacee.I was expecting liquid chocolat oozing out of the core of this souffle, but it didn't happen. Nevertheless, the chocolate was good. Not to-die-for excellent, but good enough to be reordered again. The ice cream was a heavenly pairing to the richness of the chocolate, by the way :) A moment on my lips, forever on my hips :)

The bad news:
BILL: Php 4,041.25 (as of April 25 $1/Php 41.87 rate : US$96.50). No wine ordered with the meal.

The parting shot:Beautiful at night... It almost felt like we were in Sonia's Garden in Tagaytay.

Here's the 4-1-1 on LEMURIA:

SEATING CAPACITY: 26- 30 Pax
FOOD RATING: 2 stars (**)
AFFORDABILITY: $$$ Definitely not cheap!
AMBIANCE: 3 stars (***) Excellent little hideaway
SERVICE: 3 stars (***) Staff very well trained
WILL I GO BACK? Yes.
NEXT TIME WILL TRY: The wine, definitely-- extensive selection. And the twice cooked pork belly with risotto.

5 comments:

fourtyfied said...

Hi. Nice blog. But Magret de Canard or Duck Breast is spelled with an e. I looked at your profile and it said Magrit. Rene Magritte is the painter and you may have gotten mixed up. Keep blogging.

Anonymous said...

yes, it is so expensive in Lemuria

yogi said...

Hi Mrs T! Been here with my fiance last year and indeed they are pricey! :) But we love the food and the ambiance perfect for a date! :) paid 2.5k more than you did as my dear fiance is such a foodie and wine lover :) i highly recommend lemuria to peeps who appreciate the finer food in life :)

The Closet Glutton said...

Fourtyfied: Thanks for the correction! I knew I had a typo somewhere! Coz in another food article I wrote, I spelled Magret de canard with an e, and here I think I wrote out magret with an I! Thanks!!

The Closet Glutton said...

audine and yogi: It is expensive indeed. Food was alright, not excellent, but I think it's worth a second visit :)