Spices: Terry's Selection

Terry's Selection in Podium is some sort of a secret place for foodies since the gourmet store/restaurant is hidden in the basement level of the mall. In spite of its hidden location, it has been there for the longest time, outliving the numerous changing restaurants found in the upper levels of the mall.

Terry's Selection

The gourmet food store sells a variety of  imported European and American brands, premium cuts of meats, cheese plus the also carry a good variety of wines.

Gourmet Grocery

Deli

Wine

Beside the store is a small restaurant where they use the same ingredients they sell to make the dishes.

Dining Area

We paired our meal with a bottle of Marques se Caceres we bought from the store. The soft bodied, mellow and sweet Spanish Rioja has been one of my favorites kinds of wine. It's so easy to drink and it's so versatile to pair it with different dishes.

Marques de Caceres - Php600+

We started with The Scallop and Prawn Croquettes. The breadcrumb fried roll was filled with bits of shrimp and scallops with a Port wine Bechamel Sauce. I liked the subtle crunchiness of the crust, it didn't feel rough in the mouth. The filling was so moist and the Port Bechamel sauce brought out the sweetness of the shrimp a and scallop. This was an absolute delight.

Scallop and Prawn Croquettes - Php290

The Coq Au Vin or chicken cooked with wine was served with bits of pork belly and shallots with a Pinot Noir wine reduction. Also served with a side of crunchy baked thick cut potato strips. Everything on the dish was perfectly cooked, the chicken was moist and tender, the pork belly added juiciness and saltiness to the dish. But what I enjoyed most was how thick, smooth and flavorful the Pinot Noir wine reduction is.

Coq Au Vin - Php390

Bacalao Al Pil-Pil is salted cod fish dish sauteed with garlic with an emulsified premium olive oil sauce. For garlic lovers like me, this is a must order. The fish was flaky and moist plus it just had the right amount of saltiness. I loved how the emulsified olive oil's creaminess, it felt like eating melted cheese that had the beautiful aroma and flavor of garlic.

Bacalo Al Pil-Pil - Php690

Terry's Selection is a great place to find wonderful eats. One can always be sure that they always use the best ingredients and each dish is crafted carefully and beautifully. No wonder in spite of its hidden location Terry's Selection has been one if not the longest  'still open and serving' restaurant in Podium.

Terry's Selection

Terry's Selection
Address: Basement Level, The Podium, 18 ADB Ave., Mandaluyong

Tel No: 636-3513

Spices: Zubuchon

With just a night to spend in Cebu city, we made sure to drop by Zubuchon. The restaurant which was declared by Anthony Bourdain to serve the best pig ever. Having seen pictures, reading articles and watching features on Zubuchon, I have nothing but high expectations, I was so excited to try it out and find out if it was indeed the best pig ever.

We got to Zubuchon around an hour before closing time, the place was still packed with diners. When we entered, the whole roasted pig on the center caught my attention. Since the crunchy skin is the best part of a roast pig, I found the roast pig unappetizing. Rather than having a shiny golden hue skin color, it's color was more on the pale yellowish shade.

Zubuchon's Lechon

The skin's color didn't dampen my excitement and expectations. I thought the reason for the skin's pale yellowish color was they still heat up a serving of the roast pig in the oven upon ordering. When the server placed my lechon meal, the skin still look the same. It was far off from what I've seen and what I've heard, the skin I've seen was golden brown and it had the bubbly crackling texture, this was totally not.

Zubuchon Fast Meal - Php160

I would have wanted the lechon meal to be heated, it was kind of cold that I can feel the sebo on my mouth as I took a bite off the skin. The skin was crunchy but it wasn't the 'candy' crunch that I was looking for, it had more like a 'tough' crunch. The meat was tender but again the sebo feeling was overwhelming.

Lechon Skin

There was one dish that we thoroughly enjoyed, the dish was relatively new and it wasn't even printed on the menu yet. On the table, there was a small poster of the Crab Relleno with the caption 'Pure crab meat, no extenders..'.

Crab Relleno

The dish delivers what it promised, shreds of pure crab meat placed inside a crab shell then dusted with breadcrumbs and fried.

Crab Relleno - Php340

It was perfectly cooked and adding a little squeeze of lemon brought out the sweetness of the crab. This is a must order! I definitely enjoyed eating this more than the restaurant's specialty lechon.

Crab Relleno

I'm not sure how Zubuchon's roast pig would taste like if it was served hotter, I wished I asked them to heat the lechon during that time but then again they should know to always serve lechon pipping hot . Maybe I ate there at the wrong time and I went there on a bad day. I hate to play bad cop but I was so disappointed with the lechon, I would have to eat and taste it again in the future and hopefully by then I would agree that it was the best pig. As of the moment,  Bali's Babi Guling reigns supreme for me.

Zubuchon

Zubuchon
Address: One Mango Mall, Gen. Maxilom Ave., Cebu
Tel No: 032 239- 5697