How do you like your meat?

I hope my doctor or any of his very able assistants doesn’t get to read this, but because of the holiday season just passed, I had several occasions to put my inordinate love for good, top grade steaks to task. By a kind twist of fate, the colleagues with whom I’ve had to wine and dine over the holidays share this epicurean fascination, so it was always in accommodation of these kindred spirits that I went steak-shopping in this most joyous of seasons.

In every destination of note, there’s bound to be several good steak houses, and one can have his pick. In Serendra at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC), one or two favorites come to mind. Gaudi basically offers excellent Spanish selections in their menu, but I discovered their steak on my second outing in this resto. They show you the raw, chilled meat, the size that suits your fancy, and set up the paraphernalia which consists of a small burner on top of which they set up the special ceramic plate on which to cook your steak. The plate has coarse native salt and nothing else — no oil to cook with, no fancy marinade or seasoning on the meat.

Rock salt, I found, was the only seasoning you would ever need for a good slab of meat, and with you on the controls, the cooking can be done to perfection — your perfection that is. I suspect that the ceramic dish controls the heat somewhat, because I never heard the sizzle of meat on high heat. The chunks cooked evenly, and the salt was conveniently just there on the plate, ready to dab on.

This is simple, basic steak cooking on the table. I’ve always liked my meat medium rare, but always left the fatty pieces to roast some more. And conversation over meat slowly roasting to perfection is always easy and pleasant.

For a rib-eye cut that is around 600 grams, an order will set you back between P1,300 to P1,500, which I think is pretty reasonable.

Still within the BGC is yet another favorite when it comes to steaks – Mamou, also in the Serendra area. The restaurant owners, Oyo and Malou Fores together with her mom, are always around to welcome the guests and keep a sharp eye on service and quality, and the food servers are pleasant, unobtrusive and quietly efficient.

At Mamou, one has a choice as to grade or cut, hence the wider range of prices. Their meat is also excellent, no matter which grade, and I am guessing that secret marinades come into play here as well, judging from the oil that gathers around the seething steak when it is served. The meat is seasoned, but it is definitely complementing, and while I enjoy the basic taste of rock salt on my steak, a perfectly seasoned steak has its own merits. I’ve had the pleasure of several return bouts with Mamou’s steaks, so that should speak volumes for this dining place.

Comparatively, the steaks here are a little more pricey, but if you’re a red-blooded steak lover, you wouldn’t mind paying for quality.

On cool lazy Sundays, I bring the family out for a leisurely drive to Tagaytay. If I have a secret agenda for the day, I make sure I text my reservations the night before, or wake up a little earlier than usual to call Jonah, my favorite contact person at Antonio’s for another shot at their famed Angus rib eye.

One order is huge and is for sharing. The meat, nicely marbled and juicy is served as a thick slab, thicker than most other steak houses. Like Mamou, they also serve their steak with a lot of oil, so both are pan-fried and they both serve the platter resting on something so it is askew and the meat doesn’t “sleep” on the oil as it cools. Nice touch.

Because it is thick, the meat tends to be more juicy, much more tender inside but cooked well on the outside. Thinner steaks always run the risk of getting overcooked, or quite dry inside. The seasoning is also perfect, the size hefty. The whole steak fills up a small platter generously, so a diner is politely advised that the order serves two.

And because the steak is huge by Filipino standards, one can expect that it doesn’t come cheap. A steak order costs P4,600, but then again it comes with soup, a nice platter of greens, a choice of desserts in tiny servings, plus coffee or tea. My memory serves me right because the last time I was there to enjoy their steak was only a week ago! And boy did my son and I love it.

I’m sure I haven’t capped my search for the Metro’s excellent steaks. Somewhere out there, I may still chance upon another find. When I’ve successfully grouped another three or four good finds, you’ll read it here.

Watch it!

I guess many of our readers have some old beloved time pieces tucked away in a drawer or gathering dust in a forgotten corner of the house. They have all but given up on these sentimental pieces — a cuckoo clock purchased on a trip to Switzerland many years ago, or a father’s hand-me-down Rolex. I had a pleasant surprise when I got quite a few e-mails requesting for the addresses and contact numbers of the World Watch outlets which I wrote about last week.

I don’t know the location of all their other outlets, but the one I frequent is their branch at Shangri-La EDSA. It is located at the lower level, just outside of Rustan’s Supermarket, so you have to go down the escalator. The friendly proprietor is Mr. Jimmy Estabillo. 

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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