I steak my life on it

Admittedly, I am a food lover and I think I am going to stay that way for the rest of my life. Although I always try to stay open and adventurous when it comes to trying different kinds of cuisines, there are particular dishes that I tend to gravitate towards. One of those would be steak!

I am very much a carnivorous person and with all the red meat that I’ve chowed down in my lifetime, I would like to think that I have developed the ability to at least discern a quality steak from a sub-par one.

Thankfully, we have a multitude of steakhouses in Metro Manila and I have made it my personal mission to try out each and every one. From the very pricey steaks in the high-class, formal-only restaurants to those that they serve in weekly bazaars, I never miss out on a chance to try out some good meat.

With that, I would like to share some of my most memorable steak experiences:

Mamou — I vividly remember my first experience with Mamou a few years back. It had just opened and was the talk of the Metro as a must-try restaurant. I even recall rumors that our former president GMA, was there regularly to munch on their Angus Ribeye Steaks — it was that popular! One fateful weekend, I finally had the chance to check out what the hype was all about.

I entered their homey restaurant and, right away, asked for their steak. When it arrived, I immediately took notice. The presentation was very different from all the other steaks I’ve tried. There were oil drippings to dip my steak in and a slight crust around the edges of the meat. With my attention fully focused on it, I went in for that first bite! In quick succession, the first bite became a second then third until I had practically vacuumed the 300-gram steak in well under five minutes (that’s frighteningly fast for your information).

I had no idea what came over me but I cleaned my plate, put down my utensils and told my eating buddies that it was the best steak I had ever tried. That came as a huge surprise because I usually try to be careful with superlatives when describing my food experiences but I unwaveringly and unquestioningly consider that meal to be one of the best I have ever had!

Up to this day, I would revisit Mamou and order the same medium-cooked Angus Ribeye Steak whenever there is a celebratory occasion. It just never fails to satisfy which is also a testament to their consistency as an establishment. As an added bonus, I would suggest that you pair their steak with their amazing Lorenzo’s Truffle Cream Pasta and end your meal with their palette cleansing keylime pie. After you’ve eaten and moved on to food heaven, you can thank me later for giving you this tip.

Lu Restaurant — This restaurant is one that I have always noticed and heard about but only tried very recently. But, when I finally got my chance, I wondered why I had not eaten there sooner.

Actually, that fateful night, I had lost my laptop and I was all sorts of depressed as any normal person would be. Consequently, I decided to try and cheer myself up and eat my way out of my funk although I didn’t really believe eating was going to help much.

Servings of steaks and pasta from Mamou, and one from Lu Restaurant

This is where Lu comes in. I dragged myself into their nicely-lit restaurant and ordered their Ribeye Steak. As they served my food, I didn’t really feel the usual excitement that I would get when trying something new. I simply wanted to get the night over with and drown in my misery. As I sliced the surprisingly very tender steak and depressingly took a bite out of it, something unexpected happened — my dejected look broke into a smile! As weird and shocking as that may sound, I was even more surprised at what had happened. As I chewed the steak, I just couldn’t help but be amazed at how tasty, juicy and amazing it tasted. Even the misery that came from losing my laptop and all my files was overcome by the taste of their steak. I was literally smiling from ear to ear and felt like I had a split personality at one point. Actually, my eating buddy also was surprised but completely understood my reaction as soon as she tried the steak. It was definitely an unforgettable gastronomic moment!

Today, I look back at that food experience and am ultimately thankful for it. For one, it definitely made me forget about my problems during that day but it also showed me how powerful food and our sense of taste can affect us. Overall, I think that emotion is a great way to describe how food tastes and these little anecdotes clearly make my point. To all those willing to take a risk on food, good luck and please drop me a line if you have any recommendations or good food finds.

(For any comments or words of gratitude for letting you know about these two amazing restaurants, e-mail me at [email protected]. Also, follow me on Twitter @mikaeldaez.)