Fireplace revisited

MANILA, Philippines -The last time I had a wonderful dinner at the Fireplace was over five years ago. I still have mouth-watering memories stuck in my head that is why I decided to return to Fireplace for our regular ex-pilgrims get-together dinner. After that pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we took a couple of years ago with my long-time barkada and travel buddies, we started calling ourselves ex-pilgrims.

I have to admit I was quite adamant to make the Fireplace our dinner venue as the hotel has changed names. Back then it was the Hyatt Manila now rebranded as New World Manila Bay at the start of 2015. Manila Bay was added to distinguish it from its popular sister hotel New World Makati. My friend hotelier Romina Gervacio, who has also switched homes from Solaire to New World informed me, that Fireplace has not only retained the original menu which we loved back then but has even been tweaked a bit to make it better. 

Call time was 7:30 p.m. Although I arrived on time, the De Leon couple (Joey and Eileen) arrived 15 minutes earlier. It has always been Joey’s habit to arrive ahead of the designated time, whether for work or socials, which has always been one of his much-admired traits. Our hosts — Romina who now heads the hotel’s PR Department and Jane Paulino, New World Manila Bay’s director of Sales and Marketing — arrived even earlier to prepare the selection of entrees for our dinner. The Fireplace has an impressive and extensive collection of wines and spirits, which some are even on display at the entrance wall but for this particular dinner, we decided to skip the alcohol.

As I settled on my designated chair, scrumptious freshly-baked breads accompanied with several flavored butters appeared on our table. I cautioned the group just to take a nibble as we were just at the start of the meal. Simultaneously, thick and creamy Forest Mushroom soup lightly infused with white truffle essence arrived which we quickly gulped with gusto. The next dish which we raved about the first time we visited Fireplace in 2010 — Millionaire’s Salad — was what excited Joey. Fresh salad greens with a generous embellishment of sliced shitake mushroom, grilled scampi, juicy scallops and foie gras dressed in a tangy balsamic vinegar dressing. The huge plated salad was laid at the center of the table and the moment it landed, our forks attacked and the salad quickly disappeared. They had to make an extra plate for Mike Enriquez who arrived late because he had to finish his nightly newscast on TV. We felt envious of Mike though as he didn’t have to share his salad plate with anyone. If I were to prepare the same salad, I would replace the grilled scampi with slices of tender lobster to make it more delectable but I guess it will make the price unaffordable.

We had to rest a bit to prime ourselves for the main course selection. First of the entrees was the ribs platter. I had to pick it up with a spoon because the meat kept falling off the bone with a fork. It was so darned tender it just melted in my mouth with an explosion of tangy, salty, smoky and slightly sweet flavors. I highly recommend it as a great main course. When I heard some sizzling on the background enhanced with the fragrant smell of slightly singed beef fat wafting in the air, I knew the piece de resistance was about to be served — a tasting platter with three kinds of grade six Wagyu beef from Australia and the US. After my first bite of the slightly marbled with fat Aussie Wagyu steak, my tummy gave my mouth a high five. Arriving simultaneously with the Wagyu tasting platter was a prime Angus beef platter. After more bites from the Wagyu plate, I switched to the prime Angus. Each plate had its distinctive characteristic. The Wagyu beef was very tender and the Angus had more beefy flavor. At this point, I had to loosen my belt by a couple of notches.

Several side dishes like truffled buttery mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, scalloped potatoes, etc., accompanied the entrees. A particular highlight of the dinner was the tender grilled Garoupa (Lapu-Lapu) filet that came on a bed of freshly-sautéed cherry tomatoes and asparagus. It was so delicate and delicious I wanted to order a serving to take home. We all washed down the kingly feast with tall glasses of Guava Iced Tea, which is one of the hotel’s much-acclaimed specialty.

By 10:30 p.m., we had to stop eating lest we all suffer Bangungot (Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome or Acute Pancreatitis). For dessert, we had small bites of the luscious lava chocolate paired with steaming hot cappuccino. Closing time was 11 p.m. but because there was so much to catch up with and discuss, we had to leave the Fireplace past the witching hour amid the yawns of the staff who had to stay overtime. Were we disappointed with the dinner? Of course, we were. We were disappointed because we couldn’t stay there until breakfast.