A yummy food trip at Travel Café

MANILA, Philippines - Going organic, exploring alternative options, eating right, and healthy are hot.

For Travel Café Philippines, the first-ever, destination-themed lifestyle café, their vision is to promote Philippine tourism, and its wide array of rich, palatable cuisines.

For culinary master chef Him Uy De Baron, going healthy at Travel Café is as simple as going back to basics.

“The new menu is an innovation of well-loved Filipino dishes. It is innovative, but it is not fusion. We go back to the café setting, this is our platform as we venture into the global market,” says chef Him, whose latest line-up of culinary masterpieces are described as “quick to eat, light and simple, very Filipino and healthy.” Chef Him achieves all these with the help of beverage consultant Mike Canlas and chef Patty Tugade.

There is salabat with a slight modification. Its frothy, soothing taste is sure to delight anyone. The Manila barbecue, which is chicken in lettuce wraps, takes a novel spin on a truly Pinoy classic. Served with romaine lettuce and a refreshing green mango salsa, its Manila-style marinade gives it a more refined taste.

The pancit buko is a light but satisfying vegetable dish made of fresh coconut meat sautéed in annatto oil, shrimps, vegetables, and coco juices.

The mackerel skewer in turmeric coconut cream sauce is pan-fried mackerel cooked to perfection. The Saranggani classic is steamed premium cut milkfish with tausi sauce topped with fresh vegetables and garnished with crisp sili leaves.

The menu just keeps getting luscious and definitely going better with the next culinary creation that’s vegetable pastel. A vegetable dish of potato, carrots, and button mushrooms cooked in cream topped with crisp pastry dough and served with salad greens in choice dressing, this dish would make a health buff’s trip to the Travel Café worthwhile.

 Travel Café offers lip-smacking choices of pasta such as the linguine with tinapa and Lucban longganisa fettuccini. According to chef Him, it is in these types of dishes that he brings out “more color.” Filipinos and even people across the globe have learned to love these dishes.

Travel Café Philippines’ is at Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center in Makati, and at the SMX Convention and Exhibition Center, Pasay City.