Encore at Madison

MANILA, Philippines - Everything at Madison restaurant is big. Big steak! Big serving of soup, salad and pasta! Big pizza, too! If you have a hearty appetite and you crave for a pleasurable and mouth-watering dining experience, the “Encore” at Madison in Greenbelt 5, Makati, is what you’re looking for.

However, read this caution: No matter how hungry you are, you simply can’t finish “Encore” alone. So, you go to Madison with four other friends and order this latest inclusion in the restaurant’s growing menu. Yes, it’s good for five. And, sometimes, you have a doggie bag pa to take home after eating.

The “Encore,” as the table stand-in at the restaurant says, is a belly-busting, family-sized meal that is composed of the following: freshly made soup of the day, fresh garden salad, Mediterranean marinara pasta, 18-inch Quatro Stagioni pizza and 600 grams of US-certified Angus beef.

Okay, you can’t go wrong with pumpkin soup and garden salad. Any self-respecting food establishment should know by now that freshness is the name of the game when it comes to serving those entrees. At Madison, however, the simplicity of those dishes is not without an accompanying treat: the pumpkin soup, with steam emanating from a big white bowl, has the aroma of sweetness. The salad with either balsamic or Caesar dressing is simply refreshing.

Then comes the 18-inch Quatro Stagioni pizza, straight from the restaurant’s brick oven. The tomato sauce sumptuously slathered on the thin crust of this pizza is so aromatic it blends well with the pepperoni, mushroom and sweet pepper toppings. Oh, it also has artichoke in salt oil that makes every bite of this pizza a heavenly experience. The minimal presence of black pitted olives is just right to balance the taste. Suggestion for eating the Quatro Stagioni pizza: drizzle it generously with virgin olive oil, dash it with chili flakes, and enter pizza nirvana!

A serving of the Mediterranean marinara pasta comes in a medium-sized white bowl. Again, steamy-hot. (Restaurant owners Ruby and Arnold Co believe that their food creations at Madison should not only be big and appetizing—they should also be served hot. Otherwise, you lose the essence of dining perfectly.) The spaghetti pasta of this dish is al dente. The ingredients trip very well on the palate—the prawns are so fresh you can almost taste the freshness of the sea; the tang of the herbs is there but it does not overpower the whole dining experience.

With your belly already stuffed with pizza and pasta, are you still willing to take the 600 grams of US-certified Angus beef? You have no option but to indulge. Remember, there are five of you eating this fare, so it does not take a lot to unleash the carnivore in you. Suggestion before you pick up your fork and steak knife: Wash your palate first with Madison’s green apple juice. I think they put a dash of potion in that simple drink that prepares your taste buds to attack the steak. The steak is man-size, yes. And it melts in the mouth as it is tender. The marbling in the middle part of the meat is almost negligible but it does not escape me as I chomp on it with gusto. As usual, the steak at Madison is luscious and savory, enough for me to declare that the restaurant is a steak-landia.

The pleasurable dining experience at Madison is capped with the restaurant’s array of desserts—the tiramisu is good; the lemon curd meringue tart leaves that sweet and velvety aftertaste. The pistachio decadent is deliciously spongy.

But what will really wow your gustatory membrane among Madison’s list of sweets is its crème brulee that is torched just right. It is thin enough to tease your palate again; each bite is almost enchanting. Because it is very thin and very delicate, it melts as soon as it lands in your mouth.

Ahh, Madison’s crème brulee is a fitting end to a pleasurable gustatory saga that begins with everything that is big.

 (Encore can be had at P2,880 and can be shared by five people. For dining reservations, call 728-9000 or 0921-4945948.)