Fab Feb Food: Chef Laudico's Casa Filipino

Now it's time for the choice of the month: my favorite restaurant in the Fab Feb Food series.

My boyfriend took me to Chef Laudico's Casa Filipino in Scout Torillo last February 26 for dinner and it was probably one of the most fulfilling dinners I've had that month. That is, for one, because it's a buffet and we love buffets; two, the place was a beautiful house-turned-restaurant with very classy but contemporary interior (which made the whole dining experience so much more enjoyable); three, the food they offered was fabulously Filipino although there was some fusion attempts here and there; and four, (now this didn't come to me until after we've eaten) the place is owned by one of Philippines' renowned and trendsetting chef, Rolando Laudico.

There were cold, as well as hot, appetizers. The cold ones, being mostly maki and sashimi, were the ones I chose to ignore for this experience since I wanted to be an all-Filipino dinner. The hot appetizers were mostly Filipino and were quite innovative, exhibiting Chef Laudico's signature forward-thinking in food.

For soup, I must also say that I liked their sinigang with its thick sauce and tigas-panga sourness.

Next came the ensalada with Balmban bagoong.

For the main courses, there was a variety of fish, chicken, beef, pork and vegetable dishes to choose from. My favorite would probably be the Angus kare kare. It was mostly meat and not much offal (just the way I prefer) and the ginisang alamang (shrimp paste which most would call bagoong) was also just the way I liked it - a little sweet and not too oily.

They also have a carving station where you can get roast chicken, roast beef, lechon de leche and the likes. My top choice would be the Balmban liempo. Most would probably complain that it was too greasy, but it was moist, tender, and so full of flavor you won't even need to put sarsa on it.

As for dessert, they offer so much to choose from including cakes, ice cream, and a lot of merienda sweets including halo halo. Some were done traditionally like the turon and there were some prepared with a unique twist to the traditional like the suman panacotta.

I'm pretty sure there were some bad points somewhere there that I just missed out probably because of my excitement, thinking that it couldn't have been all that stellar, but what the heck! I enjoyed it so much I'm already planning our next visit.