A few weeks ago Mita and I had dinner with an old friend, Manny Paez of Manila Forwarder and Mita steered us right to a very satisfying steak experience. Believe me, this is not easy to do in the Philippines. It’s easy to find beef here in many combinations for breakfast, lunch or dinner but in most cases you are going to be very disappointed … even ground beef is typically tough, full of fat, hazardous to your teeth because of carelessly included sharp bits of bone
Meat cutting (I could write a book on the butchering practices here in the Philippines )… at least as much meat is ruined by the ‘whack everything apart at random with a dull axe’ school of meat cutting as ever goes to waste by other modes of spoilage. Actually, whenever I visit a large butcher counter, as in a supermarket, the carnage behind the glass of the display cases reminds me of overly realistic coverage of a terrorist bombing … serioulsy, meat often looks as if the animal were cut up by putting a hand grenade inside and pulling the pin.
Native beef is generally skinny and tough. Part of this problem is caused by climatic conditions to some degree…Angus and other better beef breeds don’t do well here, and much is made of the fact that Philippine beef is most often grass finished rather than grain finished as we are used to in the US. In itself, this is a bogus reason, though, it is perfectly possible to make excellent steak and roasts from grass fed animals, indeed some of the finest meat in the world is … but you can’t sell it for 100 pesos per kilo bargain prices. Anyway, I didn’t want this to be a rant .. we Americans eat way to much corn-fattened beef and we have the waistlines to prove it.
Every once in a while you want to do something special. And for carnivores as Mita and I proudly are, it takes beef to satisfy. My friend Bob has raved to me about a restaurant, Cawayanon, in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon in central Mindanao. I’ve heard other independent assessments that says this place likely serves the best steaks in the Philippines. I’m looking forward to a visit there.
In the meantime, we’ve found a darn good substitute right here in Metro Manila … the Highlands Steakhouse in the Mall of Asia, right on Manila Bay. The original Highlands Steakhouse is located in a beautiful setting in the mountains overlooking Lake Taal in Tagaytay Highlands, south of Manila. The developer of the Tagaytay Highlands community use it as a drawing card for their country-club community and it’s only open to residents and their guests.
But when SM corporation opened the really impressive Mall of Asia a few years ago, they needed more than the usual US franchise burger joints and greasy bar-b-que places that serve mainly marinated fat and gristle … thus was born the Mall of Asia branch of Highlands Steakhouse, open to all who don’t mind spend US-level prices for a US quality steak dinner.
We were very happy with the dining experience there, with the view over Manila Bay,
(hint: plan your trip there between 6 and 7 pm to catch the sunset and even if you want to move inside for dinner, enjoy cocktails on the balcony overlooking the bay)
The wait staff is excellent … one of the best I have seen in Manila, (and I’ve eaten at other restaurants in this price range), the air- imported US Angus beef is top notch, the chef knows the difference between rare, medium rare and medium, parking is excellent (valet parking right on the street in front of the restaurant) … all in all a very satisfying visit. Recommended.
Philly,
For your next challenge (and the benefit of your Aussie readers), find the restaurant that serves the best Lamb. And I mean real Lamb….not Mutton.
Are you and my wife in cahoots, Laurence? She’s the one most likely to order lamb … although I like it too, if it is well kichen crafted. Our best shot at decent lamb is likely a Greek place (or perhaps, Greepino). One that we have in mind is Mano’s Greek Taverna in Tagaytay, run by a Crete and an Ilocano … I have heard their grilled meat is superb, I’ll let everyone know if we get up that way.
wow you have me suffiently drooling and wow dinner with manny too ! very nice
Manny and Mita and I go back a long way, since long before we moved to the Philippines. Manny’s a great fellow and the kind of guy who makes me enthusiastic and tired at the same time … he’s a ball of energy and always got something new that he’s trying out. Although he’s 100% Filipino born and raised, he’s one Filipino who forgot to listen to all the ‘it can’t be done in the Philippines’ mantra that is so common. He’s been a very good friend to us.
And yes the steak house is along long way from you … I think you are close to Bob’s favorite though … it is just down the street from the US Embassy, so if you ever have to come here for business, don’t fail to squeeze in some Mall of Asia time.
By the way, Tommy, while I have you and my brain on the smae screen for a change … have you made any plans to start driving? had a car equipped or thinking of having one equipped? I spent some time last wek with one of Mita’s high school classmates who has been in a chair since elementary years, he has a small Mitusbuishi vanwith automatic and hand drive and whenever we have to convoy somewhere we alwys make him the leader and then do our best to keep up
Where having lunch on Sunday, I’m going to try to remember, yet again, to let me know some of the particulars, like where the equipment xame from, did he have trouble finding an installer, any problems with the LTO car-wise or license-wise, etc.
you also have to experience the dry aged prime angus rib eye at mamou’s kitchen at serendra the fort. it’s served similar to peter lugers. it was Php3,500 good for two. EXCELLENT. their wet aged beef are superb as well.
Thank you, Michael. I will keep that in mind. My wife likes to visit Surendra from time to time. Sounds like a nice treat for a special occasion.
I have never tried PH beef but grass fed beef is, IMHO, far better than the stockyard stuff in the US.
I live in Colombia and all beef comes straight off the range and is really LEAN, virtually no marbling at all.
The trick is to keep it rare, even medium rare is pushing your luck, for toughness. The problem in the 3rd world is they have never heard of rare. Here, and when I lived in China, they cook everything far beyond done and usually beyond recognition. They can even cook a tough sausage.
If one is feeling that old “something American” hunger you better be able to cook. Even them there are the odd things. A wiener for a hot dog will have a plastic casing and finding wieners that are close to the size of the buns is a challenge.
Fortunately I love to cook, if I make the jump to the PH next year I look forward to having a maid to clean up the mess,,, lol.
The biggest challenge to finding top quality beef here, James, starts way before the grain fed/grass fed argument. The breeds of beef that produe most of the quality steaks that Americans desire … Hereford and Angus in particular, do not do well at all in the Philippine climate and thus are nearly non-existent.
The beef sold locally comes typically from various breeds that are crosses of Zebu and other African and Indian native breeds.
Those breeds do not put on weight as rapidly as the meat breeds common in the US, and they will not marble and produce steaks as Americans are used to, period.
Doesn’t matter if you feed them grass or grain, free range or penned in a feed lot, you will not produce steaks like “Omaha Steaks” sells at any price from those breeds.
If you want a steak that really meets the criteria most Westerners have for a “good steak” you need to pay the piper and go with US, Japanese (Wagu, called Kobe Steak in Japan) or Australian.