Puerto Galera's well kept culinary secret

Expatriates and foreign travelers seem to be drawn to a secluded resort in Puerto Galera, the northernmost municipality in Oriental Mindoro province.

Australian-owned Out of the Blue is tucked away from the pack on White Beach, known as the go-to place for local tourists. Its cluster of Mediterranean-style luxury villas sits on a small lot overlooking Small La Laguna.

"Our resort became popular mainly through word of mouth. We had mostly foreigners, expats, those who work in embassies and Asian banks," said John Booth, one of the resort's owners. The other is his good friend and former colleague, Chris Shannon.

"We never expected it to be as successful as we've actually become."

Sampling Coke-laced diner food at The Real Thing

"The Real Thing" used to be the advertising slogan for Coca-Cola, the ubiquitous soft drink brand with the classic white lettering against a red background.

It's also the name of a themed diner at Tomas Morato in Quezon City which opened late last year. 

And it was named such for a reason. The place screams "I love Coca-Cola so much that I'm giving it free advertising!" at the top of its lungs, from the familiar signage font to the huge coke bottle-shaped shelf filled with Coca-Cola memorabilia. 

Let's talk fast food: Yummy Roast

Imagine eating Asian-style fare, just like what is served in Singapore's food courts, in a typical fast food environment.

That's the feeling I got upon my first visit at Yummy Roast, the newest addition to the Philippines' growing list of Singapore influenced food chains. It's a result of a partnership between Richie Yang of Yum Roast International Inc. (the Filipino company that runs Super Bowl of China, Big Buddha and Chili's) and Cary Gee of The Asian Kitchen restaurants in Singapore.

Yummy Roast looks and feels like the usual fast food chain, complete with yellow plastic chairs and a counter where all the menu items are displayed. It also has "value meals" and unlimited rice offerings, as seen in most quick service restaurants here in the country.

The difference, however, lies in the food.

Strawberry taho in Baguio

Here in the Philippines, it's common to see a man carrying 2 large aluminum buckets, screaming "taaaahhoooo" while walking along the sidewalk or in the middle of the road.

Using a shallow ladle, he scoops out the contents of his 2 buckets -- soft or silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup) and sago (pearl tapioca) -- and places these in thin plastic cups.

The end product, warm and sweet taho, has long been a favorite among locals and tourists in several parts of the country.

But in Baguio City, a 6-hour trip from Manila, people do things a bit differently.

A meal fit for a King

The best time to be creative in the kitchen is when you're hungry, at least according to renowned chef Billy King, the man who brought the famed Le Souffle restaurant here.

True enough, King hasn't eaten anything when he showed his latest creations at The Manor's Le Chef restaurant in Baguio City late last month.

He's not the type who holds a pen and sits down to think, either -- the chef initially said he'll serve 6 new items, but he ended up with 13.

"It's best to be hungry. It's the best time to be creative. Let the gastric juices and imagination flow," he said.

King is a proud chef, one who's not willing to jump on the celebrity chef bandwagon. He said, referring to chef contests on television, "Some of it is nonsense. Why create something in an hour when you need 3 hours to do it? It's not right. It just cannot be good."

"It seems nobody can do anything without a blender nowadays," he quipped.

His seeming air of arrogance, however, fades away the moment we got to taste his dishes. From the savory dishes to the desserts and drinks, each item tasted divine, causing us food writers to close our eyes and call to God after every bite.

What the chef served us, indeed, was a meal fit for a king.