BY JOSEPH TANCHEE
Your jaws don’t exactly drop when you wander into the Best Western Astor Hotel’s El Prado restaurant. There are little, or no, frills and trimmings, the decorations are forgettable, and there isn’t even a distinguishable signage announcing the restaurant. In fact, looking around the place, the resto easily comes off as somewhat humble.
However, taking a few more steps forward, you’ll realize that the restaurant isn’t as unassuming as it seems. The paintings displayed on El Prado’s walls are worth a small fortune. These paintings, said to be from the personal collection of hotel owner and political personality Manoling Morato, are valued in millions. And they’re also a clue to what’s in store for you in the restaurant’s menu.
The El Prado is your typical hotel lobby coffee shop, restaurant, bar and lounge, serving the usual Continental and American breakfasts, as well as Asian and Filipino favorites. But upon closer inspection of their ala carte menu, you’ll discover that it’s peppered with a lot of interesting and creative dishes you won’t normally find in a hotel this small.
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Duet of Beef and Lamb Forestiere | | The Astor is continuously upgrading and updating its menu to suit their clients’ preferences. Take the resto’s name for instance; El Prado is Spanish, because the restaurant used to serve Spanish cuisine. But now, the menu dotes on Italian pasta dishes and French-style cooking, as well as a few dealings with fusion. And with this meticulous attention you’ll see that though the Best Western Astor is a three-star hotel, it should have two stars more when it comes to their cuisine.
Executive Chef plus Food and Beverage Manager Richard Dancel is behind El Prado’s menu revolutions. He’s also responsible for the dishes remarkable platings. But this comes as no surprise as Chef Dancel has over 15 years of kitchen experience backing him up. He has worked in many of Metro Manila’s hotels, and has even worked in a luxury liner.
Chef Dancel plans to add a few more dishes to his menu. So, in the coming months expect to feast on his Duet of Beef and Lamb Forestiere (pan-grilled beef and lamb, served on top of mashed potatoes with a creamy sauce made from three different mushrooms on the side), and Split Prawn with Caviar in Saffron Sauce (prawns flavored with pepper and paprika on top of risotto cooked pesto-style, showered with caviar, served with a heavily saffron-flavored sauce).
Sampling El Prado’s cuisine best starts with a Cajun-crusted Tuna (charcoal-grilled tuna crusted with pepper, served with a salad of fresh greens, capers, and baby oranges, in lemon olive oil dressing), Beef and Broccoli Salad (strips of beef and broccoli florets, showered with parmesan shavings, and dressed in balsamic vinaigrette), or the Rose of Smoked Salmon Platter (layers of smoked salmon with olives, capers, cocktail onions, drizzled with lemon olive oil dressing).
Good choices for the main course include Broiled Chicken Breast with Apple Gravy (boneless chicken breast served atop mashed potatoes and vegetables, with apple-flavored gravy), Strip Steak with Peppercorn Sauce (charbroiled beef with mushroom risotto in peppercorn sauce), and Pan-seared Red Snapper in termidor sauce.
For those who want Italian, you can choose from spaghetti, fettucine or Penne pasta. Then you can have it cooked Putanesca (olives, anchovies, tomato, onion, and basil), marinara (seafood), or primavera (vegetable) style. Or you can try a platter of meaty Spaghetti Bolognese. The Former PCSO chairman can often be seen at the El Prado during lunch opting for this dish.
And for dessert its best to indulge in a sweet slice of the restaurant’s cheesecake topped with your choice of blueberries, strawberries, or mangoes.
`The Best Western Astor Hotel is located at Makati Avenue corner Eduque Street in Makati City.
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