Filipino Food Presented In Style

Who says Filipino food can't compare with international cuisine because they can't be presented in an attractively appetizing manner?  Yesterday, at Crisostomo, a restaurant famous for Filipino food gave me a surprise! 

My daughter-in-law is in town to attend a class reunion, and we had to meet her for I was tasked by my younger daughter to send through her  the final cut of her Shangrila Mactan wedding video.  Whenever my daughter-in-law and my son are in town, they usually come over for dinner or even brunch I prepare at home. 

But this time, she called:

"Mommy, can we just meet at town center for tea?  I have to visit my grandma in Batangas early in the morning and my reunion is in the evening."  She also told me that she didn't anticipate getting home almost midnight the night before.

"There were long lines at the terminal 3 immigration check in, it took me an hour, then, I had a long wait for my luggage to come out from the carousel". 

I thought we would meet for high tea at Le Petit Cherie, a French restaurant at Molito, but my son thought she may just want local snacks like:

 bibingka (rice cake lined with banana leaf underneath; cooked at the bottom and on top). 

Puto  bongbong (a violet-colored rice cake steamed in a bamboo tube, served with sugared freshly grated coconut shavings).

While I realized later that Le Petit Cherie may have an assortment of these local delicacies as well as their usual spread of French pastries, my husband suggested Crisostomo.  In the end, it was an excellent choice for my daughter-in-law had to buy some stuff from Rustan's, evident of the big bag of items from where else but Rustan's that she was carrying along. 

I was surprised how Crisostomo presented my daughter's-in-law order. The lowly street snacks, Turon (plantain, dredged in brown sugar with fresh jackfruit, rolled in rice wrapper and deep fried). This came with a dip, fondue-style, looked like salted caramel, but of rich coco jam. I would say that foreign visitors would delight seeing this, and enjoy eating it as well. 

The churros that my son-in-law ordered was pretty much served in the same way. Sorry, I didn't take a picture, but it looks just as interesting. 

I couldn't resist their halo halo, (assortment of sweetened plaintain, tapioca, yam jam, creme brûlée, gelatin, etc., served with shaved ice, soaked in milk and topped with ice cream). There is even a choice of ice cream: ube(violet yam), cheese or vanilla. I chose cheese. 

While we were enjoying a happy hour catching up;  I told my daughter-in-law not to hesitate to say when it's time for her to go. She said, she still had to get some stuff for my son waiting back home with their 6-month-old son. She will fly home today to catch up with their weekly family outing she doesn't want to miss.