The Good Life: Editors’ Picks of the Week

In every The Good Life: Editors’ Picks column, we round up our editors’ favorites—restaurants, cocktails, experiences, exhibits, and everything in between. Here is our latest list.

Yawaragi, Hotel Okura

As I get older, I find that I’m drawn more and more to traditional comfort dishes over whatever modern culinary experiments are called nowadays. 

The new grill menu at Yawaragi, set in the pretty atrium fifth-floor lobby at Hotel Okura, draws from yaki, the Japanese approach to cooking over heat, with two different ways to enjoy it.

Kushiyaki focuses on skewers cooked over binchotan, the white charcoal known for its steady, high heat that enhances natural flavors. Various cuts of chicken, seafood, and other ingredients arrive straight from the grill, seasoned simply with salt or brushed with a light glaze. 

Meanwhile, ishiyaki brings the cooking to your table. Slices of A5 Saga wagyu, known for its marbling and richness, are served with a heated stone, allowing you to cook each piece exactly the way you want it.  

Traditional favorites such as agemono, donburi, and ramen round off the menu. Have a bottle of beer which pairs well with the char from the grill, and well, everything else. 

Hotel Okura is at Newport World Resorts. The Yawaragi Grill Menu is available for lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays, and dinner from Sunday to Thursday. – Yvette Fernandez, Chief of Editorial Content

For room or dining reservations and more information: +63 2 5318 2888; [email protected]; hotelokuramanila.com/offers/koibumi

Venchi at SM Mall of Asia

For over 145 years, Venchi has built its name on quality, consistency, and a very Italian seriousness about chocolate. A brand does not last that long by treating sweets casually. When the invite to the opening of its newest boutique in SM Mall of Asia, as someone with a sweet tooth, I of course made room in my calendar.

It is the brand’s largest Chocogelateria in the country to date. On the right is the “My Venchi Mix” section, a colorful wall of chocolates where you can pick, mix, and fill your bag with whatever catches your eye. Move further in and you get the gelato counter and its seating area, a new addition for Venchi’s Chocogelaterias in Metro Manila.

Our host walked us through six of Venchi’s signature pieces, starting with the Granblend Venezuela Milk, creamy and easy to pop into the mouth, then moved to the Cremino Pistachio, a velvety gianduja layered with lightly salted pistachio. The Gianduiotto Ricetta Originale followed, made from Venchi’s historic 1878 recipe, before the Chocoviar 75 percent, a dark chocolate filling covered in a dark chocolate shell and my personal favorite of the flight. The Milk Hazelnut Ingot kept things classic with whole Piedmont hazelnuts, while the Dark Pearl finished the tasting with a toasted Piedmont hazelnut wrapped in dark chocolate.

I tried Venchi’s Philippine-exclusive Ube gelato ahead of its May 1 launch. That made me one of the lucky few to taste it before everyone else, and with ube having its moment around the world, it feels like the right flavor at the right time. My recommendation is to try the Ube on its own first before the other flavors. My other favorites were the plant-based Gianduiotto Extra Dark, which was surprisingly very rich for a gelato without milk, and the Piedmont Hazelnut.

On that note, Venchi’s SM Mall of Asia opening comes just in time for Mother’s Day. If you’re looking for something sweet to bring home for your mom, or yourself, Venchi offers the Murrine Flower Orange Two Trays, Murrine Metal Tin, Murrine Hamper, and Murrine Pencil Case, each packed with signature chocolates and dressed up in colorful packaging. Lucky for me, my mom has a sweet tooth too. I guess I got it from her! – Aica Dacuno, Managing Editor

Venchi is located at the 2nd Level, SM Mall of Asia Main Mall, Seaside Blvd, Pasay City. 

Jesus Christ Superstar at Solaire

Most musicals want to be loved. Jesus Christ Superstar has always wanted to start an argument. Born as a concept album before Broadway ever got its hands on it, Rice and Lloyd Webber’s rock opera has spent five decades being too loud for the purists and too theological for the rock crowd. Somehow, that’s exactly what makes it endure.

The Olivier Award-winning reimagination arrives in Manila this May for a limited run at The Theatre at Solaire. If you’ve only ever known this show from the 1973 film or a high school production, prepare to reconsider it entirely. Originating at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre before tearing through the West End, North America, and Australia, this is the version that reminded the world why the piece was controversial in the first place.

Timothy Sheader’s direction and Drew McOnie’s choreography strip the biblical epic to its bare emotional voltage—the final days of Christ told through the eyes of Judas, landing somewhere between arena concert, spiritual crisis, and political drama.

The score is the thing, and hearing “Gethsemane” live is reason enough to go. But few shows can still make ancient history feel like breaking news. – Bryle Suralta, Features Editor

Jesus Christ Superstar runs until May 31 at The Theatre at Solaire, Parañaque. Tickets from P1,900 to P7,000 via TicketWorld.