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.
“Single Ingredient,” Josh Boutwood’s New Menu at Helm
Josh Boutwood keeps outdoing himself.
His latest tasting menu at his two-Michelin-starred Helm is called Single Ingredient, and it’s my favorite one yet. Then again, I probably tell him that every time.
Each course explores the flavors and textures of a single staple, transformed through a range of techniques and preparations.
Robb Report Philippines has a full feature on the experience, but I’m sharing my favorite dish anyway because I simply can’t get it out of my head.
This one puts the spotlight on pumpkin, the humble everyday kalabasa.
Josh waved his magic kitchen wand and, presto.
The result was an exquisite silken pumpkin custard with diced pumpkin, layered with an XO sauce made from pumpkin skin, finished with pumpkin seed oil and a pumpkin lacto-ferment that added just the right balance of sweetness and acidity. Pumpkin foam brought an airy lightness, while roasted pumpkin seeds added texture and crunch.
Pure delight. – Yvette Fernandez, Chief of Editorial Content
Helm by Josh Boutwood is located on the 3rd floor, Tower 2, The Shops at Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City. Reservations can be made online through Josh Boutwood Restaurants or by calling/texting +63 915 909 8647.
Taglish
Chef Frances Tariga’s new Filipino seafood steakhouse carries sister restaurant Tadhana’s love of local produce into a relaxed à-la-carte setting. It also carries her humor: Tuna, cooked perfectly and presented with its spine, becomes a “tuna porterhouse.”
The oysters were my favorite. Each came with what appeared to be a small egg yolk but was actually an orb filled with calamansi, bursting with acidity against the briny oyster. The seafood tower also included tiger prawns, Alaskan King Crab legs, and lobster tails; there was also a rich, comforting, unforgettable pasta dish with a silky calabrian chili sauce that brings Carbone’s famous spicy rigatoni vodka to mind. The vegetables (asparagus, grilled brussels sprouts, tomatoes, carrots) were good enough to make Taglish’s version of surf & turf feel like seafood & produce from Philippine soil, and razor clams with nduja was a surprising combination.
Begin with the bright lambanog sour and order generously. The room is cozy, the service excellent, and Tariga’s signature conviviality runs through the experience. Taglish serves serious cooking with a sense of fun—and makes an evening out feel genuinely easy. – Kimberly Delgado, Digital Editor
Taglish is located on the 4th Floor of the Levanto Building, situated at 389 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air, Makati City, Metro Manila. For reservations, please call +63 995 786 0272.
Blackbird Coffee, Hanoi
The Blackbird coffee shop in Hanoi has been around for a while but has remained consistent. A must try is their eggspresso, at least once.
The eggespresso at Blackbird coffee is a modern twist on the traditional Vietnamese egg coffee. Those traditional egg coffees have their origins because of a fresh milk shortage in 1946 due to the First Indochina War, which resulted in a hotel bartender at Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi substituting milk with beaten, foamy eggs, making what is considered the traditional, now world-renowned, egg coffee. Blackbird’s eggspresso reverts to dairy, using whipped cream and espresso with a sharpness of more modern profiles. It’s similar to an affogato.
Blackbird is near the lake and near a very touristy area, but the vibe is calm, quiet, and chill. Very much like a neighbourhood hangout. – Carl Cunanan, Cars and Watches Editor
Blackbird is located at 5 Chân Cầm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi, Vietnam, 100000. Visit their Instagram profile here.