Chez Karine

A few weeks ago, after a hearty lunch at Abe in Serendra, Mom and I decided to check out Chez Karine.  After all, it's just a few steps away and I've heard raves about Chez Karine's macarons.

This is what greeted us:

The selection of macarons

Personally, upon first impression, I would've preferred a more extensive selection of macarons.  Chez Karine's does have the usual tried and tested flavors, and unexpected ones (maple bacon) but that's about it.   



Pudding!

Their pudding sparked my interest.  How cute can the glass bottle be??  And you know what they say, it's all about the packaging.  Limited flavors (again) though...



Mini cakes

The cakes looked delicious, but coming from a hearty lunch, we wanted just a few bites and the macarons and pudding won over the cakes.  Maybe next time.



What we had

The verdict?  Sad to say I didn't enjoy Chez Karine's macarons.  It wasn't the good chewy kind as expected.  To say that it's forgettable might be the right word to describe it.  I'm not sure if we just weren't so lucky and got yesterday's batch, or it really does normally taste like that.  The pudding, on the other hand, was quite good.  We probably would go back for the pudding but not the macarons.  I really hope Chez Karine would improve the quality of their macarons since it's their star product.  It would be sad to see their next door dessert competitors (Sonja's cupcakes, Gourmandise Patisserie) outshine them and leave them behind. 

Chez Karine is at Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

Abe

Living in the Philippines, there's Filipino restaurants right and left.  It's hard to find one which is not your typical cookie cutter Filipino restaurant.  Enter Abe.  When this restaurant first opened in Serendra some years ago, it was next to impossible to get a table.  Fast forward to now, it's still hard to secure a table.  That's how you know if a restaurant is good.  You know it's not just hype because it's newly opened and everybody wanted to try it.

It was quite sometime (ok, maybe yearsss) when we last ate in Abe.  Not because it's not good, but because  we seldom find ourselves in Serendra because of all the newly opened restaurants in Bonifacio High Street Central.  On a random Saturday, Mom and I had a date.  And when asked where to eat, Abe suddenly popped into my mind.

What we had:

Squid Tactics

This is one of my old favorites.  I like how the batter is just light and remains white, unlike other calamares that turn brown after a round of frying.  The slightly sweet-spicy sauce also complements it very well.

Pork Hamonado

This is one of the new dishes which came highly recommended by our server.  She didn't fail us.  It was good.  But be warned:  eating more than one can be dizzying because of the fat.

Lengua

The non-traditional lengua, which came in a serving dish with a baked crust.  Would have preferred my lengua to be whole and not chopped into pieces, but it was pretty tender so I guess it cancels out the negative points.

Bamboo Rice

One of the house specials (or at least i think) is their bamboo rice.  The rice was soft but not overly done.

Pinakbet

This is more of Mom's dish.  Not much of a pinakbet person myself, but she gave her nod of approval, so I guess it's good!

Overall Abe gets a 4 out of 5 stars.  Perfect for those occasions which require you to bring a balikbayan friend/relative out to eat, but you want to avoid the usual Filipino fare. 

Abe is at Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig