Lampara
After being out for a full day now here in Manila, I’m starting to feel the Christmas vibe out in the streets already. The atmosphere is so nice here in Manila as all the streets are decked out in Christmas lights and the carols are playing nonstop on the radio. The traffic of course comes with it naturally but what doesn’t stop is the abundance of great restaurants and good food that we have here.
Lampara is the next place that we’re visiting next, and the head chef RJ Ramos is a good friend as we were both assigned to work in Paris at the same time about a decade ago. I am so happy to see what he has done with the place and the menu.
Lampara, located at 5883 Enriquez Street in the widely popular Poblacion area, opened a couple of years back and has been serving up amazing dishes and cocktails ever since. We got to the restaurant around 6 pm and was met by the hostess who followed all the necessary protocols including the contact tracing form and temperature check. RJ then warmly greeted us as we sat at our table and showed us around the space and explained to us the menu. Their concept was real cool and creative, the cocktails were the first we tried from the menu. Chef brought us a few different gin cocktails to sample and they were all nice and refreshing.
At this point our cousins who were joining us for dinner finally arrived and now the table was complete, and we ordered our first set of appetizers.
The “queso de bola” …
and duck sisig or “dinuckduckan” was what we got first and they were both exceptional.
The goat cheese fritter was so good and the duck sisig was magnificent. We ordered each dish again as we couldn’t get enough of it.
The Pulpo and Bang Bang were the next 2 items that we received, and they were excellent as well. The octopus was grilled perfectly, and
the chili balls were nice and spicy that it was perfect for drinking.
The rice cups were our last appetizer, and it was filled with “toge” or bean sprouts and longaniza which gave a unique flavor combination.
We started with the lamb shank kulma for our main course and the lamb was nice and tender with sharp flavors that made you keep eating more ☺
The duck leg adobo followed, and this reminded me of a duck leg confit from France but garnished with an exquisite adobo sauce.
The pork belly was our last savory dish and this was fried crisp and just a harmony between meat and fat.
Our meal ended with their tres leches cake
…and “yema” with condensed milk and cacao from Davao.
Chef RJ and Lampara thank you for welcoming us this evening and we will be back again for sure before I leave for NY…
#KULINARYATRAVELS is off to GALLERY BY CHELE next…