A new menu selection for Bacolod’s O Hotel

I was in Bacolod City few months back for a very quick trip – maybe just around 6 hours. Too short to enjoy the gastronomic flavours of Iloilo City’s twin but just enough time to savour the new menu selection from one of the city’s hippest and good value accommodations – O Hotel.

On the invitation of its food consultant, Chef Miner Del Mundo, I was able to have a taste of the newest menu selection for the hotel’s Master’s Coffee Shop. But this is just not just a “coffee shop” for it serves delectable food that’s appetizing both to the eyes and the palate!

For starters, the Apple, Turnip and Cucumber Slaw had a sour cream dressing with mangoes and salmon roe resting on a bed of lettuce. The strips of fruits and vegetable provide complementing flavours and texture s that are refreshingly crunchy. The sour cream blend harmonized them with a tinge of sourness that balanced off the sweetness of the mangoes. (PhP 235)

You don’t have to be a millionaire or got tons of cash, just PhP250, to enjoy the Millionaire’s Salad. A mix of prawns, smoked salmon and artichokes in balsamic dressing with fried capers adding an extra crunch and taste to the solid concoction. Resting on a bed of crisp lettuce, a shower of parmesan topped the salad that even Bruno Mars would so freakingly love.

I prefer olive oil-based pasta so this one was an automatic “like”. Despite the many variations of Seafood Aglio y Olio one can create (by the way it means seafood in garlic and oil), the one we had was a subtle looking one. Not overly screaming with contrasting colours, it was a blend pleasing to the eye. The shrimp provided the orange hue dotted by green parsley and red chilies – all complementing not confusing for one’s attention. A squeeze of lemon juice provided another contrast, this time with the taste making it more appetizing. (PhP220)

Pleasing to the sense of smell when it arrived was the Sisig Tuna (PhP235) - cubes of tuna on a sizzling plate with chilies and chives. I was really craving to taste this one while taking some photos – lol. And when I did, it burst with flavour and texture! Being a calamansi fan, I squeeze it on almost anything, the sourness matched the tuna flavouring (marinated, I assume) whet my appetite more. And the spiciness even doubled it that I ended up eating almost half of it – lol.

Another sisig came next - the Crabmeat Sisig (PhP 265). Unlike most crabmeats I had this one had a lot of spice to it. It could do very well as a pulutan to most, but for someone who loves spicy foods, it was quickly paired with rice. With the calamansi and mayo mixed into it, this crabmeat sisig is perfect appetizer or “main dish”, whichever you want it. Extra rice, please!

A best seller and an all time favorite is Osso Buco thus it remained on the menu after its revision. This dish is almost a staple in most Bacolod restaurants according to Chef Miner. His version consist of a slice of beef shank in a savoury tomato sauce with garlic and mushroom served on a high heeled bowl (PhP235).

And finally the Pan Seared Norwegian Salmon. A subtly crisp fish with juicy and soft inside with a subtle sauce made with mustard and tarragon beurre blanc ( a hot emulsified butter sauce made with a reduction of vinegar and/or white wine and shallots into which cold, whole butter is blended off the heat to prevent separation - from Wikipedia). It was a refreshing break to the burst of flavours I had that day. Yet in some way the recipe had a flavour on its own yet tricky to comprehend for my simple palate.

Finishing off the delectable lunch were two cheesecake reinventions. The Lemon Curd Cheesecake consists of alternative layers of light chiffon cake and lemon cheesecake. Served cold, I love the iciness the cake brought plus the contrasting yet in some ways complementing flavours and texture of the chiffon and cheesecake. The chiffon being light in both texture and flavour compared to the lemon cheesecake’s dense make and tanginess. (Php115)

A tiramisu and a cheesecake both are mouth watering on their own but combining them both makes one even delectable dessert of new dimension. The Italian Tiramisu Cheesecake (PhP 125) consists of a coffee kahlua flavoured sponge cake that is then alternately layered with cream cheese. Finally giving it a Tiramisu signature look, coffee powder is sprinkled as toppings.

A literal food trip, this “O”some lunch is just a preview of the many delectable offerings Chef Miner has created for the hotel. With almost a hundred choices for appetizers, soups salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, fish, meat and seafood dishes plus desserts, there is a whole lot to choose from. Discover them for yourselves the next time you are in the City of Smiles, only at the O Hotel.

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Master’s Coffee Shop
O Hotel
52 San Sebastian Street, Bacolod City
Tel. Nos. (034) 433-7401 to 04
Mobile No. 0197-300-8001
www.ohotel.com.ph

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