It was through my friend Cecil of Casa Baluarte that I learned about the newest restaurant in town. She also just heard about it through a relative who was invited to the opening of two Saturdays ago. And we sort of promised to meet there when she has the luxury of time.
But I broke that promise last Friday when I decided to have lunch at Cilantro: Flavors of Vietnam … alone. I got off near Fine Rock Hotel as it was my landmark, walked the rest of the journey and almost missed the restaurant on my way to Jalandoni-Delgado Street junction. Good thing a (Mormon) church across the street seemed to say “Go the RIGHT path”. And behold to my right was my gastronomic destination!
The first thing that caught my attention then was the affordability of the offerings of Cilantro. I wasted no time looking for the Vietnamese specialties marked with the stars as they are the “specialties”. Of course, mention “Vietnamese cuisine”, their noodle soup dish called Pho is sure to follow. So I got myself a small bowl of Pho Bo (beef pho) for only PhP55.
It had the signature “glass noodles”, beef strips, onions and cilantro with a clear broth. On a separate plate came the trimmings – bean sprouts, mint leaves, a piece of lemon and a hoisin sauce and chili sauce. I only used the bean sprouts for the soup itself was already to my liking.
That plate of spicier looking chili sauce turned out to be for my main order – Hainan Ga or Hainese Chicken (PhP88). If I’m not mistaken Hainan is a place there in China that where this style of cooking chicken might have come from. And since Vietnam is just adjacent they could have adapted this style of cooking too.
It came with a cilantro-fied rice and very tempting roasted chicken. I never had the chance of savoring how the chicken tasted for I literally poured the sauce over thus it was more of the spice I can remember then.
My routine of taking a gazillion of photos might have surprised the staff and eventually the owner. Who wouldn’t be – my right hand was holding a digital camera while my left was busy updating Facebook on my mobile phone. It was then one of them asked if I was a blogger and before I told them which blog, I think they already knew.
So that’s when a complimentary Goi Cuon or fresh spring rolls (PhP68) made their way to the table. It had noodles, vegetables and shrimps as filling, rolled in a rice paper (?) wrapper and came with a peanut sauce. And it was very good and tasted very fresh too – especially the wrapper. It will definitely be a staple order the next time I’ll be there.
I ordered the only Vietnamese sounding drink on the menu - Vietnamese Iced Coffee (PhP45), and it came complete with how the Viets drink their coffee. The server poured hot water over the sieve contraption and coffee dripped down and mixed with the condensed milk.
I let it stood for a bit to cool down then poured it in a glass with ice and enjoyed every drop of it – well most of it since I accidentally spilled some of it on my pants.
Good thing it wasn’t the complimentary Brownie ala Mode (PhP60) that I “threw off” the table or I would regret not able to taste how good the brownie and the vanilla ice cream combo was. Even the brownie itself was already good – I forgot to ask if they were homemade or just order.
Cilantro Flavors of Vietnam is located along Jalandoni Street a few meters away from Fine Rock Hotel. It is open from Mondays to Saturdays at 10am to 8pm.
