The Meal of the Year Award goes to…

I had the most wonderful meal over lunch today at Sala with DaphP. Sala has truffle offerings on their menu for this week only, and it is an opportunity not to be missed. These white truffles from Alba won’t wait for us, so we really made the time to meet up for the lunch of the year 😉

The only crappy part about lunch was not having my camera with me. I got me a new camera from my most recent trip *woohoo– it’s a smaller camera, the Canon Powershot E1 in baby blue :D*, but the battery died and welp, I guess I got too lazy to bother charging it. So I had to take photos of the food via my new phone, the Nokia E71. While I love this phone, I couldn’t help but wonder why the camera wasn’t taking sharp photos– and oye, don’t blame me for the lousy shots, my picture-taking skills have improved immensely already hahaha. I absolve myself of any “photography wrongdoing”. 😉

It’s the camera’s fault. *Grumbles*. Nokia doesn’t make the best camera phone I guess. I haven’t really tried other phone brands except Blackberry. I actually got me a Blackberry Bold last week, used it for 3 days, and decided the Bold was NOT my kind of phone. (photo credit: Blackberry site) I felt that I had made a pricey $$ mistake on a phone I couldn’t even figure out how to operate– I didn’t really intend for this phone to be used to get my emails when I’m on the go, which is why I guess getting this phone was pointless to begin with. For starters, I actually am not a tech- savvy person. I use phones as a means to an end– to make and receive calls, and send out long text messages *hehe*. Anything extra is something I have to take extra pains in learning. Take for instance, the Qwerty keypad. I have since gotten used to it, but the other features, I couldn’t even master. And frankly, at this time in my life, I haven’t the time to bother. I only succumbed to yet another Nokia because I just can’t find the time to pop by phone stores to check out Samsung or Sony Ericsson, Motorola, or Treo phones. I wish there was a way I can test these phones for a few days before I get to decide which one suits my needs best. Alas, no one sends me any phones to play with *muwahaha grumbles*. (Mrs.T obviously has NO clout *pouts*)

Anyway, enough talk about one of my biggest mistakes for 2008 (the Blackberry Bold), I got me a Nokia E71, and was already happy with it until I saw the quality of my food photos.

Though these photos below don’t make the dishes look appetizing, take my word that the food was heavenly. It brought me to a different level of gastronomic high. *YES*. I actually intend to pay Sala another visit this week over lunch to feast on extra Truffles shavings before they run out. If you don’t yet know what truffles look like, take a look at the photo below. Truffles are the food diamonds of the earth and are expensive– “the Tuber magnatum truffles sell between €2,000 and €4,000 per kilogram ($1350 – $2700 per pound)” (Source: Wikipedia). So it’s really something of a gastronomic gem to try these. Sala offers that opportunity now for peeps to have truffles!

This is Kerwin of Sala/ Sala Bistro, showing us the truffles that were “hand-carried” to Manila. The smell immediately permeated the room when he brought this box out. I tried hard to inhale deeply, hoping that the “scent” would be permanently embedded in my olfactory “memory bank” *if there is such a thing- doh ;)*. The truffles don’t look like much. In fact, my friend once said they looked like turds *sadly, they do look like turds hahaha*. But rest assured that a shaving or two of these truffles together with the most basic pasta will change your mind about them forever.

Wagyu carpaccio with leafy greens and shavings of alba truffle. (I’d suggest skipping the lemon squeeze for this dish since the actual taste of the truffles could be overpowered by the tart taste of the lemon mixed with the greens and the carpaccio)
Scrambled egg with truffles paired with melba toast. (This was SO good)

Truffle omelet (organic eggs used)
Shrimp risotto with truffles The shrimps were very sweet but they did not overpower the truffles. This was fantastic.

The meal was really something worth going back for. I can say that this is the BEST meal I’ve had in Manila this year (compliments to Chef CarloM, Kerwin, and the kitchen team for this 5-star meal).

If you’re also a closet glutton like me, I highly recommend making that reservation at Sala ASAP. The truffles won’t be around for long, so ’tis the time to indulge (eyyy it’s Christmas soon!) in a yummy meal like this. We paid approximately US$50 per head to share the dishes shown above, and we also ordered Sala’s famous panna cotta (natch).

For reservations at Sala, call now (+632) 750-1555. Do not miss this wonderful opportunity to enjoy Alba Truffles!!

Quick shoutout to Let of Koket boutique, the newest store to hit Rockwell Power plant Mall. Koket has fashion accessories that were brought in from Paris, where Let and her husband also live. *Sigh* I really love Paris. Anyway, pop by Koket– they have some cute, affordable accessories which make perfect stocking stuffers and Christmas gifts 🙂

AND LASTLY! Some news about ACCESSORY LAB, our newest baby. We are slated to open (soft opening only) on December 16, Tuesday 🙂 So in the next few days, you will be reading more about our store. I just pray that my contractor can finish cleaning our place on time for us to open on the 16th 🙂

x
Mrs.T