New Spot: ARCANA LOUNGE

If there's something that is lacking in San Juan City, it's the fact that there's really a scarcity of good bars... but here's good news. ARCANA LOUNGE finally has opened and we've got first dibs on things they offer.

Ambiance: I think I've seen this being worked on a couple months ago when a couple workers went outside and pat dust off their clothes... and I saw a new sign put up in front, I stopped and said to my self, this is interesting! When I entered ARCANA this evening, my eyes were certainly drawn on the copper clad ceiling. I felt they did this on purpose so you get to feel how large the room was. The place could seat 50-60 people (maybe more) and tables were arranged for groups of 4 or more to fit friends, family. The back side had a long bunk chair and the others were upholstered thick, pretty comfy to be seated for hours. They also had fresh flowers, dropped in several places. Design wise, it reminded me of a little mix of modern, industrial and art deco. There's a sense of it being posh, their attention to detail was astounding.

The Bar on the other had was built differently. The racks are filled to the brim with different kinds of booze as they serve hard drinks and cocktails. The bar is all clad in gold, black, aimed to complement the restaurant interior. It also has their huge logo, intimidating to look at but once you know the bartenders, you'll love them instantly.

Gourmet Nachos -Warm nachos with hearty chili con carne topping. Fresh and complements Gin, Tequila based drinks.

Purple Sour - Something they whipped up to surprise me, this was refreshing and perfect to start the evening.

Buffalo Wings - It had the flavors, not too spicy... make sure you eat it while it's hot!

Sisig Rolls - A different take on the usual bar chow. Like a mix between Filipino and Vietnamese. Again, make sure you consume while it's hot.

Truffle Pizza - One of my favorites that evening. It had the right amount of cheese, crispy crust and truffle permeated all over the top.

Sliders - If you need something filling, the sliders would surely do that. It comes with fries, which I think was also laced with a little truffle.

Fra Diavolo - Fresh pasta with shrimp, cheese and lemon on the side.

Steak Fried Rice - I liked their version, like the other items I mentioned earlier, eat it while its hot.

USDA Rib Eye Steak - They made it the way I like it. Medium, still has the right amount of fat (which I love) and buttery soft still. I would even love to have seconds. I would go back for this in a heartbeat!

Prawn Thermidor - For prawn lovers out there, here's your fix. You may have this shared but I doubt you'll do because it's cheesy good.

Lamb Rack - For those who would want something a bit more lean, get the Lamb rack. They cooked it perfectly... I'd assume this would be for those special date nights or "treat to self" days.

ARCANA LOUNGE maybe new, but fret not as they've got some seasoned Chefs and Mixologists behind all their counters. They plan very well, and honestly, the ambiance is a huge selling point. If you have guests, friends or family that need to be given a classy dinner, something to drink afterwards, this is the place you should be looking for. A plus is that they also customize drinks, just ask the friendly bartender what you prefer so they could whip up something for you.

ARCANA LOUNGE is located at the Greenhills Promenade's second level. You may enter through the stairs from Music Museum or the one on the left door of the mall's old door. I enjoyed my time there and surely, I'd be back for more!

A Different Brew: Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee

This afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised that there exists a community of coffee connoisseurs, professional baristas, coffee shop owners, coffee farmers and people who passionately care about the industry in the Philippines. Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee just opened up shop at the WNC Building along Jose Abad Santos Street Little Baguio in San Juan City. Their grand opening called for a “Throwdown” of the best baristas in the country, coming far and wide just to celebrate what they serve in this shop, their specialty coffee.

It’s different from the usual, as they strictly enforce the highest coffee standards using beans from different regions in the Philippines. Unbeknownst to many, we’ve got some of the best in the world; and I think that exactly runs this movement. I was a bit uneasy when they individually talked about their story, it reminded a bit how little I know about it, I was just observing them. Seeing how they cared and intricately prepare each cup for competition was inspiring.

Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee sits around 40 people (mostly bar stools and a couple couches in front). The structure is depicted with industrial pieces in the bar, concrete floors, twigs adorn the recessed lights, mixed in with steampunk elements especially with the modern machines they have for the store. 

They take Latte Art quite seriously, because your specialty coffee experience cannot be compromised.

They also serve cakes and pastries for those who have a sweet tooth, they serve mean cheesecakes.

We ordered Iced Latte, which I absolutely loved. They also have Atok Kape Cold Drip Coffee which I would recommend to experience inside the store. They didn't forget milk tea and craft beer lovers, order when you can!

The third of the space is dedicated to PHILAC (Philippine Latte Art Academy) which teaches competing baristas we send off to international competitions to represent the country. The center also functions as a laboratory for specialty coffee workshops so people can enroll in modules like intro courses, Brewing/Extraction classes, Pressure and Flow Profiling, Advanced Latte Art and Sensory Skills Assessment with the goal to raise the barista profession in the Philippines.

Over at the competition, invited baristas were also joined by walk-in contestants to compete for the nice prizes that Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee prepared for them. Before they started, they took a few minutes to remember a brew brother who passed away, they have also dedicated the Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee Showdown for him, that was touching.

To serve as judges, they introduced JR Celdran, Desmond Chua and CJ Torres. The contestants were simply tasked to do a latte art in an 8oz cup via designs like tulips, Seahorse, Phoenix, Pegasus (oh yeah they did one!) etc. Serve it and do the task in front of the judges, then they decide who progresses to the next round by the quality of their art. I thought it was going to take a long time, but they took minutes to have it on the table. Live judging was fast not easy, they had to resort repeating some of the cups because of clarity of design and cleanliness.

The third round had the contestants partner up with lady baristas holding their cup. Partnering skills are difficult, it showed how much experienced baristas had an advantage.

The 4th Round had Oliver Miclat, Mark Lingat and Paul Mishima battle it out for the crown. 

Marc Lingat went ahead of the pack with his Hornbill on an Atis Tree entry. The Unicorn and Squirrel wasn't bad at all. They had to do sudden death to see who will fight Lingat in the finals.

Between the Bunny Rabbit and the Seahorse, two of the judges chose the sea worthy entry of Paul Mishima.

A fun round of shots and brew before the finals was done with two contestants randomly chosen from the list. The guy actually did better winning this time.

Then the finals had the two baristas make their grand masterpiece, look at these lovely entries! Their first cup was a "pour" and the second one had "etching", judges had a hard time choosing who will win. In the end, they declared Paul Mishima as the Grand Champion. Second Runner up goes to Oliver, First Runner Up goes to Mark.

Congratulations Paul Mishima who hails from Tagaytay City for winning the first Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee Throwdown! 

That's our live blog for today! For those who would like to visit this place, simply input Jack Meets Kaldi on Grab or Google Maps and it will take you there. Visit them at 15 Jose Abad Santos Street in Little Baguio San Juan City. It's very near Wilson Street so you wouldn't miss it!

Great Comfort Food at BEEFFALO by HotRocks in San Juan

It was a nice afternoon for a great lunch so we headed our way to BEEFFALO by Hotrocks located at 135 Hoover Street in San Juan City. If my memory serves me right, I think I've already eaten in one of their defunct branches at Club 650' in Eastwood Libis which closed down because they stopped the lease and making that a community of condominiums. Now this place is off the beaten track, only a few restaurants exist in this place with the exception of the nearby Wilson Street area.  

The restaurant was conceptualized by a husband and wife team - owners who adored grilling in their backyard in Marikina. Back then, their guests often comprise friends and family who absolutely adored their home cooking. The weekend parties became pretty frequent, even bigger and they kept on going back. The crowd became huge and later on found themselves spending a lot for food, then the husband thought about putting up a restaurant. His lovely wife thought he was crazy but decided to go through with it because he already paid for the space. The place in Marikina was barren land - where you would often see grass growing wildly, people often get lost as it was right in the middle of nowhere but people still flocked as a destination restaurant. 

Today the whole street has been lined with shops, some commercial establishments jumped the opportunity to also open there. They decided it was time to open BEEFFALO so they could cater to more people in Manila, a place that would still have shades of HotRocks food people love, a chill spot for home cooked food, coffee and good desserts.

The Place

This place is quaint, a little rustic, got that shabby chic kind of decor with a touch of color here and there. During our time there, they were already preparing for Halloween and the General Manager Louie Abad told us how they take this occasion seriously. They really dress up and find it was good to entertain their customers too.

It could probably accommodate around 50 people in one go. Lines are a normal scene during lunch and dinner so they'd appreciate if you reserve ahead if you plan to have a meal here. Though if you're really in the mood, go here on weekdays and you'll probably have a better chance to dine.

I was actually excited to see they had the BEEF to put up decors like these cows in the mix. I felt right at  home because you know, we're KUMAGCOW after all.

For small groups who plan to have intimate parties, might I suggest you get this section of the restaurant for more privacy. This would be fit for meetings as well.

Now all these nice things on the restaurant got me worked up. I think it's time to get to the more serious stuff and try out their food. Here's what you can expect from BEEFFALO.

The Food

Their dishes were pretty much a mix American comfort food, the ones that Filipinos love. The difference is the way they make it. I think it stems from the way their food is prepared because she (the wife) isn't formally trained, a proud home cook (a very talented one at that). You get to see the care and heart put in on every dish, which I absolutely love.

 

This is their Taco Barbecue Salad. It's a pretty hefty serving so this would be best if shared by two people. It's got nachos, taco beef, salsa, cheddar on a bed of roughly chopped lettuce. It's served with drizzled ranch dressing and a bit of barbecue sauce. Filled me up already, but there were more things on the menu.

They had a few soups on the menu but I chose this Roasted Pumpkin Soup. It's sweeter than the usual because they do roast the pumpkin before they blitz it. It was hearty, I felt warm and fuzzy already.

They do serve beer but prefer you have their hearty meals, if you want a bottle or two you can order these Nachos. They serve this with Salsa or Spinach Dip but we asked them to serve both because we're nice people. These are nice things to have before the main course, which we'll get to in a bit.

Might I interest you with this Biscuit Pizza of which they're very proud of because of it's super thin crust. This is their Margherita Pizza.

If you're a bit adventurous, go for the Garlic and Mushroom Pizza. Still with the thin crust, you get to taste more of the flavors of the toppings which they wanted when they made these pizzas. They also have it in Three Cheese and Pepperoni variants.

This is their Porterhouse Beeffalo Steak served with real mashed potatoes and vegetable slides. Now how do I put this, it wasn't as perfect as I wanted it to be because it's Tenderloin filet on the one side and the other is Strip Steak, which means it's more likely you get  tougher piece of meat on one side and a softer one on the other. This was seasoned well but I suggest you eat this as soon as it lands on the table. It'll feel different if you let it rest too long on the table with airconditioning. Still, I love meat so I'd order this in a heartbeat.

I love this one, it's their Buttermilk Fried Chicken. This started as an experiment they had with a popular food magazine in the Philippines but they have now included this as a permanent item on the menu. It's served with mashed potato or garlic rice and a side salad. The creamy gravy MUST be there for obvious reasons. It's a good representation of comfort food.

Since we were that special, they served us something that's not on the menu. This is their Salmon Steak. It's been deboned, so you don't get pricked. This obviously is a HUGE serving so we asked them to perhaps have this toned down once it lands itself on the menu and they were very nice and accommodating with regards to feedback. I like that about them.

I would like to personally introduce to you my favorite item on their menu (aside from the next one though!) is these lovely, mouthwatering Beeffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dip. It's perfectly fried wings saturated in their Original Spicy Buffalo Sauce and it's available in HOT or SWEET variants. You can also ask them to prepare both if you have friends who don't like it spicy, but I'd rather see you  try it out yourselves. If my hunch is correct, they don't just use Tabasco here, but more of the Schezuan Pepper Corn which is known to be a bit hot. It's got a peppery profile so it permeates from the back of your mouth to your nose, I like this a lot I almost ate all of it LOL.

This brings it up a notch big time, this is their Baby Back Ribs. They do mean one and they use their own concocted spice rub which they say will remain a secret. As you may understand this is for sharing but if you're a big guy like me, please enjoy this on your cheat day. It's sweet and savory, not dry and you can taste how the meat must have been in the grill for hours as it also falls off the bone. If you have a special guest, please do not leave this place without ordering this.

BEEFFALO is but a wonderful place to get home cooked comfort food in San Juan. If you're near here or frequent this place, consider yourself lucky. It would be the best place to have a cup of coffee, dine with family and friends without minding too much on the budget. Best for groups too because most of their dishes are intended for sharing. Though I've seen quite a few pairs having lunch there, as it's cozy, not too fancy, very casual.

Please do visit them at 135 Hoover Street in San Juan City. I find that typing in the address on UBER or GRAB was easy than the actual name of the restaurant. I'll try and upload the photos on Google so you can find it, don't worry! 

Bring around 1,000 for a date night and that could feed 2 people (if you're on a diet, much less than that). Trust me on the wings!