Plans that led to Astralis

ive always been an obsessive planner and most of my close friends know this for a fact.  so yesterday morning i was a bit agitated when we had nothing planned for a sunday, the start of a long vacation week for that matter!

to hubby, vacation means come what may, no schedules and get up when you feel like it.  i like it with a little more detail because i feel the day could be wasted when not planned right.  and so we were playfully tossing the argument this morning as i kept asking what our plans were for the day and he kept saying the plan was for once not to have one.  i of course won the mini battle because he had to get his haircut before mass and dinner and hence, we had to have a schedule! mwhahaha!

after a good time spent at the salon and at mass, we had to decide where to eat.  as we spend almost every sunday at the same mall, we have practically eaten at all its restaurants, that is, except for one and so we headed to astralis.

this place have been opened since the last quarter of the previous year but because it is a bit out of the way of the regular mall walkabout, we never got a chance to dine here before.

we arrived for an early dinner got the luxury to choose our seats without reservations.

ive heard mixed reviews about this place, some about how good the food is and some how the service is a little slow.  but as soon as we approached the glass doors we were greeted by a pleasant young woman who ushered us to our seats and gave us the menu.

they serve assorted bread while you wait for your appetizers and i just love how the bread is brought to you warm, as if it had just come out of the oven.  the bread basket offered choices of a tomato based bread, ciabatta, and mini croissants.

hubby and i gave their warm soft ciabatta a try which calmed our growling tummies.

after a few inquiries from the server which were well answered, we were ready to order.

we were not in the mood for wine and so both ordered astralis’ zesty iced tea.

it was pretty refreshing but hubby thought he needed an upsize.

appetizers consisted of the baked oysters, done 3 ways

2 shells of rockefeller, 2 made with reduced red wine and 2 with reduced tomato sauce.  i particularly liked the tomato sauce variant and when i asked hubby what he liked the best, he said all three were equally good!

next was GM’s favorite salad.  this dish consisted of grilled portobello mushrooms still steaming under chilled assorted greens which all lay on a parmesan basket with sidings of laguna buffalo cheese, tomatoes and grapeseed dressing.

this was delicious!  the combination of flavors just went so well together!  i would definitely order this again!

my main dish was chicken stuffed with gorgonzola and mozzarella.

yes you guessed it, i was lured by the cheese!

the dish was satisfying but i found the white meat too well cooked and both of the cheese stuffing to be too delicate (or maybe too little in quantity) that the chicken overpowered them.  this dish included mashed potatoes, gravy and grilled zucchini which i wish they grilled a little more.

hubby got the sato sans japanese mentaiko spaghetti.  this dish is cream based mixed with spicy cod roe and nori.

the noodles were cooked well, and the sauce was deliciously creamy!  i thought it was really good and was reminiscent of my blue cheese pasta from gourmand.  hubby however would have preferred it to be a bit more spicy and a with a bigger serving but otherwise agreed with me that the dish was delicious.

we were discussing that we were not really celebrating anything to deserve this semi fine dining experience and i started to think for a valid reason but could not find one.  so in lieu of a valid reason i just gave an original one instead and said it was a “pre easter-brunch dinner”……you’ll know what i mean by easter sunday!

hubby chuckled and said i could always find an excuse to eat somewhere new!

and with such an innovative reason to dine i could not leave without dessert and a taste of their coffee.

i ordered for their creme brulee madness which consisted of 3 cups of creme brulee.

one was mango, the middle green tea, and the farthest chocolate.

im sure you all know i loved the chocolate chili variant the best.  the green tea was not bad but i cant say the same regarding the mango, no because i didnt like it, but because the next thing i knew, hubby had finished the cup without allowing me a taste!  hahaha!  and he didnt care for dessert because he was full!

as usual i had my brewed coffee with just steamed milk and nothing else.  i like it this way because i like to test the flavor of the beans.  if they’re really good, they should be great without having to add sweeteners.  the coffee was great!

…and is the reason why im still up while my dining partner is snoozing already!  hehehe!

what initially started as a panic-y sunday turned out very well indeed!

after our satisfying dinner we headed next door to bachus to buy some balsamic wine which we will pair with some good bread and cheese that i will purchase at the grocery.

…what a great way to end an unplanned sunday!

Advertisement