Hans and Norbert, proprietors of Aubergine had been executive chefs in Shangri-la and Mandarin respectively. They setup Aubergine to be the practicum restaurant of their culinary school, the International School of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (ISCAHM).
The restaurant itself reminded me of a hotel coffee shop. Big and brightly lit with yellow lights. The center had a wall to ceiling glass-encased wine cellar.
From the dining area, one can actually see the entire kitchen through a large glass pane window. Several ISCAHM students were busy preparing ingredients from their stations.
We opted to share the degustation menu to have a wider sample of what Aubergine has to offer.
Degustation Menu
Amuse Bouche – Seabass mousse with ratatouille
Oyster Delight… Variation of fresh, baked, fried on mango-papaya salsa, pouched in vinaigrette, sauteed with prosciutto on mascarpone-dates cream and Tempura Oysters, accompanied by garden green’s in Raspberry dressing – The oysters are of good quality. Plump and clean taste to the oysters.
Mushroom flavored beef consomme with crepes strudel and vegetable julienne – I didn’t like this. It’s basically strong beef broth with some ground meat in it. The strong beef broth got to overpowering midway and I couldn’t finish the whole bowl.
Pan seared duck foie gras on celeriac-apple Mousseline and balsamic-port wine reduction – Best dish on our menu. Foie gras is of very good quality. The foie gras was firm and smoothly textured. It just melts in your mouth.
Calamansi sherbet – Creative way of serving the sherbet. Dry ice has been placed inside the teacup which was giving out smoke.
Grilled Australian lamb loin, gratinated with porcini mushrooms on red wine-pommery mustard jus, served with rosemary and truffle infused potato gratin and glazed vegetables – Grilled to medium. The meat was done was just right. The sauce was creamy and complemented the meat.
Grand Marnier ice parfait with chocolate-mascarpone fritter and mango jubilee – The Chocolate Mascarpone fritter stood out among this dessert trio. Tasted like tiramisu because of the mascarpone.
Pralines and Macaroons
Coffee or tea
Php 1950+
On the side, we also ordered Watermelon with Brie, Arugula and cherry tomatoes salad. ( forgot the actual name). I didn’t think the watermelon complemented with the brie cheese. The flavors clashed between the sweet watery watermelon and the earthy creamy flavors of the brie cheese. The Brie cheese by itself was excellent though. I liked mixing the brie with the arugula salad, cherry tomatoes and candied walnuts.
We also had an order of Shrimp Bisque which is very good. I would recommend this any day over the Beef Consomme.
Summary : Aubergine is classical fine dining. Perfectly executed dishes, artful plating and very attentive service. It’s just like having a meal in a hotel restaurant. But as with a hotel restaurant, the atmosphere is stuffy and formal. I rather have a very well-cooked meal in much much more relaxed surroundings. I had a server pulling my chair for me everytime I stood up!
Rating : Like It
Food : Foie Gras
Aubergine
32nd and 5th Building
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
Philippines
Tel : 856-9888
April 11, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Mmmmm… Looks good and pricey
April 12, 2008 at 9:51 am
Nice place you have here! I’ll definitely be stalking this blog. Thanks for dropping by ours too.=)
April 14, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Hi Aline : It is pricey! Nice place to go for that special occassions.
Hi Ruy : Thanks! I enjoy your blog site too!
April 20, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Went to Aubergine last Saturday, April 19 and met the rudest manager/owner I’ve ever met in my life. Our wagyu and foie gras order came after over 40 minutes. When we complained about the delay, the manager/owner gave many reasons, one of which was that their ingredients are fresh … but 40 mins? I spotted the chef outside, in the restaurant and when he went into the kitchen, that’s the only time they started cooking our food. They said the food was being plated 4 times when we followed up. Note that he never apologized in our whole conversation.
Here’s the best part: he said (verbatim) “if you don’t like it, don’t come back.” RUDE, ILL-MANNERED FOREIGNERS making money off Filipinos who have a right to complain should be DEPORTED. To the owner/manager, if he reads this comment: if you don’t like receiving comments about your service or food, don’t come back to the Philippines.
Would advise anyone against going to this restaurant.
April 23, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Hi M : Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the place. Bad and rude service would definitely ruin the moment no matter how good the food served would be!
April 24, 2008 at 11:24 am
Dear All,
As a professional in the hospitality industry for over 30 years and today an educator to Filipino Youth in culinary arts. Aubergine was built by us owners with the sole purpose that our students do get a professional internship in view of our schools objective to send them abroad, noteless to say to train Filipinos in international standards and for them to be internationally successful.
Considering the comment of Mrs. M Cobarrubias which is highly exagerated and form my stand point of view she would not have even let me explain more, as well, she interrupted my words all the time. However when she told me, as she was leaving the restaurant that we better would close our SHOP. Well i really told her, as quoted by her: “if you don’t like it, don’t come back.”
However the words she is using to describe me are I believe very unbecoming and untrue and in all fairness I believe this comment of her should be removed form all sites she is posting it.
Thank You
Hans Schallenberg
April 29, 2008 at 6:47 am
Im also in the food and hospitality industry for 23 years now, i dont know the owners of the restaurant personally, but professionally, i can say that in our industry, we have high respect for them, they trained and inspired a lot of people. And i know for a fact that they always strive for excellence. Like in any other reputable restaurans or hotels, local and abroad, there are some inevitable situation, im sure that the owners dont want that incident to happened.
July 10, 2008 at 3:46 am
Mrs. Cobarrubias…
Waiting 40 minutes in a very good fine dining restaurant is NOTHING!!! Sometimes it takes up to 1 hour or more in great restaurants. As soon as you’ve ordered your food, chefs cook them right away… however not everything that comes to the passe are approved by the head chef…. they have to do it again… and again… and again… until it’s perfect! (everything has to be PERFECT!) Every dish is prepared accordingly and with great precision just so to satisfy customers who are damn picky like you. And this is how you repay us?! We are working our ass everyday and you have no idea how far we would go just to please customers like you! DAMN!
I am a Filipino… but I would say the same thing… “if you dont like it, don’t come back”. seriously.
“Wonderful food takes time to prepare”, just a reminder.
Ryan Sy
PS: i’m not connected with Aubergine… I just share the same passion for excellence in this tough and demanding industry. So back off.
December 30, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Dec. 24 dinner, kumain ko sa Aubergine sa gilid ng ang table ko, at narinig ko yong manager na pinapagalitan yong mga staff…. dapat sana hindi ganun ang ginawa nya kahit my ginawang kasalanan ang staff dapat hindi sa ganun paraan nya pagsabihan naririnig ng customers sumisigaw sya para syang hindi nag-aral at kahihiyan, nagtanong ako sa mga staff kong ano pangalan nya ang sbi nila (Meg Hernandes) sa totoo lang wala syang kwentang tao lalo na sa pagsasalita nya,,,,, dapat ang ganitong tao eh, hindi nagtatrabaho sa food industry dahil sinisira nya ang pangalan ng Aubergine….
December 30, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Aubergine staff ok naman sila pero bakit ganun yong mga manager ng Aubergine kapag service time lagi silang gumagamit ng “Laptop” tapos daldalan ng daldalan habang yong mga staff nila hirap na hirap sa ginagawa nila para mapagsilbihan ang mga customer nila,,,,,,,,yong manager na lalaki tsaka babae…mga walang kwenta