The Crystal Room is located at The Establishment, Unit A, The Fort Entertainment Complex, 26th Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City. Tel: 844.4487 / 844.6364. Mobile: 908.880.0068.
Ren and I were ecstatic when we first spotted this deal on Deal Grocer. For only PHP 995 per person (valued at PHP 1.998), you’ll be treated to an 11-course modern European dégustation menu by Chef Hylton la Roux at the posh Crystal Room.
Chef la Roux’s credentials speak for themselves. His resumé boasts of prior stints at 3-star Michelin restaurants like The Savoy Grill, where he worked as master chef Gordon Ramsay’s chef de partie, and The Fat Duck, where he again worked as chef de partie under renowned molecular gastronomist Heston Blumenthal.
We love both chefs, The Fat Duck being high on our “restaurants-we-must-eat-at-before-we-die” list, so we quickly snapped up the vouchers and headed off to The Crystal Room with much anticipation and lofty expectations.
The very chi-chi Crystal Room
Courses 1-3
Goat cheese and truffle mousse with tomato jam and aged balsamic
Seared foie gras with almond pureé and poached cherries
Warm salad of sweet potato gnocchi, crispy pancetta, oyster mushrooms, parmesan and pesto oil
Courses 4-6
Broccoli and watercress soup with poached egg and crispy bacon
Seared tuna nicoise salad
Roast pumpkin soup with asparagus spears and truffle oil
Courses 7-9
Olive oil poached salmon with chorizo and crushed potato, tarragon beurre blanc and broccoli pureé
Roast chicken breast with wild mushroom and parmesan risotto and olive oil
Seared US Angus beef tenderloin with French beans confit leeks, onion jam, jus and brown onion pureé
Courses 10-11
Cinnamon creme brulee with pistachio and almond biscotti
Dark chocolate and espresso mousse with whipped cream and toasted almonds
As you’d expect, the presentation was stunning, each course meticulously prepared and beautifully plated. Though some dishes weren’t as big a hit, there were a few that were fantastic.
My favorites were the truffle mousse, seared foie gras, roast pumpkin soup, poached salmon, and dark chocolate and espresso mousse. I especially loved the truffle mousse and roast pumpkin soup. These were to die for. But as Ren pointed out, should the truffle oil take sole credit for the success of these dishes? Perhaps. But I enjoyed them tremendously and would definitely order them again.
A few of the dishes, though not bad by any stretch, were just ok in my opinion. My least favorites were the sweet potato gnocchi, tuna nicoise salad, and beef tenderloin. My portion of tenderloin was a little cold and the beef not as tender as I was expecting. It goes without saying that it would have been much better had it been served still warm.
Overall, I’m sad to admit that we were a bit disappointed with this dining experience. Was it because we came in with too many expectations? Likely. But with all those lofty credentials, it was only natural for our expectations to follow suit.
Personally, I was expecting to be dazzled by awe-inspiring molecular gastronomy techniques after learning about Chef la Roux’s stint with Heston Blumenthal. Was I unfair in that assumption? Definitely. They are different chefs after all and Chef la Roux never claimed to be a molecular gastronomist.
But after being wowed a few months ago by the amazing experience we enjoyed at Chefs Rob and Sunshine Pengson’s The Goose Station, I’ve come to associate the word “dégustation” with no less than similarly stellar meals. This one, unfortunately, fell just a little short for me.
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