Chef’s Table by Chef Bruce Lim

I’m always on the lookout for new restaurants to try out.  Most of the time I don’t go back anymore but if it has the formula of having reasonable price coupled with delicious taste of food then I wouldn’t hesitate to go back.  This was exactly what I felt with Chef’s Table.

Chef’s Table is a restaurant created by Chef Bruce Lim.  Chef Bruce is the man behind the cooking show Tablescapes shown on Asian Food Channel.  I’m the type of person who loves to watch cooking shows.  So having the chance to finally meet the chef and also sample his creations would be something I wouldn’t miss.

I actually thought that we would be spending a lot but was pleasantly surprised that their dishes are priced reasonably.  They are affordable!!  I’ve put in the price of our orders so you would have an idea.

Chef’s Table has this concept of Open Kitchen.  Basically a way to be interactive with guests.  We can see the chefs cooking and preparing our dishes.  They smile our way whenever they catch us watching hahaha!  And if you notice in the picture, all of them are bald!  I guess it brings the camaraderie among the chefs and can also be for hygiene purposes, we don’t have to worry about having hair on our food!

I also find the interior design and architecture interesting.  When Chef Bruce was greeting the guests one by one, I happened to ask him what inspired the look of Chef’s Table.  He told us that they are really trying to do their share of saving the environment thus the recycled materials being used in the restaurant.  Their walls are made of Rattan, they used recycled materials like palay too.  Aside from using environmental-friendly materials, they also use scraps of veggies as fertilizers.  I felt that Chef’s Table is like Chef Bruce’s love work.  The details on how he created the restaurant, the way that he wanted to be in touch with his customers, the friendly atmosphere of the place, environmental-friendly interiors and the Chef himself being there every single day is just admirable.  He said if we don’t see him in Chef’s Table, it’ll most probably be because he’s out of the country.

Now, the most important part of our visit… the food!  We were already impressed with other things.  I was too excited to find out if the food would also be the same.  Here were our orders:

• Chef’s Table Iced Tea (Php 120)

The best iced tea I’ve tried so far!  Multiple ingredients in this drink, it has pineapple, cucumber, honeydew and iced tea.  Wow!  Just delicious!  If you’re still undecided which drink to order in Chef’s Table, you better order their iced tea.

• Sampaguita Iced Tea (Php 110)

I haven’t heard of a sampaguita drink.  As much as I loved Chef’s Table’s iced tea, this was my choice for that day.  I would stick with their iced tea next time though.  It was definitely more delicious but their sampaguita iced tea was nice too.

• Fried Pusit (Php 230)

Fried squid served on a lettuce with green mango salad on the side.   Not spectacular but presentation was really great 🙂

• Reversed Sotanghon Soup (Php 150)

I really love how awesome the dishes were presented not to mention they tasted so delicious too!  This reversed sotanghon soup was so awesome.  I can never get enough of it.  Fried sotanghon noodles and liempo bites then onion soup poured into them.  The best sotanghon soup I ever tasted to date!

• Chill-A-Fino (Php 550)

Most unique dish ever.  Never did I imagine being able to eat such a dish.  It’s basically steamed lapu lapu put on top of an ube mash (yes, ube!).  You won’t taste the ube though, it felt like a mash of purple stuff that’s it.  Very nice to look at.

• Tortang Talong (Php 120)

I can eat this dish all by myself.  Tortang talong with salted eggs plus did you see the onions on the side?  That was actually caramelized onions!  It tasted sooooo good!  When I get back to Chef’s Table, this will definitely be the 1st thing I will order.

• Garlic Rice (Php 55)

I was really surprised when the garlic rice was served in our table.  It didn’t look like garlic rice at all.  As you can see in the picture, it was just plain rice with garlic on top.  The trick there was to mix the garlic with the rice before eating.  Then you would understand why it was done that way.  It was actually very tasty after you mix them.

• Pandan Rice (Php 35)

Same with garlic rice, this was just plain rice with one pandan leaf. hahaha!

• Buko Pie Martini (Php 150)

I’m not sure how many times I mentioned the word ‘unique’ in this blog post for Chef’s Table.  But what the heck, Chef’s Table definitely has the most unique dishes in their menu.  A buco pie in a martini glass?  How genius was that?  I’ve been raving about this to my friends and I’m still raving about that now in this post.  You better order this when you go to Chef’s Table or you’ll definitely regret it.

• Langka Creme Brulee (Php 130)

Typical custard – jackfruit flavored.  Not too sweet, tasted just right.  If you love langka and you love desserts then langka creme brulee is for you.

• Banana Mango Jubiliee (Php 130)

Another yummy dessert from Chef’s Table.  Mango & banana flamed with rum and served with vanilla ice cream.  I prefer their buco pie martini more but banana mango jubilee is a good 2nd choice.

I had one of the best dining experiences in Chef’s Table.  They have excellent food, nice interiors, awesome service and very down-to-earth chefs!  See Chef Bruce Lim all game to take a picture with a stranger like me 😛

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Chef’s Table
Unit 106, The Infinity Tower, 26th Street, The Fort Global City, Taguig, Philippines
(02) 399-1888