A friend treated me to the Teppanyaki restaurant at the Shangrila in Manila last week, to have the Wagyu beef .

It was absolutely delicious and melt in your mouth type of steak meal - especially washed down by a very nice Cabernet.

BUT..... it was so fatty (all that marble-ing is fat!!) that I got a bit sick when I got back into my room.  The copious wine drinking of course didn't help either.

SEAJ

Its oily bc they put shit loads of butter in their steak for cooking.  Real good steak that are dry aged steak don't need butter or gobs of sauce on a steak.  

Only when you use cheap steak does it need marinating, sauce, butter, & tons of olive oil.

If its too pricey to go out, i recc. if there is one, just buy a good dry aged steak if can find one.  Some sea salt & a oven will help make a great steak.  If you have a professional oven, even better.  If anyone is located in the US, I have great dry aged steak places you can order online. Perhaps some one here can save a few bucks by cooking on their own.

Let the meat get up to room temp before grilling so it will sear. Cover a dinner plate with sea salt (large chunks of salt, not table salt) and fresh ground black pepper. Lightly brush the meat with olive oil and coat it with the salt/pepper mixture. Put a cast iron skillet on your grill and let it get super hot. While you are doing this, preheat your oven to 450. Sear the meat for 2 minutes per side in the skillet on your grill and then bring it in. Flip the steak and throw it in the oven for 2 minutes. Remove, flip, and repeat. After 4 minutes on the grill and 4 minutes in the oven remove the steak from the skillet and put it on a plate and tent with foil for 10 minutes.

you were in Manila last week? send me a PM before going to Manila. i'm there three quarters of every month.

for what you paid for the steak at the shang, i could have taken you to Tsukiji (5 minutes away), where they serve Wagyu Ohmi beef (not just Wagyu). Wagyu Ohmi is considered one of the best kinds of steak and is in the same league as Kobe beef. their Wagyu Ohmi beef comes all the way from Japan, from the same supplier who supplied it to the Japanese emperor.

Thanks for the invite;  I'll certainly PM you first the nnext time I come.

BTW - imho, Manila these days is a lot more expensive than a few years back - and practically outrageous compared to how things were 20 or so years ago when I was basically a weekly visitor (even had a house in NE Greenhills back then!).

I sneaked a look at the bill for that dinner at the Shangrilla and it was PP 68,xxx (which is, what, approx HK$13,000) for the 10 of us.

Practically Hong Kong prices!  And the funny thing is that this place was totally packed!

SEAJ

well you need to define Manila. it's a big place. you were in Makati, which is the CBD. Makati prices are comparable to HKG interms of dining. i have a very good HKG friend who's here like every 2 months who is constantly amazed at how expensive it is to eat in Makati.

Yeah you're right - EXPENSIVE anywhere in Makati

But the Malls - I'd consider them even better than most of the malls ANYWHERE in the world.

Greenbelt, Power plant, Rockwell etc - will beat even Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza in Newport Beach California - hands down!!

SEAJ

What's the punting scene like? You going to report your sexcapades?

Greenbelt 5 was patterned after IFC in HK, although a much smaller version...

seems you are in Makati a lot, bro!

unfortunately, i dont punt in Manila. too many people know me, and too many people know my in-laws. they are in quite high profile businesses... but i can point the way

I'm not sure if they put butter while they cook it or if they actually place a splash of butter on the plate before putting the steak on.  It was either Ruth's Chris or Peter Lugers in NYC that does that.


Solid advise!  Hope you don't mind me adding some details to help out the non-steak cookers

That is more important.  Let your steak sit outside for at least 15-30 minutes to get up to room temp instead of cooking it straight from the fridge.  It helps so you don't end up over cooking the steak.  Also regular olive oil is fine, don't use the expensive extra virgin olive oil or anything since their smoke point is slightly higher then butter at 350*.  I usually use Canola or Peanut oil because of the higher smoke point is at 430* and also "flavor" that it doesn't add to the beef.  Also when you are searing the meat for the 2 minutes on each side, you want to make sure you don't move the meat or do anything to it while it's searing.  

Also let your steak rest 5-10 minutes once you get it to how well you want it cooked!  Cutting into it right away will only let all the juices run out without redistributing back into the steak and you will be left with a dried steak 1/4 of the way through.  I don't like using the tent foil because it traps the heat and keeps cooking the steak past my rare-medium rare that I usually eat.

As for most chinese ordering their steak well done.     When you cook it that long, doesn't matter if it's Filet, Ribeye, strip or sirloin, it all tastes like leather

That sucks. That explains why you walk around with a boner whenever you are in HK

Btw, sent you a gmail..

you got that right!

although i do have another GF in Manila for those lonely days and nights.

i try to get my ass out of here as often as I can to "recharge" myself

Damn my mouth is watering already, mental note for when in Macau!

Totally agree, been to Ruth Chris's many times for business dinners, and quite frankly always less than impressed. Mortons I've had a slightly better success with, but nothing to write home about either.

Had dinner with friends in Morton's in TST last weekend and it was superb. Excellent food and service, we finished off our meal with a Cohiba and large Whiskey in the Cigar lounge. Well recommended.

I'd cast my vote for Mortons @ Sheraton, if you insist on Hong Kong and can't make the side trip to Macau.

If you can make the side trip, I would recommend either Robuchon or The Kitchen in the Lisboa/Grand.

In the Robuchon, you can go for the Kagoshima that they serve, although you should be warned that the serving may be considered very small compared to a what you may consider a "real" steak meal.  I'm a little bit partial to this kind of steak serving though, as it's great tasting but not too heavy.

You have far more choice in The Kitchen, as you can go from something as nice as a A5 Kagoshima that runs somewhere north of $1200 for a 10-12 oz, $1500 HKD or so for a Grade 8-12 Aussie Wagyu, or just simple USDA 20 oz for 100 USD.  Having tried the steak in here, I'm pleased at the level of choice, but not so much for the ability of the cooks.  Still, this is a good place to have a nice steak.

As geoduck puts it, the wine list is very impressive, but unless you are a total wine enthusiast, you'll be overwhelmed by the massive binder it comes in.  All the restaurants in the Lisboa/Grand share the same list.  Personally, I think they should have a one page summary of the recommended wines in all price ranges for the not-so-picky customers.  I've had quite a few friends tell me that they would have ordered wine, but they felt stupid when confronted by 8,000 choices.  I've yet to see somebody order any vintage of DRC to consume during dinner, that did so because they enjoy it, rather than an attempt to show off.  Instead, I'll take a chunky fruit Shiraz for $2,500 anyday with steak.

If you guys are looking for something unusual to eat, I'd order the Black Pig at The Kitchen.

Teppanyaki place?  The only place I can think of that might remotely fit that description would be Red.

Generally the food will be 2-4,000 per person, so I imagine your bill had a lot of ordered wine.  It is one of the pricier options in Manila, with only a few steakhouses that would be more expensive.

I'm not sure where your price comparisons are being made, as I find that the food in Manila, although overpriced, is still cheaper than comparable meals in Hong Kong.  The restaurants in the 5-star hotels generally (minus the special restos) lead the way in pricing, and it's not exactly cheap.  However, as a point of reference, a dinner buffet for two in the Shangri-La Makati would run you perhaps 4,500 pesos, or about 100 USD.  You can't do this in Hong Kong.  100 USD in Hong Kong might get you a dinner buffet for two at the TST Hong Kong Hotel at most.

A grande Latte at Starbucks is about 2.50 USD.  McDonalds runs you at most 3 USD.  

For most dinners, you can feed a person for 500 PHP (12 USD) without too much fuss.  Even a steak dinner at a decent steakhouse can be had for 1,000 - 1,200 PHP (~23-28$ USD) / head.

As a typical resto owner here, you base your menu on 250 PHP (5 USD) / head would be comfortable for the average person, with even the more expensive places planned around a richer guest ordering between 800 - 1,500 PHP / head at the maximum. No drinks included here, but you can't get away with much more than 200 PHP for a non-alcoholic drink, and that's pushing it.

The Don Alfonso and Robuchon now uses the Apple iPad as an alternative to the giant wine list. A special database program has been set inside for easier access and search wines by price and criteria.

WOW... This is turning into a "VERY" informative thread.....

FUCK the food guide....I have been doing research on the net and have still come up empty handed but thanks to the bros i think the "MORTON" is the place to go for a juicy rare T-bone steak....

Cheers bros for the input....

I have logged onto the Morton's website and can't seem to find if they will serve steak during lunch...Plus there is also no price list....( WERID)....

Can any of the bros help with a link to the info which i am seeking....

Try using www.openrice.com
Or google for openrice english
It's a popular restaurant search engine in hk.

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=6201

[ Last edited by  Avatar at 4-8-2010 05:07 ]