Freshly learned Spanish words recently learned through a hearty buffet sponsored by a good friend!
Honestly, I don't find going to the Alabang area particularly entertaining, but if it is a particularly special co-worker who invites me over to sleepover at her place or just bond, I would wholeheartedly oblige. I filed for a vacation leave with no particular plan in mind. I just had so much leave credits that I felt I had to use unless I would want it forfeited at the end of the year. Luckily, most of my very close female friends were also free yesterday. Finally we were able to realize our dream of eating at Alba Restaurante Español at Alabang.
We arrived at the restaurant a little before 1pm. We all prepared for this lunch buffet so nobody really had a decent breakfast. The first thing that was served to us was soup. I am not a huge fan of soup, but I enjoyed their Sopa de Cebollas (fresh onion soup). After my soup, I went to the buffet table to get some crackers and quezorizo (a smooth blend of cream cheese and something else i can not pronounce) I also took some cold cuts. After this appetizers, I was ready for everything else the buffet has to offer.
Being a very picky eater, I am not someone who is a good contender for a buffet. But my friend insisted we all take the buffet and since she is the one paying, who was I to decline her marvelous offer? Armed with the biggest plate I could find, I conquered the buffet!
The first thing that caught my eye was the cochinillo asado (tender oven-roasted suckling pig) served with liver sauce. Have a look at this and tell me if it is not worth cheating on your diet:
The skin is as crispy as chicharon, the meat was so tender. It was so good I swear I have wanted to eat just this but there were other things on the buffet table that needed my attention. For that cloudy afternoon, the following are the things that passed through my esophagus:
* Pollo Cordon Bleu -Chicken stuffed with ham, cheese in creamy mushroom sauce.I am a chicken lover. I loved the creamy mushroom sauce.
* Solomillo a la Pimienta - Peppered steak with roasted capsicums in a spicy tomato sauce. This is served with thinly sliced fried potato. Don't be deceived by the name. It is not as spicy as it sounds.
* Albondigas de Vaca - Beef meatballs in red wine sauce. The meatballs were just the right size.
* Lapu-Lapu a la Romana
- Pan-fried fillet of Lapu-Lapu with garlic mayonnaise. So creamy it melts in your mouth.
Of course, all these were eaten with Paella Valenciana -valencian rice dish with chicken, pork, seafood & vegetables.
Time for dessert! I ate all the canonigo I could digest! It was the very first time I tasted a canonigo and it was love at first bite! Meringue so soft. With the sweetest , creamiest custard sauce and just the right caramel base! It is very similar to a brazo de mercedes only yummier. I liked the canonigo so much that I didn't even took a slice of the grape Panna cotta that looked so inviting. The fruit salad looked dry so i opted not to take some of it too.
I purposely did not take any photos, I wouldn't want my friend who paid for the lunch to be embarrassed by my obvious excitement! So the photos on this entry are all grabbed from somewhere.
Looks like my blog is slowly turning into a food blog. For those who would want to know about this Spanish restaurant; Check out this link:
ALBA RESTAURANTE ESPAÑOLA
