Will Work for Food

Well, OK, not really, since money buys me shoes (and helps pay for the roof over my head). But one of the best (and worst) parts of my job is that I get to eat at all these great places for free! I get invited to events and restaurant openings, where there is no shortage of yummy food. Afterwards, I'm left trying to figure out how to burn off all the calories. Sigh. Case in point: yesterday's scrumptious eight-course (count 'em, eight) lunch at Lola Maria.

We started off with vegetable quiche with a dollop of sour cream. (I ended up scooping more onto my little quiches.)


This was followed by prawn balls, which I described as very...prawn-y. (Ladies and gentlemen, the very eloquent EIC of GH...) We were free to get seconds but we all wanted to leave enough room in our tummies after seeing the menu!


My favorite: pinipig-crusted cream dory with tartar-cayenne sauce. Yum! Yum! Yum!


We were served calamansi sorbet to cleanse our palates for the next courses.

Cocido, served with rice (which I finished. Hey, I ran 11km the night before, so I was entitled!)

US rib-eye steak. Thankfully, they gave me an extra fatty cut so I sliced those bits away, and I ended up not eating too much beef. It was quite tender though! I would've loved a big slab if I hadn't started with four other courses!

Finally, three kinds of dessert: ube and langka pana cota, ensaymada bread pudding with grated queso de bola, and fried suman with chocolate sauce (mmmm).

Hours later, I was still stuffed! It's a pretty good life.:)

Read more about Lola Maria (located at Legend Villas on Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong) in an upcoming issue of Good Housekeeping.