Sunday, August 05, 2007

Lamb and cherries

A hidden gem of a bistro, La Cabane is right along Pasay Road/Arnaiz Avenue, near the Tesoro's store and Anson's Arcade. It is labeled a resto-bar, but most of the customers there were eating, not drinking. And eat we did, filling ourselves with homestyle french food, and happily content at the end of the night. We shared the tastes of a terrine de foie gras, munched on salads full of liver or goat cheese, and slurped on creamy asparagus or mushroom soups.

The mains were substantial. We commented on how satiated we were just looking at the plating of our dishes. These were not your nouveau cuisine plates, with a couple of tablespoons of meat. There were good cuts of lamb loin, or full bowl of lamb stew with couscous, and in my case a large braised lamb shank served with caramelized vegetables and a dijon mustard sauce. Two of our group ordered the lapin aux olives - stewed rabbit with olives and penne pasta ("It taste like cheekin!" lol). And another two chose to go for the beef bourguignone. You might imagine that we were starved from runnning a marathon (kudos to Anton) or had been training for intensive swimming practice (go Ann go), but to be honest most of us had just been to watch a movie. Happy gluttons were we...

Speaking for my dish, if lamb could talk, it would say "here I am, a beautifully braised lamb shank, tender meat lovingly cooked, draped with a flavorful gravy of my drippings. Eat me you fool!" And let's not forget the hints of citrus in the sauce, and the vegetables (baby carrots, zucchini, radishes, cauliflower and broccoli) perfectly rendered in butter.

For dessert, try the black cherry pie, stewed fruit on a savoury cheese tart. It blew the other options away. All the ala mode this and that were pale in comparison to the black cherry pie.

3 comments:

Katrina said...

I was really surprised to learn that the restaurant has been around for quite a while, yet there was no buzz at all. Is their overhead so low that they can survive without being full, or is it one of those well-kept secrets that we became privy to late? When I told my family about it today, my cousin's boyfriend said his dad went there all the time (usually weekday lunchtime); yet last night at the party, no one had ever heard of it -- not even Coco of Lumiere!

Watergirl said...

Maybe a few more bloggers will get the word out and it'll gain some attention. Although it's rather pleasant to go to a place that's quiet and restrained. I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much if there had been blaring music, or if the noise level had made it hard to talk.

christine said...

I'm glad you guys enjoyed La Cabane! It was the beef bourguignone I had but I sampled every one else's food (chicken, lamb and steak) and everything was good. I really like the furniture and ambience, very clean and cozy. We even moved to the lounge area after, with the throw pillows and low tables, for some drinks.

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