Comfort food at St. Mark’s Hotel

AS A foodie, I try to find places that offer good food. As a chef, for me good food is comfort food. I was once invited to have dinner at St. Mark’s hotel. I was instantly drawn to their seafood chowder. It was for me the ultimate comfort food.

A meal on its own it was served in freshly baked bread bowl. It was so lusciously creamy and flavorful.  It was so good that I came back again the following week. So I decided if their chowder is good, why not try their other dishes. I tried their appetizers, starting with chicken liver wrapped in bacon. It was surprisingly good.

The bacon gives a crunchy texture and a smoky-salty taste to the chicken liver. Then I had the mixed seafood crepe trio glazed in a pernod cream sauce. The crepe is very delicate and buttery soft to the palate. The pernod ties up all the seafood flavor of the dish creating a very delicate texture to the palate. It was one of my favorite dishes served.

Then for main course, I had the pork medallion in pepper sauce served with William potato. The pork medallion was tender and juicy. The pepper sauce gave character to the dish by spicing it up a little. The William potatoes are freshly made, which have a crunchy texture on the outside and very moist and creamy on the inside. For dessert I had to try the panacotta sampler.

The presentation is very impressive and colorful. The panacotta is to die for. It really does melt in your mouth. It comes in different flavors like pandan, mango, ube and my favorite—chocolate. It’s not too sweet and just right even for diabetics. I even tried their strawberry trifle. You can really taste the tartness of the strawberry. Its tartness and sweetness gave a good flavor combination. I also tried their fresh watermelon juice. It was so refreshing especially on a very hot day. They even have pitchers of lemonade, fruity punch and melonade (watermelon juice with red bull).

For steak lovers, St. Mark’s offers USDA rib eye steak (320 oz.) with starch and vegetable siding. For pasta lovers, there are varieties to choose from. The noodles are freshly made daily with flavors ranging from spinach, turmeric, tomato, pesto and squid ink noodle. Or if a person happens to be at the Redemptorist Church area maybe after mass, he or she can try the interactive breakfast buffet with a wide range of food choices from western, Filipino, Chinese and Japanese. For merienda they offer the St. Mark halo-halo using buko juice and milk, frozen to use as ice for the treat.

Their candied fruits, like the jack fruit, are made from scratch. For coffee addicts like me, they also offer a line of coffee blends.

So if you’re a foodie like me who happens to be in search of comfort food with a reasonable price why not try St. Mark’s Hotel? Or if you’re looking for a place in the city to unwind, they also have an acoustic night every Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Katrina Charmaine Avila)