Black Sheep

Here goes a throwback to that December meal at Black Sheep. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this place--a single malt whisky bar and modern gastronomy restaurant--before trying it out myself. 

I don't think I've ever agreed with a quote as much as I did when I saw these words on the table. I really believe that being open-minded to and appreciating all types of food is important. It's a privilege to be able to eat well and feed yourself good food--and by good food I don't just mean fine-dining because there are tons of great street food, hole-in-the-wall finds, and, most importantly, home-cooked food.

So anyway, I will let the pictures do the talking. We decided to try the 4-course set menu they had available at the time:

So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Above is a chicken wing glazed in dark beer, salmon roe, and orange & Cointreau foam. It didn't taste like chicken so it was really a palate teaser.

Next up was a seafood soup composed of butter poached scallops with wakame garlic and brown butter, blood clams cured in vinegar with clam broth. I really liked the soup and actually finished it in 3 slurps, partly because it was good but mostly because it was THAT little. 

Steamed prawns with prawn maltose, prawn dumpling with prawn head, peanuts, and coconut and prawn spring roll with prawn head togarashi mayonnaise.

Kitayama wagyu striploin - grade 6 wagyu, sousvide and finished with torch, beef jus, crispy leeks, sorrel leaves, squid ink stained mashed potato. I really admired the presentation of this plate...it's actually a work of art. I'm not much of a steak person but I liked this dish better than my choice of main.

This was a 36-hour pork confit, confit chicken covered in leek ash, truffle sand, vinegar foam, and watermelon radish. Suffice to say, the most interesting part of the dish was the truffle sand.

Praline cake - coco glaze, praline mousse with dark chocolate and cake brownie, crispy praline base. I really liked the crushed barquillos used for the base of this cake!

Cigar cake: Cigar panna cotta in mint glaze with coffee sponge & coco nibs, singleton jelly. D said that he could really taste the smoky, cigar flavor in this dessert and could not stop eating it.

And just when we thought the meal was coming to a close, this bounty bowl of truffles and macarons was placed before us...

And my favorite out of the bunch...the foie gras rocher--foie gras rolled into white chocolate and candied walnuts. This was so rich, fudgy, and just an out-of-this world kind of tasty. I want to have it again and again and again. 

Overall, dessert stole the show while the rest of the savory dishes were nothing spectacular and unusually small in size. I've been back quite a few times since but for drinks with friends as opposed to dinner and I say--go for the drinks. What I do really like though is the personalized touch Black Sheep has -- the menu comes customized with your name on it and before you get up to leave, you are slipped a pretty lengthy hand-written thank you note.

Black Sheep
Penthouse of W Fifth Avenue
Corner 32nd and 5th
BGC, Taguig