Great Eats

Beautiful plates at Palate Restaurant Uptown BGC

Palate Restaurant is an upscale place, and you can feel it the moment you enter its doors. I don’t even want to call it fine dining, because everything we ate here was plated in a way that I could only refer to as “art”. Just absolutely stunning! But nothing is ever too stunning to eat haha! Anyway, I wanted to point out this obvious fact before I start this review just so we can all be on the same page.

I’m not used to eating at fine-dining establishments at all, but sometimes it’s nice to allow some refinement into your life eh?

The interior of Palate Restaurant is clean and minimalistic, making it very easy on the eyes. There will be a pop of colour here and there in the form of paintings, and I thought having a shelf of assorted liquor against the white walls made it doubled as decor as well.

Palate Restaurant is one of the many foodgasmic spots popping up in Uptown Parade, but this restaurant has the distinction of being run by Chef Kaye Torres; a chef who has been trained in places like Paris and New York. (And no I have not met her personally.) Her pedigree is evident with the way she presents her dishes actually, and she makes sure to incorporate local and international elements to each item on her menu.

Instead of riding the food trends, Chef Kaye Torres wants to make her own mark. Her goal? Create dishes with a story of flavours, making each dish a sort of journey to travel through the moment it hits your palate.

Really. Big. Words. But are her dishes really as good as advertised?

The menu here at Palate Restaurant is not a long one, but it feels well-curated from the starters to the mains, down to the desserts. I have to admit there were a lot of interesting things on the menu, but we decided to go with a mix of staff recommendations as well as what we felt like eating.

After ordering, were served some appetizers in the form of crisp flatbreads alongside thinly sliced crunchy sourdough. You also get some whipped salted butter with black sesame as a spread. It’s a good thing you can ask for refills because the food takes a bit of time to be served, and when you see the plates brought out you’ll understand the level of careful preparation required to pull them off!


Prosciutto Flatbread (Php 380)

Strips of prosciutto on homemade flatbread with mascarpone cheese, topped with arugula and parmesan

Not quite pizza and more like very thin rolled out bread topped with quality prosciutto. There’s a hint of creaminess from the mascarpone but that and the arugula help to keep the flavour of the prosciutto from becoming too overpowering.

Pleasant, but when I see something like this my mind inevitably gravitates toward the panizzas I adore from My Kitchen by Chef Chris.


Beet Salad (Php 325)

Beets prepared three ways in a salad, with goat cheese honey, and lemon vinaigrette; crowned with a soft-boiled egg

You won’t notice the presence of beets right away with this one. There are chopped pieces scattered on the top, but it isn’t until you get to the bottom that it sinks in. That unmistakable wine-red colour of the beets has been turned into a sweet dressing that meshes well with the goat cheese and vinaigrette. The soft-boiled egg adds a nice touch.

My main qualm about this salad is its size. Such a gigantic plate but the salad sits in the middle in such a small portion! It feels underwhelming considering the price point.


Pork Belly (Php 440) 🌟

Crispy and juicy pork belly glazed in red wine jus, with sweet potato puree, apples, and chicharon

This was absolutely stunning. You’ve got generous slices of pork belly sitting on top of a delightful sweet potato mash. I liked eating them together, but was a little disappointed by the pork belly. It wasn’t as juicy as I was expecting, though it was crunchy enough.

I can’t deny how pretty this dish is though, and that sprinkling of crushed chicharon adds a nice touch.


Seafood Risotto (Php 650)

Creamy tomato stewed risotto with assorted seafood

I quite enjoyed the texture of the risotto– creamy as described but still light, with a slight tang in every bite. I think those who love tomato-based sauces will enjoy this a lot. The seafood on top is fresh.


Beef Bourguignon Pasta (Php 420) 🌟

Linguine pasta topped with beef that’s been braised in red wine; with bacon, onions, and mushrooms

This was a great dish thanks to that savoury-sweet push and pull of the red wine-based sauce. It’s rich without being too rich, and the slices of beef were generous enough. The bacon, onions, and mushrooms give a nice boost in flavour as well.

I’ve always enjoyed bourguignon and thought that this was a rather special way to enjoy pasta. This was probably my favourite among the main dishes.


Frozen Crème Brulee (Php 280) 🌟

Icy creme brulee dessert inside a caramel cage, with vanilla cremeux and assorted fruits on the side

If there’s anything I enjoyed most here at Palate Restaurant, the desserts would be it. This frozen creme brulee was a strange idea to me at first, since creme brulee is meant to be a custard and freezing it would defeat the purpose wouldn’t it? Well it works!

The frozen creme brulee itself is not too sweet, so you can eat it with a big chunk of the caramel cage (inverted nest?) if you want to level it up. I liked eating it with the caramelized bananas instead, but mostly I enjoyed it on its own.


Lemon Curd (Php 200) 🌟

Tangy lemon curd with marshmallow meringue, buttery crumble, and candied lemons

My absolute favourite among all that we ate in this meal. I love lemon, and in the form of this rich and creamy lemon curd, the citrusy tang just shines! This was like a deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie that’s more about the filling than anything else, and I loved it! I polished this dish off down to the last bit of candied lemon slices.

And can we talk about the presentation? Even in a messy state it looks like absolute art! Scrumptious tangy lemon art!


I wouldn’t quickly recommend this place to people I know who have a huge appetite, because I already know they’re going to tell me this place is too expensive since the servings aren’t big. Although technically the price isn’t that different from most restaurants in the area.

However I do think Palate Restaurant at Uptown BGC is great for an occasional fine-dining meal. It’s also a good pick for date-nights, or if you want to impress someone at a place that has great looking and great tasting food. The servings are just enough for two to share. If you’re looking for a different, more classy eating experience– a place that pays absolute careful attention to the food they serve you down to the last crumb– you should give this place a try.

~~~

Palate Restaurant

Second Floor, Uptown Parade,
9th Avenue Corner 38th Street,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Hours: 11 AM to 2 AM
Contact Nos: (02) 9552364
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