Phat Wong Asian Café
Ground Floor, LRI Plaza                         
210 Nicanor Garcia Street,
Bel-Air II, Makati City
Tel. Nos. 298-3573, 555-1346
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Expect Chef Ariel Manuel's magic in Phat Wong's menu. Click for more.

(SPOT.ph) Helmed by the award-winning chef famed for the Malate restaurant Lolo Dad's, Phat Wong is Chef Ariel Manuel's newest baby, and the menu is all about Asian-style comfort food. The restaurant occupies the space that formerly housed Ricco-Renzo Café at Reposo's LRI Design Plaza.

Expect Chef Manuel's meticulous handiwork in the straightforward menu that lists easy-on-the-palate food like the Blue Crab with Crab Fat Lemongrass Dumpling (P180), a light alimasag appetizer served with creamy wasabi sauce; and their best-selling salad, Shrimp, Pomelo & Young Coconut Milk and Lime Dressing (P270), a beautiful medley of prawns, greens, and pomelo mixed with coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves stuffed inside a sweet coconut globe.

Other house recommendations include Phat Wong's version of Hainanese Chicken (P420), made with fatty, flavor-packed yellow chicken and Chef Manuel's macadamia nut-infused ginger sauce; and the Oriental Burger (P230), which piles on a sweet-savory patty made with US Sirloin, mushrooms and bean sprouts on pandesal, with kesong puti to add texture and subtle salty flavors. Phat Wong's Banh-Mi Roll (P125) is a lighter version of the popular Vietnamese sandwich that uses pizza dough instead of a baguette and packs savory flavors from liver pate, grilled pork, ham and chicken.

Dessert choices at Phat Wong include the Halo Halo Moderno (P170), a clever take on the traditional Pinoy dessert made with braised beans, bananas, jackfruit and tapioca. The magic of Phat Wong's Halo Halo Moderno lies in its kaffir lime leaf-scented coconut ice, which lends its zesty-sweet flavors to the halo-halo's finely-shaved granita ice. Other sweet picks include the Gula Melaka (P95), a small dome of sago pearls, palm sugar syrup and coconut milk, and the Baked Meringue (P130), with soft baked meringue sitting on a bed of seasonal fruits and lightly-flavored pandan cream.

Photos by Trixie Zabal