Test Kitchen Fans: Chef Josh Boutwood Just Dropped 3 Good Reasons to Revisit Your Old Reliable

(SPOT.ph) We're often out here reporting on (or, at times, defending) the new and unusual, but we have to admit: Most of these things can only keep their shine for so long. Diners become regulars at their favorite spots for a reason, with some of us hopeless cases even ordering the same thing every time. For all of chef Josh Boutwood's adventurous forays, especially recently, the man understands the inherent strengths of the classics.

He aptly and fondly calls The Test Kitchen "his eldest"; most people probably won’t admit to this, but one really does most of the experimental parenting on the first kid. “A lot of the dishes that end up becoming favorites at my other concepts are born and refined here,” he says, “and as much as I love doing new things and taking risks, I do also want to remind people that [the Test Kitchen] is a place both they and I can rely on. I think it’s important to have that, especially in food.”

When you take it all in, it does seem at times that Boutwood does too many things well; he might argue that it all boils down to understanding basic principles, and he may be right, but the non-chef mind still reels. Among the small plates for which the Test Kitchen is known is the Serrano Ham, brushed with tomato to give that round, deep, cured taste a fresh lift—a flavor that regulars might know all too well, given the Big Fridge (the curing room) upstairs.

But, as we (okay, I) have done many times before, we can’t get through this without waxing poetic about the House Sourdough. Widely considered to be one of the best loaves in Metro Manila, there’s nothing not to like about it, except how quickly one might wolf it before realizing that, because of its proximity to the Big Fridge, it’s absorbed a lot of the scent of the curing meats—somehow, that makes it go with almost everything throughout the course of a meal here. Finishing the serving in the first twenty minutes is one of the few regrets some have had at this place.

Also read: What's Next for Savage BGC, From Chef Josh Boutwood

One quality about this menu that it won’t let anyone forget is that it’s ingredient-led; while diners might not clock it so much in the mains, dessert is where this attribute makes its mark.

It doesn’t get much simpler on paper than Honey, Cream—crumbles and little slabs of honeycomb caramel provide some floral-tangy-sweet, but the cream base lies somewhere on the spectrum of clotted and whipped, sporting a density that reads almost like a heavy pound cake, except that your teeth keep sinking through icing and you never find the crumb. It’s not unlike one of those late-night snacks that are really more ingredient than food—where you’re scooping stuff out of tubs with the fridge open because life can be crazy.

And life is crazy; it’s probably the only reason we’re not at The Test Kitchen more often.