New at Bar Flora: Oyster Okonomiyaki, Spicy Prawn Noodles + More

(SPOT.ph) Here is something to know about the cocktail bars in Quezon CIty—they aren’t just places for a drink after dinner. These bars are destinations for a good meal as well, containing full kitchens that will serve a dinner that will have you questioning the wisdom of wasting gas on going to two places.

Among the best dinners one can have now in the Tomas Morato area is in Bar Flora. They've just recently revamped their menu, and the new additions, designed by their in-house chef Tana Picar, offer deeply satisfying flavors that play with elements of Asian cuisine, often to surprising results. Flora has been one of the best bars in Metro Manila for a while, and now, one might also consider it one of the best restaurants around.

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New must-tries at Bar Flora in Quezon City

The new menu takes a cue from the revamped cocktail menu, which chose six different teas to build drinks around, and offered a light, heavy, and alcohol-free option for each one. The food menu chooses six ingredients to build the dishes around: cacao, mushroom, ikura, pineapple, pompano, and prawn. For each ingredient, there are three options: “to start,” “to savour,” and “to share.”

For example, the “to start” option for mushrooms comes in the form of Mushroom Uni Tartlets (P220): little bite-sized cups of pastry filled with uni cream and chopped mushrooms. “To savour” gives us the Oyster Okonomiyaki (P320), with big slices of king oyster mushrooms assembled somewhat like the Japanese pancake, with a gooey soft boiled egg in the middle, topped with Kewpie mayo and bonito flakes. “To share” is the Mushroom Rendang (P380), a rice bowl topped with fried mushrooms and pineapple, bound together by a remarkably savory rendang curry.

The mushroom section offers the clearest progression from light to heavy, though that isn’t uniform for the menu. The pineapple grouping starts with Fried Wontons in Pineapple Sauce (P280); goes into the Pineapple Salsa Cups (P320) served with pani puri; and ends with Pineapple Biscoff Ice Cream (P250). With eighteen dishes in total, there’s a lot in here to try, though it is certainly a pleasure to get into all of it.

Some highlights: the aforementioned mushroom rendang is a substantial treat that will fuel you up for the drinking ahead, or maybe fortify you late into the night, after three or four cocktails. The pineapple salsa cups are great, and are a worthy successor to the previous menu’s pomelo cups (same principle: spoon the mix into the pani puri shells, then pop the piece in your mouth). It’s sweet, savory, and a touch spicy, and it’s a great introduction to the kind of big flavors the menu is going for. It’s worth mentioning that both dishes are vegetarian, which is a welcome rarity in the area.

More highlights: the Pompano Curry Croquettes (P220) are delightful little bites, its filling vivified by Thai green curry spices. The Spicy Prawn Noodle (P880) takes inspiration from laksa, with thick rice noodles in a punchy laksa broth. Those looking for a lighter option will be served well by the Prawn Vermicelli Salad (P380), a cold noodle dish full of varying tastes and textures. People who don’t mind a little bit of fishiness really need to check out the Ikura Truffle Uni Toast (P380), which just explode with a clean, briny flavor that plays surprisingly well with the truffle. It’s a neat little take on surf and turf in a two-bite package. The Cacao Chorizo Toast (P280) is a great little bite as well, in that it presents cacao in a savory light and pairs it with big meaty flavors.

There are just a lot of good options here. You might just be looking for something to snack on while having Bar Flora’s signature drinks. Or you might be looking to have something substantial and satisfying after a long hard day. Or maybe you want to try something new: some unusual combination of flavors or ingredients that you couldn’t have imagined going together. It’s all here, in this little menu of eighteen dishes served in one of the best bars in Metro Manila.

Bar Flora is at 49 Scout Rallos Street, Quezon City. For more information, check out Bar Flora's Instagram page.