What's waiting for you at Fresh?

I recently tried at Fresh, one of the few casual dining restaurants at Solaire Resort & Casino in Entertainment City.  The overall experience was great! It is perhaps one of the very few restos that cook and serve the only freshest ingredients. As a matter of fact, the ingredients are imported daily from different parts of the world.

It's quite pricey though compared to buffet of other hotels in the metro. But it's worth it.  I wasn't able to try all the food actually.  Many of the dishes were so good that I had to try them twice. *burp* Excuse me.

I have here a few photos, which I hope would entice your appetite.  I was so giddy that night I forgot to take close-up shots of each dish.  Apologies.

Here are the operating hours and price list at  Fresh.  It's open 24 / 7!

Cold cuts and cheese. 

The cold appetizer station. These are ALL fresh! The shrimps and crabs were tender and sweet.  The oysters were imported straight from France. Surprisingly, the razor clams were delicious. 

Salad station

This is the only dishes the Japanese station serves.  Few but, yes, fresh. The salmon sashimi was as good as the one I tried in Le Meridien in Hong Kong.

It's a huge piece of roast beef! This can be found in the Western Cuisine station.

 

Pizza station. They are thin and flavorful. I don't remember seeing pastas though.

 

Western station with some baked potatoes, baked salmon and baked foie gras.

Colorful short cakes at the dessert station.  There were also gelato and fresh fruits served.

Yummy cakes!

Those are fondant cakes at the back.

One of the highlights of my night:  medium rare baked foie gras with rock salt!

Frankly, I did not like the buko pandan.  I thought it was bland.  But the french macaroons, especially the chocolate, were perfect to cap the 5-hour dinner. The chocolate truffles were as equally good, only sinful.

I failed to include them here.  But there's also Filipino, Korean, Chinese and grilling stations.  At the grilling station you'll find beef, salmon steak and chicken. Beside it are newly cooked veal, lamb, mushroom and chicken dishes. I did not try the other three stations, except for the dimsums.

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Spicy Tuna Tocino

The idea of this dish came from Erwan's creation. His blog is one of the few sites I often visit. Aside from learning techniques and recipes in cook books, I also acquire a few tricks from his blog. And quite frankly, it actually inspired me to revive Craves and Tales.

Of course, I had to tweak his recipe a bit; I used a different protein and added different spices. I hope you'd love this one.

Firstly, we have to marinate the fish. In a large bowl, put two tuna loins (about 500 grams). Rub them with a one large crushed garlic and a teaspoon of salt.

Next, add paprika, chili powder, cayenne powder and saffron - one teaspoonful each (or more). Sprinkle with some ground pepper. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar. Mix well then marinate in the fridge for 48 hours.

Once ready, place the tuna together with the melted sugar (mixture) in a casserole. Pour 3/4 cup stock. Simmer the fish over low fire until cooked.

Remove the fish from the casserole. At this point, add two tablespoons of sugar then reduce the liquid until thick. Pour the sauce over the fish and top with some onion springs.

Happy eating!

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Poached Dory Fillet with Creamed Spinach

I've done a few takes on dory fillet in the past. This fish is very easy to cook, inexpensive and a bit delicate compared to other fishes because of its soft texture. What I cooked below was a first. I've been wanting to poach a fish, and since dory is easily available, I decided to give it a try.

I mixed ½ cup low-fat milk with ½ cup warm water, added a few dash of salt, ground pepper, 1 teaspoon sesame oil and sliced white onions, and placed the casserole over low fire. Slowly I soaked the fish. Once the mixture started to simmer, I added one teaspoon of crushed basil. The fish should be almost cooked by this time. Do not bring the mixture to a boil.

Poaching the fish

Adding crushed basil while simmering

On a separate pan, I sautéed sliced onion with one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil. I poured ½ cup of stock and ¼ cup cream then reduced the mixture by half. Once done, I tossed some spinach and wilted them for about 30 seconds.

I also sautéed separately some sliced mushrooms (shiitake and button) with garlic just for added flavor to the entire dish.

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Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Chunky Tomatoes and Basil

I don’t always find the food in the office cafeteria appetizing. But sometimes I let myself buy a cup of white rice and a viand because I failed to bring my own packed lunch. So one evening I searched through our fridge and cabinets for something easy to prepare the next day. I found chicken fillet, fresh basil and some concasséd tomatoes, which I previously prepared.

First I pounded the chicken breasts then seasoned with salt, ground pepper, crushed garlic, ginger powder and Spanish paprika.  I heated about two tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan and fried the chicken. Depending on how thin the chicken was pounded, mine took not more than three minutes on each side. Make sure it’s brown and golden.

While doing the chix, I sautéed some white onions in olive oil, added ½ cup of the tomatoes and poured in ¼ cup of chicken stock. Once simmered, I tossed some olives and fresh basil. Voila! Just top the veggies on your chicken and it’s done.

Happy eating! 

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