Elias

Filipino gentleman circa 1850

It seems that Jose Rizal's book characters now live on as catchy snippets in Filipino pop culture.  Crisostomo and Elias, both from the Noli Me Tangere/El Filibusterismo series, are now names of the Filipino restaurants under Chef Florabel's banner.  We took a trip to the newly opened section of Fort Bonifacio High Street to celebrate the birthday of Luisa, and we felt at ease with the interiors of the Elias restaurant.

We were a big group of around 30 people, and we occupied practically a third of the dining area.  Food was plentiful, and the succession of viands came in at a dizzying pace--

Sinigang Soup--Anita was happy with the  sourness, just right, she says

Filipino Paella

Adobong Kangkong

Dilis rice

Bangus belly with green mangoes and bagoong (shrimp paste)

Crispy pata 

Java rice

BBQ chicken

Bistek Tagalog

Our mandatory noodles--long life for the birthday girl!

Prawns with tamarind sauce

On the whole, the food was well prepared, and thought was given to the creation of the menu.  I was lucky my crispy pata was quite crunchy, although I heard that a few weren't able to catch the crunch of the pork skin as they came in a bit late.  Average spend came to something like P700 per head.  A wide variety of desserts were available, but we ordered just enough to sweeten our palates.

Buko juice came straight out of the buko!

Quezo de Bola cheesecake--consensus: on the salty side

Don't remember what this was, but it was the crowd favorite

Sans rival, wish it were a bit crunchier

Thai-inspired pandan gelatin topped with coconut cream and corn bits

All time favorite banana turon

The restaurant even had their own ice cream kariton, which was conspicuously displayed at the entrance.  A nice colorful touch!  Interiors were muted but elegant, and the exterior signage was very simple.

With several courses, we finished our lunch in over three hours, with plenty of time for chit-chat and light banter.  Kids were all over the place, and by the time we left at around 3pm, we practically were the only guests left.