Dinner out on a Thursday night. It’s an all girls kind of night and my friend suggested we try this new restaurant called “Bait’s Seafood Kitchen. The restaurant is located in Makati, at the back of Smart Tower in Valero corner Rufino street. Bait’s is actually part of the establishments owned by Erwan Heussaff.  What sets this restaurant apart from other seafood restaurant is the experience and talent that their Chef Joseph Margate brings to the table. Chef Joseph is  a two-time nominee of Food & Wine Magazine’s People’s Best New Chef.  I was privileged to meet and chat with Chef Joseph himself. We talked about Top Chef, Cha Ca La Vong and of course the menu among other things.

 

For our starters,  we ordered the  Bait’s Boquerones (144php)  Boquerones are fresh anchovies. The fillet is marinated in vinegar seasoned with garlic and parsley. It’s actually my first time to try this dish.

We also ordered the Shrimp Carpaccio (383 php) which was recommended by the Chef.  It is flavored with fermented chili oil, beet pickled cauliflower (that’s why the cauliflowers are pink) and Korean pears.  I love this dish, I would rate this a 9 out of 10.

For the mains,  we had the Bottarga (472 php) hand cut noodles, broccoli and breadcrumbs. It’s deceptively simple but the dish is flavorful (with a white/cream sauce).  I would rate this dish a 8.5 out of 10.

Next we tried the “Tilapia”  (422 php) the tilapia is fried on top of a bed of cauliflower couscous, with nuoc cham. Chef told me that it was actually a dish similar to the famous  Vietnamese dish “Cha Ca La Vong” which is found in Hanoi  in a restaurant which only serves that dish. I love the crispy fried skin of the tilapia paired with the cauliflower couscous.  I would rate this dish an 8 out of 10.

We also ordered from the Special’s of The Day Menu, Grilled Swordfish with XO fried rice (348 php). The fish was okay. The touch of XO sauce to the fried rice was good.  I would rate this dish a 7.5 out of 10.

The street corn (164 php) which is actually one of their side dishes was also good.

For dessert we tried their cheesecake (220 php) which is flavored with calamansi curd and graham crackers. I would rate this dish a 7.5 out of 10.

We had another dessert compliments of the Chef. It’s pot stickers with salted caramel sauce on top of a mousse.  It was yummy! You’re supposed to dip the small biscuit in the caramel/mousse. I would rate this dish 8 out 10.

We sampled their cocktail in a bottle (Bottled Cocktail). The presentation is unique and really cute. They had a promo of buy 1 take 1. I tried the “Bee Keeper” (239 php) which is a mixture of gin, lemon juice, honey syrup, orange bitters and apricot jam.  It was a bit strong for a cocktail but i liked the combination of flavors.

The girls who sampled the food.

I would definitely come back here,  there’s still some other dishes in their menu that  I want to try.  Overall, I would rate the restaurant a 4 out of 5.  For seafood lovers you should check Bait’s out! If you’re not a seafood fan, still check it out for the variety of flavors they offer.

Ttyl,

Isis