Prince Albert is a throwback to a bygone age. The food is less fussy, the decor more plush and the service more showy. This has been resolutely maintained despite any new fads and fashions. The guardian of this tradition for close to 30 years has been Francis Felipe, Restaurant Director, who is familiar to and is familiar with, loyal patrons of the restaurant.
Some of Manila’s more famous chefs also served in the kitchen of Prince Albert. Among them are Billy King of The Alpha, Marc Aubry of Champétre, Cyrille Soenen of Brasserie Ciçou and Impressions and Jessie Sincioco of Chef Jessie at the Rockwell Club and Top of the Citi.
Two of us decided to use the Deal Grocer coupons while the other two would order from the menu. We had a variety of starters which included an Iced Tomato Soup (Gazpacho) and, so that we could have a bit of a show, a Caesar Salad for myself. This is prepared from a cart tableside. Both starters were quite good as was the bread selection. We also had a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Rare NV as our starting drink. The Champagne was very good, medium-bodied, still youthful but with good depth of flavor showing some nuts and just a hint of oxidation. This champagne has rarely disappointed.
Bread Selection by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Iced Tomato Soup by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Caesar Salad by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Champagne Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Rare NV by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
With the preliminaries out of the way, we got down to serious eating after a refreshing lemon sorbet.
Mikey had a rather large serving of lamb chops while Jocel had Fillet of Gindara.
Rack of Lmb by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Fillet of Gindara by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Pixie and I had the Prime Rib, which comes with a baked potato with sour cream and bacon and Yorkshire pudding. The Yorkshire pudding was a big improvement over the rock-hard specimen I had the last time I was here but it still needs a bit more work as it was a little gummy.
Angus Prime Rib by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Yorkshire Pudding, Baked Potato with Sour Cream and Bacon by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Our wine for dinner proper was a Guigal Hermitage 2007, which we had decanted for about an hour before service. This softened it up sufficiently for it to be approachable. Still youthful but showing some spice and earth notes aside from good concentration of ripe black fruits such as plum and blackberry.
Guiga Hermitage 2007 by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
The food was all competently prepared and quite good. It’s not adventurous and doesn’t use exotic techniques or ingredients but stays safely within the bounds of the familiar and comforting. And sometimes, that’s exactly what one craves for.
We ordered three desserts, a banana and frozen Bailey’s creation for Jocel, a Grand Marnier and Chocolate Sauce soufflé for me, and a Crepes Suzette prepared table side for Mikey. Despite the malfunctioning burner on the cart used for the crepes, they managed to get it lighted and so we were again treated to a rather old-fashioned flambé light show.
Banana and Baileys by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Crepes Suzette by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
The only hiccup in service was the soufflé. I was informed that it would take 40 minutes to prepare which seemed overly long to me but that was fine since we still had a fair bit of wine to drink and we weren’t in any particular hurry. Unfortunately it took a bit longer than that and when Francis inquired as to whether I had already enjoyed my soufflé, I informed him it that it had not yet arrived which caused him to immediately rectify the situation. The soufflé arrived soon after but it had evidently sat out too long as it had collapsed. The texture wasn’t that great either as it was rather eggy.
Grand Marnier Souffle with Chocolate Sauce by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
To cap the meal we were presented with some chocolates. While I don’t usually eat white chocolate, these ones with the strawberry filling were quite good.
Mignardises by jaylabrador.winesteward, on Flickr
Some might scoff that Prince Albert is more like a museum than a restaurant but I believe, like museums, it does serve a useful function. It shows us where we came from and gives us a chance to relive part of our culinary history and heritage. If you hunger for some nostalgia, satisfy your craving at Prince Albert.