In my case it's normally a favorite dish from a restaurant that I wasn't able to visit for some time. The funny thing here is that my cravings change every month. Thus, if Magnolia used to have their Flavors of the Month, I would simply call these my Cravings of the Month.
From the start of July, my mind and stomach have been daydreaming of this huge platter of fresh spinach and lettuce salad, topped with caramelized nuts, a lone soft boiled egg sitting happily on top and is lightly drizzled with vinaigette dressing. Being reminded of Popeye, this dish is called Eat your Spinach and is only found at a restaurant called Kitchen.
It's hard not to get addicted to this salad as it's simple yet is full of character. I love biting into the crunchy greens mixed with the sweet peanut brittle while enjoying the creamy tangy dressing made by the soft boiled egg and the vinaigrette. A lot may be surprised to know that yes, Kitchen still do exist. Although, it has stayed away from the limelight for quite a while, both of its branches in Robinsons Galleria and Greenbelt 3 still manage to maintain their own set of regular customers particularly from the office crowd.
My memory of Kitchen dates back more than two years ago when my former immediate supervisor and I invited a group of editors from one of the biggest publishing companies out for a working meeting. Over big platters of salads, rice meals and pastas, we chatted, planned and agreed on advertising strategies for the coming year. Fast forward to the present, I am about to be a part of the said publishing company and soon I will be meeting with clients whom I will be working hand-in-hand with. Boy, I can't wait!
To address my craving, I have made plans with a good friend from college for an evening of major catching up. Over a bowl of Swirl Around (mixed seafood pumpkin soup) for me and I Say Tomato, You Say Tomato (rich tomato soup with basil and bread) for her. We started swapping stories on what's going on with our lives.
After our soup bowls have been emptied out, we shared on my favorite salad (Eat your Spinach) and a pasta dish called Sun Dried (Penne with pesto and tuyo flakes). We then began to reminisce on the first day we became friends which was in fact, the first day of classes.
The soup was surprisingly good. I am a big fan of pumpkin soup that I order this everytime a restaurant has it on their menu. Too often, in fact, that I can now distinguish a good pumpkin soup from a bad one (which I normally would call pumpkin juice due to its watered down texture). Kitchen's version has tiny seafood meat mixed into the soup which makes the experience enjoyable. I love seafood soup as much as I love pumpkin soup therefore this is a perfect combination!
As for the pasta, I find the tuyo a bit too salty for my liking. Althought the pesto penne was delicious, I just had to push the tuyo strips aside to save my body from taking in too much salt. It was a delightful meal and I'm glad I was able to share it with a dear friend. The price was also very reasonable. Estimate budget per head would be Php.300 ($6).
It's amazing that it has been 8 years since we've first met and I'm thankful that our friendship continues to get stronger despite a couple of bumpy roads and minor obstacles. I'm so proud that my friend has taken a big step towards her new career which I know would help her in getting out of her shell and lead her to career satisfaction someday.
Kitchen is located at the Ground Floor of Robinsons Galleria and Greenbelt 3. You may contact them at 637-8025.
