Potion Bistro & Bar, Nostalgia Hotel

I was able to catch the tail end of Restaurant Week last weekend with Analyn and Em-J. I chose Potion for Saturday lunch because I was curious about it, I actually thought that the restaurant specializes on molecular gastronomy. I tried reading about it online but not much has been written about it so we didn't really know what to expect.

Potion is the in house restaurant of Nostalgia hotel in Tiong Bahru. I haven't been there so I was looking for a tall hotel. Analyn whipped out her phone to help us out, it turns out that we've already passed the place twice.



Adding to our confusion, we saw that the restaurant is outdoors but the entire place is being hosed down. Chairs were all turned over and moved to the side, workers were all over, wet and dirty.

We decided to enter the hotel and we were asked by their gracious front desk staff if it's alright for us to have lunch inside instead. This is actually a blessing since it was too hot outside.

The place is a bit cramped, I felt that they can do with a couple less chairs but it really wasn't a problem since we were the only ones dining in at that time.





Here's the special menu:



I ordered a lychee drink to cool me off a bit which was really refreshing.



We started with potato soup which was good.



Analyn had the chicken for her main dish while I had the salmon. The serving was pretty filling, not what I was expecting. I loved their mashed potato, I haven't been a fan but I nearly finished my heaping serving. The asparagus was also good. Sadly, the salmon was overcooked, a little burnt and dry but the sauce made up for it.



Dessert was pear gelato which I was expecting to be served in a martini glass. When we were finally served with it, we were surprised and delighted. The effort in the preparation was not lost on us. The pear flavored and shaped ice cream was dipped in chocolate. It's center resembling the pit was a dark chocolate bonbon and the protruding stem, mint chocolate.





They sure know how to end a meal.

Restaurant Week special price: $25++, $4.50 for the drink.
All photos taken with my phone.

First Week Back in Manila

This is, I think, one of the last photos of me in the office before they officially closed it down.



My first day back, after taking a quick nap, I met up with Oliver for lunch and Razon's halo halo. Analyn happened to be here visiting so she tagged along together with Badette.





I tried to pass the time at the mall while waiting for Oliver to finish his shift so we can head out to catch the Little Mermaid preview. Contact me for tickets. I'll give you a hefty discount.





The preview was a success and if I hadn't been so preoccupied, I'm sure I would've enjoyed it as well.





The next day, after another Mermaid meeting, I then met up with Rhommel. We picked up Gavin and met up with Willie who wanted to show us Ayala Triangle all decked up.







Sadly, all the restaurants were extremely crowded so we headed back to Paseo. We ended up at Yellow Cab and Willie introduced us to Dear Darla, a unique pizza experience.







Willie then dropped me off at the Fort where I met up with my college friends. We all had a great time that we barely noticed that it was already 4am.



The next day, I met up with Willie, Pau and Rhommel. We all went to church to pray and then headed out to Eastwood for dinner and Happy Lemon.









The next day was spent with my family. We went to church and then went crazy with desserts at Becky's Kitchen. Sadly, I wasn't able to take photos. We then passed by Banawe for me to try Chatime.





It has been quite a busy week for me, I just have to meet up the rest of my friends soon before I run out of juice. :p

Photos: Lazy Sunday at Ion, Orchard

Analyn, Em-J and I arrived early in ION and saw two of the most famous DC characters on display.







We also saw this soon to open Paul Frank store.

Last Friday Night

Last Friday night, to celebrate Analyn's first month here in Singapore, we all decided to have dinner together.

We braved the IT show crowd at City Hall on our way to Glutton's Bay.



There was already quite a bit of a crowd when we got there but we were lucky as Clarice was able to immediately find seats with a good view for us.



We had a feast that night, I think I had about three platefuls of food. Except for the Chili Crab, the usual suspects were there.

Mang Kiko's Lechon Manok and Liempo,

fried rice,


cereal prawns,


sotong rings,


and kang kong.


After dinner, since it was still early, we decided to have a cup of hot chocolate at nearby Max Brenner's.

Drinks are a bit pricey at around $7-11 without service charge and taxes but it's well worth it.


The chocolate is divine, if only I can say the same about the service, I wouldn't have second thoughts coming back. I really don't want to turn this post into a rant so I won't go into details.



All in all, it was a fun night. One that we should all do again soon.