Saturday, January 14, 2012

A Molecular Cuisine at THE GOOSE STATION






The Goose Station is one of the best fine-dining restaurants in Metro Manila today.  It was opened 2 years ago at Fort Bonifacio. Owned, operated and conceived by one of the founders of Global Academy Roberto Pengson and his wife Sunshine Puey Pengson. Roberto ( or Rob ) Pengson trained at California Culinary Academy and used to host the culinary show Chef to Go. The Goose Station was built around the concept of the degustation or a tasting  menu... the staff of the Goose Station is comprised of his top students... The dining area is rather small and intimate.....which can sit only 25 persons.... I would advise you to call and reserve if you are planning to eat at The Goose Station..... it is a great venue for special occasions or one of those romantic evenings.



At The Goose Station their menu changes every three months. There is an ala-carte menu, You can either choose the four course Express Menu ( PHP 1,500.00 to PHP 1,800.00 ) or their Signature Menu ( PHP 2,500.00 ), a ten course menu that combines a sampling of their current chef’s recommendations.


You might wonder.. WHAT IS MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY??

" It refers to experimental restaurant cooking driven by the desire of modern cooks to explore the world's wide variety of ingredients, tools and techniques. " In other words --- Molecular gastronomy or Molecular cuisine is a modern way of cooking in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen  concocting surprise after surprise for their diners.

My first time to sample the dishes at The Goose Station was almost 3 weeks ago, when Vivian, a good friend of mine invited me for lunch... I simply loved the food... and planned to go back there and bring my family for a degustacion dinner or rather  a molecular cuisine experience..





A few days ago--- I started to check out The Goose Station on the internet... On the restaurant's homepage, the chefs described their restaurant as " a venue to express a personal cuisine that is both locally inspired and globally influenced". Their guests are encouraged to "arrive with an open mind and an appetite for something new." So that was what I told my children.... " let's have a molecular experience at the Goose Station! "

In order to try as many dishes -- my sons, Tom and Iggy decided to order the Signature Classics while my daughters-in-law, Maite, Cris and I opted on the Express Menu. Every time a new dish was served-- we would take a little sample of the dish...

Here was what we had:

We all started with their appetizers ..

FOIE GRAS CONE 

this is a must TRY!! The cone was made of filo pastry filled with whipped foie gras mousse topped with a dollop of fruit jam and macadamia nut.



SWEET CORN, JAMON CROQUETA and POTATO CHIP PANE

When this trio was served the maitre d' advised us to start with the potato chip first and work our way to the sweet corn.. The presentation was equally brillant ---  a pane of the potato chip (yes, you can almost see through it -- I could not imagine how they can slice a potato this thin ) served in a decorative clip. The jamon croqueta was not as salty as I wanted it to be.. in fact as you bite the croqueta --you will immediately taste a creamy smooth mixture of truffle oil and minced bits of the ham rolled on a lightly breaded mashed potato. The dish I liked the best was the one in the shot glass.... It was something which resembled a warm mais con hielo with a sweet creamy coconut texture at the top and soft chewy glutinous rice at the bottom.


EGGS BENEDICT


This is their take on the classic EGGS BENEDICT we all know. They served it on a martini glass. It is slow cooked egg ( poached egg ) with brown butter hollandaise sauce, a dash of truffle oil and a bacon tulle on the side of the glass. You’re supposed to mix the whole thing up and scoop it spoon by spoon into your mouth.

( top view )

CAVIAR PARFAIT

We all loved this one!! You should try it.... It is cauliflower panna cotta with crab jelly tapioca and bits of crab and sea urchin ( uni ) and topped with caviar.


SOUP 

Porcini with spiced chestnut, goat cheese and black olive powder.When this dish was delivered we were surprised why it didn't have any broth?? Then the maitre d' walked over and slowly poured the porcini broth into the dish.... I loved the broth!!! the wonderful flavor of porcini with a dash of truffle oil just bursts in your mouth. The different textures of this dish was a dream come true. I could not imagine how you can mix chestnuts, goat cheese and porcini mushrooms in one single dish. I highly recommend this dish!




GARDEN SALAD

I liked this dish the most.... with the photo I took below... let me try to explain this dish as best as I can.....


It is a salad of red beets and carrots with micro greens served with thin slices of oranges, cashew nuts and on each side of the plate are little dots of pea alioli... The red dollap you see at the left side of the photo is a red beet sorbet which I thought was very good while the orange roll you see in the middle is carrot jelly with Davao goat's cheese in it... You have to eat the carrot jelly with goat's cheese first mixed with some micro greens and pea alioli and then finish it off with the red beet sorbet...

Now let us all go to the main courses we ordered:

Tom and Iggy ordered the 24 HOUR STEAK.


( close up view )

It is USDA short rib served with worcestershire jus, truffle oil mashed potatoes and crispy onions. This is the most sought after dish in THE GOOSE STATION. I would give this dish a 5 star rating!! being a meat lover--- this dish was simply delicious!!! The meat was cooked just right. it was very tender and juicy. Although they gave us steak knives --- we did not have to use them.

I ordered FIDEUA NEGRA with SCALLOPS.


In this dish they used imported scallops which had a soft fleshy texture and delicately mild sweet flavor combined with fidelini pasta ( It is a pasta variety that is cut into very fine strands slightly thicker than vermicelli ) cooked in black squid ink. Topped with a slice of Spanish morcilla,  angulas ( baby eels ) and diced red peppers. On the side were dots of lemon curd and anchovy alioli.

The only drawback on this dish is that you might end up getting your teeth black from the squid ink...

Maite ordered SOUS VIDE WAGYU CHEESEBURGER.


Their Wagyu Cheeseburger is another must TRY at THE GOOSE STATION. Aside from using Wagyu beef to make the patty, their cheese was no ordinary cheese. They used raclette and combined it with cornichons, sliced tomatoes and onions. Like any other cheeseburger -- It came with fries but with a twist --- they made black olive fries. They had dijon mayonnaise on round ceramic cups.

and CRIS had DUCK CONFIT


This dish had sweet, sour and sharp notes. By using black currant jelly as their sweet note, horseradish potato puree as the sharp and whole grain mustard for the sharp tangy taste. The duck meat was very tender. Their duck confit sat on a bed of black kidney beans ( that is our very own kadyos ) and string beans to add color to the dish.

The best part..... the dessert!!! We were able to try out all their desserts....

The deconstructed BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE


It is made up of cream cheese foam topped with different kinds of berries, apple and burnt marshmallows  served in a ceramic bowl. It was very light and whimsical.

THE CHOCOLATE CANDY BAR

The Goose Station’s signature dessert and the perfect dessert finish a good dining experience. Earl Grey flavored crispies topped with praline hazelnut cream and dark chocolate covered with fine chocolate powder. The creamy consistency and fulfilling sweetness is heavenly. This is perfect for all chocolate lovers ---


STRAWBERRY ICE


Served in a martini glass...paper thin slices of strawberry with granita, smoked compote, chips and topped with creme anglaise --- Do you know what is creme anglaise?? It is a light pouring custard commonly used as a dessert cream. At The Goose Station their creme anglaise had a different twist in it... they blended a mixture of sugar, egg yolks and hot milk flavoured with cardamon.



VACHERIN 

Vacherin ( pronounced vahsh-er-AHN ) is a French dessert comprising stacked meringue rings that are sometimes placed atop a pastry base.  In their dish seen below ... The light and crisp rings are then filled with coconut-vanilla panna cotta, chico jam, calamansi and mango.


Last but not the least....... they served us BURGER MIGNERDISES... which looked like chocolate macaroons. These mignerdises are usually served at the end of your dessert with a cup of coffee.. I was too full and was not able to taste this dish .... but all my kids liked it.



Dining at The Goose Station was absolutely worth the experience for us. We agreed that it was not the kind of thing we would like to have on a regular basis. But on special occasions like last night ( we celebrated our delayed NEW YEARS DAY DINNER celebration ) --- it was indeed worth the wait...What I noticed at the Goose Station was a lot of the dishes we tried out had truffle oil in it.. It did not bother us having the truffle oil on some of our dishes... In fact we like the aroma and taste of truffle oil. I must admit that the food at The Goose Station is exquisite and very good that you will have a hard time of knowing which dish you like to order. Yes, The Goose Station perhaps is a little pricey compared to other upscale restaurants in Manila..... but it really is worth it!!

If you are bored eating at the same restaurant all the time and knowing what you eat. Then it's time to head to The Goose Station where the chefs will make their own "degustation" for you. By sampling their dishes --(  8-10 small dishes ) I am sure your tongue will have the best time of it's life. Cheers to Rob and Sunshine Pengson! Cheers to THE GOOSE STATION !!


THE GOOSE STATION


G/F W Tower
39th St. Fort Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City, Philippines



For Reservations contact: +632 556 9068
cellphone number +63917 85 GOOSE

Mondays through Saturdays 6 - 9 in the evening

5 comments:

  1. Madam, did you avail of the Php2,500 set menu? Is this pre-selected or you can order anything you want? Php2,500/pax or can be shared? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yes, we ordered the 2,500 set menu. It was pre-selected but you choose what you would like to have for your main course. I am not sure if you can share it.

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  4. Omgeeeee. Mouthwatering gastronomical astronomy. As in. Super serious here.

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  5. I had a gift certificate I got from school and booked my parents to experience The Goose Station. My parents ate at the goose station last night, Dec. 29. 2012, according to them the ambiance was fair enough, but they hated the food except for the chocolate dessert. They just tried to finish the course, but is really unhappy with what they had. They had the goose station's signature menu but all they thought was maybe it was just a "TESTING MENU" so they avoided to complain, having in their minds that in might affect my school grades in global academy. But of course I was so ashamed! And the big reason why I am trying to complain now is not just because of the bad dining experience they had, but because of my mom is having LBM since last night up to now. That was so not nice and so not acceptable.

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