Spread Some Awesome

Budget : ~Php200-500 per dish

Duration : ~2 hours

Bummers : none so far

Me at Elias by Crisostomo

Elias by Crisostomo

Elias by Crisostomo, or simply Elias, is said to offer turn of the century Filipino dining. Just like its predecessor, Crisostomo, Elias offers a modern take on many classic Filipino dishes. When I asked whats the difference between Elias and Crisostomo, they said the two have almost the same menu but just different names. I have dined at Crisostomo in Eastwood City and I think their food offerings are really quite similar. If I remember a bit of my Life and Works of Rizal course, I think it’s easy to relate that characters of Crisostomo and Elias as the same coin in Rizal’s books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Maybe that’s why they named it Elias because it will remind you of Crisostomo.

Even on the inside, Elias and Crisostomo offer the same ambiance. Actually, at first, I had no idea that the two restaurants were related. But when I saw the images on the walls of Elias, it reminded me of Crisostomo. That’s when I asked if they were related and they said they were.

A Packed Elias

Elias and Crisostomo are both owned by chef and restaurateur Florabel Co-Yatco. If you are into Pinoy foods with modern tweaking, Elias is definitely for you.

After being seated at Elias, we were offered complimentary corn bits that we can munch on while choosing what to eat. Elias has a large selection of Filipino foods offering seafood, pork, beef, chicken, vegetables, and rice.

Corn Bits

While enjoying the crunchiness of these corn bits, I ordered Tiago’s Triumph (Php 325) to start with. Tiago’s Triumph is oyster baked with cheese, spinach, and bacon on top.

Tiago's Triumph

For me, this is a triumphant dish. Come on there’s bacon on oysters. After eating this, I felt triumphant so I could probably call this dish KC’s triumph.

I have been craving for crispy pata (deep fried pork leg) since the day before so I grabbed this opportunity to get one. At Elias, there are two variants of crispy pata – the Don Rafael which is the classic version, and the Don Maximino which hot and spicy. I ordered the classic version, the Don Rafael (Php 550).

Don Rafael (Crispy Pata)

You can never go wrong with crispy pata. This dish is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The meat is juicy and the sauce perfectly complements the meat.

A Piece of Don Rafael (Crispy Pata)

Crispy Pata Sauce

To warm our tummies, we also got the Sinigang Zamora (Php 420). Sinigang is a popular Filipino dish which is a sour stew made usually with tamarind then has meat or fish. Sinigang Zamora contains salmon head with miso and mustard leaves.

Sinigang Zamora

Our rice was Tinapa and Salted Egg (Php 250). Tinapa is smoked fish which is popular in the Philippines. Salted egg is duck egg that has been fermented for a few weeks usually using salt and buried in mud.

Tinapa and Salted Egg Rice

I also ordered the bottomless Kalamansi Malunggay Juice (Php 150). I wasn’t able to taste any hint of malunggay and the kalamansi is subtle. The drink was a bit sweet but it also refreshing. On the menu, it says the drink is sugarfree so I was puzzling why it’s sweet. Hmm, maybe they use a different sweetener. But I hope there was a trace of malunggay and more of kalamansi with every gulp. Yet I am not 100% sure if I really want malunggay in a drink.

Kalamansi Malunggay

It’s quite amusing where the bill is placed. It’s inside this wooden bird.

The Bill

Spread some awesome..ness..

Tags: Bonifacio High Street, oyster, seafood