The Intercontinental Hotel Manila is one of the premier hotels in the city, and its Prince Albert Rotisserie restaurant has always been considered as one of the best fine dining establishments in Metro Manila.
It was actually one of my “holy grail” places to eat a few years ago. You know, those restaurants where you have to dine at at least once in your life because it was so famous. Prince Albert Rotisserie was on my list for Manila. It’s not famous famous, but I’ve been hearing about it from foodies since the 80’s. We finally dined there a few years ago when we got the IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) membership card and I was very happy with our meal (because it was superb and also because we had the member discount! LOL).
But this post is not about that. This is about the new signature dishes that are being introduced at Prince Albert. The Intercontinental Hotels Group has partnered with five celebrity chefs to create signature dishes for Intercontinental Hotel diners. This panel of celebrity chefs is called the IHG Culinary Ambassadors.
Each chef creates a dish that will be made available to Intercontinental Hotel diners, and here in Manila, those culinary masterpieces are interpreted and served at Prince Albert Rotisserie.
The IHG Culinary Ambassadors are:
- Chef Sam Leong – represents Chinese cuisine; he’s a famous chef in Singapore and teaches at his own cooking school with his wife
- Chef Ian Kittichai – represents Thai cuisine; he’s a famous Thai chef and restauranteur
- Chef Theo Randall – represents Italian cuisine; he’s known as the “unsung hero” who helped the critically-acclaimed London restaurant, The River Cafe, get its Michelin star
- Chef Ross Lusted – represents modern Australian fare; he was named 2014 Chef of the Year by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide
- Chef Dean Brettschneider – pastry creations; he is known as the “Global Baker” and is the founder of the artisan bakery Baker & Cook (they have plans to open in Manila soon!)
The concept is that whichever Intercontinental Hotel a guest may be staying at, he can always look for these signature dishes and they will always be available. The recipes and composition will also be consistent.
I am so grateful to have been invited to sample these fine dishes.
THE FOOD
We were first served a variety of breads:
I liked this cereal bread! It’s a sweet, brown bread with bits of onion inside that made it a bit savoury.
The first course was Chef Theo Randall’s Buffalo Mozzarella Salad with Plum Tomato (P800):
The buffallo mozzarella is made fresh at Prince Albert, and is so different from the regular mozzarella we are used to. It was very creamy – like a very creamy, but not salty, kesong puti. The figs go so well with the fresh mozzarella and the arugula. Yup, those are little pieces of real figs, and swirls of pesto. The salad is light, sweet and savoury in one dish. What a great opening to a fantastic meal!
Next is the Stilton Cheese Souffle with Spring Onion Salsa (P450). This is one of Intercontinental Manila’s new executive chef, Jean-Marc Veron’s souffle creations.
It is a light as air souffle, flavored with sharp, creamy, buttery Stilton cheese. Paired with a cucumber green onion salsa. The cucumber is a refreshing contrast to the warm, cheesy souffle and the spring onion adds a spicy kick. They also add additional texture in each bite. I’d never have thought of pairing these together, but 
This is the main entree, Prince Albert’s interpretation of Chef Lusted’s Grilled Wagyu Loin in Spinach Butter, Bone Marrow and Veal Jus (P1,700):
The beef is 160 grams of wagyu loin. It was so tender, juicy and flavorful! Each bite of the beef is perfectly cooked and well-seasoned – the salt really permeated into the meat. I always notice this because a lot of meats usually only have the salt flavoring the outside of the meat, and the inside of the meat is bland. But the beef here is perfectly seasoned. It was honestly no effort to chew the wagyu!
The wagyu loin is laid on top of a bed of spinach, surrounded by carrots, beets, turnips and pearl onions, and topped with a generous slice of spinach butter. The round, coin-sized things are bone marrow. The veal sauce ties everything together.
The addition of the butter to each mouthful only made this more decadent (but oh, so luxurious!).
The flavors of the dish are not complicated. The dish is composed of simple flavors, the beef and the jus being the most robust, but they are done very well and complement the other ingredients in the dish.
For dessert, we had the Molten Chocolate Souffle with Vanilla Sauce (P425):
Here it is after the addition of the vanilla sauce:
This chocolate souffle was light and fluffy and it was like eating a sweet, chocolate, marshmallow cloud! It’s also not too sweet. It was a nice dessert to cap off the meal.
The souffles are part of the It’s All About Souffle promotion happening from May 1-15, when diners can feast on Chef Jean-Marc Veron’s souffle creations like gruyere cheese souffle with duck leg confit, mango crepe souffle, and others.
But it wasn’t the end – we were also treated to some beautiful chocolate sculptures and pralines. The sculptures are made entirely of chocolate and can take up to 3 days to make!
They look so realistic!
It seemed like such a sin to eat them, but the chocolates were really good, too! The sculptures were very chocolatey and were made using really good chocolate. I’d have eaten entire branch systems if I wasn’t already full with all the delicious food I’d had.
SERVICE
The ambiance at Prince Albert Rotisserie exudes an old world class. But, the Maitre d’ is a delightful showman! He presents each dish with such pomp, it’s hard not to feel more anticipation for your food. He was also quite friendly and gamely engaged in a little chit-chat with us.
I just want to let you know that the Maitre d’ told us that Prince Albert Rotisserie was one of Manny Pacquiao’s favorite restaurants to go to to celebrate.
Service is fast and attentive.
Thank you to the team at Prince Albert Rotisserie for a wonderful meal!
SUMMARY
Prince Albert Rotisserie is one of those iconic restaurants that I default to whenever I think of a classic fine dining restaurant. Do you want to celebrate something nice? Prince Albert. Are you feeling blue and want to wallow your troubles in good food? Prince Albert. Really, it’s a classic 
I’ve always associated the restaurant with taking a moment to splurge on yourself, because, dining there really is a splurge – but it’s a good splurge, and we need those once in a while. And comparing the prices at Prince Albert to the other new, hip restaurants mushrooming around town, Prince Albert’s prices actually seem quite reasonable for the level and quality of their dishes.
It’s exciting to see that they are introducing new dishes, and I think the dishes from the IHG Culinary Ambassadors make a nice addition to their menu!
If you feel like splurging on yourself or a loved one, try Prince Albert Rotisserie! I prefer dining there at night since there are more people. But if you want to have the place mostly to yourself, then try dining there at lunch time
Prince Albert Rotisserie
Intercontinental Manila, 1 Ayala Avenue, Glorietta Complex, Makati City
Contact #: 793-7000 loc. 776 or 777
Hours:
Lunch – 12 NN – 2:30 PM, Mon – Fri
Dinner – 7 PM – 11 PM, Mon – Sat
