Palate Orgasm

Once again we were back in the boardroom/private tasting room of Chef Ninyo Laus (of Ninyo's in Katipunan) who just so happens to be in the running for best chef in the country by The Philippine Tatler *fingers crossed*. Out of the 16 dishes created for ROBOT we approved another 14. Sorry to say but the caviar topped curry takoyaki spheres just didn't cut it haha! Fortunately, for the pizza lovers of the world, the japanese sun dried tomato infused cured and smoked salmon topped with caviar on a crostini was approved with flying colors! Now we just need to come up with a better name than Japanese Pizza hehe. We don't want to give away too much so just enjoy the pictures and get yourselves ready as the opening is right around the corner... =)

The Most Important Meal of the Day

As I am a huge fan of breakfast all day menus and not wanting to limit the capabilities of our superb culinary team we have a true international borderless breakfast menu hence the smoked salmon chawan mushi, chocolate chip n peanut butter buttermilk pancakes, and the dry-aged wagyu dry tapsilog katsu. No bullshitting, I loved them all but if I have to pick a champion it goes to the eggs benedict with a crab fat (aligue) hollandaise! Here's to another great food tasting, this one courtesy of Chef Ed Bugia of Pino (Teachers Village UP). =p

Zen(ish)

In our process to create something truly unique we wound up at the Japanese garden of landscape Architect Suspine in Taytay Rizal. As soon as I stepped foot into his "showroom" I felt an immediate sense of tranquility. I'm not sure if it was because of the precise placement, along with the distinct combination of nature and man made beauty, but I do know that this is the definition of Zen. Our task now at hand is to find the perfect balance between this and the modern amenities that are now a necessity to modern day fine dining... =)

P.S. I think we found some kryptonite as well haha!

As expected...

On a bright note we went to check out the furniture and everything seems to be coming together according to plan (see pics above).

On a dark note, just like we expected due to the overall lack of appreciation for artistic expression MACEA (Makati Ayala Commercial Estate Association) demanded we paint our board-up white "now na". Our immediate response to them was, what if we paint the Jollibee logo and that fat bee is that acceptable? Or since the Philippines place America on such a high petastool how about the McDonalds golden arches logo and a picture of The Hamburglar? As expected I got zero response from them with the exception of a head scratch haha! Needless to say we intend to keep it up for as long possible.

Why does art have to be labeled street?

So in lieu of having the typical tarpauline with our logo jumping out at you we decided to keep it classy and let Archie Geotina and his boys from Black Book Design have it. Don't quote me on this *ahem Archie* but this maybe the very first mural done in the Makati CBD ever. Ayala I hope you guys don't mind...

Blood, Sweat and Love

So after all the anticipation, much sleep deprivation mixed with city hall and my contractor's procrastination we've decided to up this blog so our friends and fam can keep track of the progression of ROBOT. Manila's next "it" (fingers crossed haha).

For those of you that are now just encountering ROBOT we are a new Contemporary Japanese Tapas restaurant under going construction at the location of the former Wasabi Bistro on Makati Ave next to the Manila Peninsula Hotel. I'm pretty sure if your reading this or were alive in the Philippines in early part of the last decade you either partied your ass off there or weren't old enough too and wish you did hehe.

Our goal for ROBOT is simply put into one word -inspire-

Through the environment, the food and the service we hope to titillate (I've always wanted to use that word) not only the palette but the mind and soul. Attention to detail and many sleepless hours are being put into every aspect down to the thread count of the staffs' ridiculously gorgeous uniforms created by no other than one of the Philippines most renowned couture designers. Shot out to you sis, meeting Wednesday to check the samples, no flaking or filipino time haha!

Without letting the cat out of the bag completely we aim to reinvent fine dining in Manila Robatayaki Style (wikipedia is my savior, shout out to JC). Can there be a place that is classy enough to bring your wife on your anniversary yet not pretentious enough to impose some lame dress code requiring collared shirts or dinner jackets. And since when did real style ever have rules??? How about a place that looks like a million bucks but doesn't require your first born child! I'm not gonna lie with the overwhelming amount of blood, sweat and love put into ROBOT we're not gonna give away the farm. Then again we sure aren't competing with Burger Machine (shout out Stacy Rodriguez =p) Breakfast around 300p / Lunch 500p / Dinner 1000p +/-. And believe me not to toot my horn or world class Chef Ninyo Laus (www.ninyo.ph) but worth every hard earned peso/dollar/yen/ shit we'll even do XD's if you have something worth a lick to trade =p

If you made it this far hopefully you were entertained, really bored or just a good friend of Team Robot. Gotta bounce, yup working on the lord's day. Archie and them are about to bomb our board-up, tarpaulins are so 2000 and late...

Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are-

worthless plug www.robotxyz.com