Looking for a place to take your special someone for a date, or maybe even propose? La Azotea at the 2nd floor of Casa Roces near Malacañang is one of the best place to go!
Nestled near the Malacañang Palace, the residence of the president of the Philippines, in the district of San Miguel Manila is Casa Roces. It was built during the Commonwealth era and was the former residence of Don Chino Roces, publisher of The Manila Times, Taliba, Liwayway to name a few. The house was converted to a restaurant and operated by CCA.
The Place
Here is video walk through of the La Azotea of Casa Roces that shows how beautiful the place is with all its different rooms:
Video Walk-Through
Here are some photos of the place:
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| The Casa Roces sign near the bar |
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| Balcon (The Balcony) |
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| Classic Furnitures |
As seen in the video and in the photos, the place with it’s classic Commonwealth era ambiance makes the place extraordinary compared to other dining places. With their different room sizes, it can accommodate from a couple to a crowd for events.
In addition to the dining facilities, they also have a gallery: Galeria Roces. They display works from different artist and some of them are for sale. New artist are featured every 2 – 3 months.
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| Casa Roces also has a gallery: Galeria Roces |
The Food
We have tried the set menu that cost Php 1,500 per head. Not bad for an exclusive dinner with your own room. It’s a bargain when you consider the ambiance and the privacy you get when dining that makes it an ideal place for romantic celebrations like anniversaries, proposals or monthsaries.
Here is the set menu that we were served:
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| The Set Menu |
We started with the Truffles Mushroom Soup. While it was being served, we can already smell the aroma of the soup that was made from fresh mushroom. The soup was delicious.
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| Truffle Mushroom Soup |
Next was the salad. Similar to your typical Caesar Salad but this one is with crispy beef tongue instead of bacon. It was unique but yet so familiarly tasty.
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| Lengua Caesar Salad |
For the main course, I selected the Lamb Caldereta with Parmesan Risotto. It was a good choice. The tender meat of the lamb braised for 4 hours according to Chef Paul and cooked with the familiar caldereta sauces and ingredients. To compliment it, the Parmesan Risotto was another one to commend. The combination of the two made the dish something to enjoy more.
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| Lamb Caldereta with Parmessan Risotto |
My blogger friend Aldous opted for the the fish so that we can try them both the options for the mains. The Pescado in Salsa Verde (Spinach Sauce) with Mash Potatos was also good.
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| Pescado in Salsa Verde with Mash Potatos |
The climax of the dining experience was the Malacañang Souffle. Lemony upper part and an frozen ice-cream like bottom part laced with the lemon zest and pistachio nuts. This is one of the dessert that customers returns to enjoy.
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| Malacañang Souffle |
What a set of dishes to enjoy! Food is not too presumptuous, simple, classic but with a twist.
The Verdict
The aged beauty and aura of the place, especially the rooms with its classic furniture sets the place apart from the other restaurants. Even expensive five-star hotel would have a tough time matching it’s aura when it comes to the place.
The set menu was good. A taste of something familiar but somehow much better. I love the dishes as explained individually above.
Service is one of the thing that I commend the place. It was almost have an exclusive butler to attend to you. He even knock before he enters the room!
For Php 1,500 per head for Php 3,000 for a couple, it’s a very good deal and a very good place to impress your love ones that will definitely land you with a YES!
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| Yours truly, Ted Claudio |
For more info, visit their website or their Facebook page .
La Azotea is at Casa Roces located at 1153 J. P. Laurel Sr. corner Aguado Streets, San Miguel, Manila.
For reservations and inquiries, you can call them at (02) 735-5896.
