Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino - Fort Taguig

This place has been open for close to 3 years now and for those who haven’t dined here yet this is the perfect time to try this place.  They offer a weekend brunch buffet. And they do it Ala carte style, meaning everything will be cooked upon order. They sized up each order to half a regular serving.  There are 59 items on the buffet menu, not counting drinks, Clean plate policy applies and if the plate is not empty or close to empty you will be charged 100 pesos for each half eaten plate. The price is 788++ per person, unlimited drinks included.

Specializing in Filipino cuisine, cooked and served in a contemporary way.  We appreciate how Chef Laudico did his homework and created dishes  to preserve the taste of true Filipino food presented in a way to please the sights and taste of people around the world.

Pandesal. Freebie. Baked in house. Served with Anchor Butter. 

Cody: Dense and creamy bread, not the airy kind we are used to           

Elle: On the contrary I thought the bread was airy and not creamy. 

Sampaloc juice/Lemongrass Ice Tea

Cody: refreshing, the drinks will initially surprise the taste buds, but it grows on you. I kept on drinking it the whole time.

Elle:  unique drinks.  I liked the lemongrass iced tea since it did not taste too much like the commercially made lemon flavor throat lozenge. The sampaloc juice also tasted good, sweet and tangy.  

Sisig Basket- chopped pigs head with liver incorporated in the mix, served in a crisp rice paper cup with half a hard boiled quail egg in the shot glass topped with garlic cream.

Cody:  One thing I noticed about this dish was it was oily, so be sure to check inside the cups for residual oil, aside form that, the Sisig was one of the best tasting I’ve tried. The garlic cream on top suited it perfectly, it lacked the spiciness though. And to those who are worried about the cholesterol , the quail egg didn’t really give much uplift to the taste. A small amount of scrambled egg would have been suffice and would have lowered the cholesterol content

Elle:  Had less than 1/3 of a bite of a cup.  Meat filling was very soft but I agree it was oily.

Tuna Kilawin Rolls- chopped tuna pieces marinated in vinegar rolled in fresh rice paper topped with a calamansi Capsicum emulsion

Cody: A nice dish, the tuna was fresh. The vinegar marinade penetrated the tuna perfectly, the calamansi emulsion suited it. Perfect appetizer.

Elle: probably one of the best kilawin dishes I’ve tried.  The tuna was not overcooked in the calamansi emulsion. It tasted very fresh. 

Prawn Sinigang Martini- mix of hot and cold component, the cold being the sour soup gelatin, the hot being the coconut cream. Scoop it together with your soup spoon to get the marriage of flavours and temperatures

Cody: when it was presented to me, it didn’t have the coconut cream yet. When the waiter poured it, then I  smelled the sourness of the soup. It was indeed a wonderful blend. A wonderful concept as well

Elle: it was not your regular sinigang.  It was more like Tom Yum.  The sour gelatin blended well with the bland coconut milk.  Something unexpected and different from your usual sinigang.

Shitake Mushroom Soup- fresh pureed shitake mushroom with cream described as  cappuccino, topped with crunchy fried minced garlic

Cody: the woody taste of the shitake blended very well with the crunchy garlic. Not too heavy even with the incorporated cream. It’s always nice to have mushroom soup freshly made and not coming out of a can.

Elle: This was really delicious.  I liked the burnt taste of the fresh mushrooms with the cream topping. 

3 Kinds of Mango Salad- Mesclum salad with dried, ripe and green mango slices, with a Dijon bagoong dressing, topped with kasuy crusted fried kesong puti.

Cody: beautiful looking dish, nice blending of the fresh sweet mangoes, the sour crunchy green mangoes and the sweet dried mangoes. The dressing has a little spicy kick to it, the cheese added another level of texture that only added more points to the delicious factor of the dish.

Elle:  The vegetables were fresh and the mangoes added a whole new flavor to it.  It was interesting to see dried mangoes in a fresh salad.  The dressing did not overpower the salad and the fried kesong puti was just fantastic!

Eggplant Torta with Spicy Crab—sliced eggplant grilled to be soft and creamy, mixed with egg then pan fried, the things on the side are the crabmeat

Cody: the eggplant torta almost melts in your mouth. The chilli crab meat didn’t have any spicy taste in my opinion. Again I love the torta.

Elle:  the minced spicy crab was not spicy at all but nevertheless compliments the eggplant.  One of my favorite salads so far!

Tuna in Burong Hipon- Tuna cooked medium well, the burong hipon was blended together with the greens

Cody: love the way the tuna was cooked. Still pink in the middle. The Burong Hipon  in my opinion was too salty with sour tones all over. The flavor was too strong

Elle: Favorite!!!! I was expecting to see shrimp pieces in the dish but it was I assume pureed shrimp that looked more like sauce.  This was really the good.  The tuna was grilled but still soft and juicy. The rice was soft and creamy and the kangkong was still a bit crunchy.  the balance between salty and sour was perfect.

US Angus Beef Tapa Si log- strips of angus beef tapa, on top of a beautifully fried egg which was on top of Garlic rice encased in a half tomato

Cody: Another beautifully plated dish. The Angus beef has the right amount of fat in the meat that didn’t dry up after cooking. It looks like beef bacon. Hehe, The egg was cooked perfectly sunny side up.

Wagyu and Lengua Estofado- Wagyu beef cheeks and US Beef Lengua, Braised in a Tomato sauce, served with grilled veggies

Cody: Is there anything bad I can say about Wagyu? No.  It was uberly tender and gelatinous, melts in your mouth. The Lengua, I wish was sliced a bit thinner.  The  rice tutong crisp added a different texture to the soft meats in the dish. The sauce was very good.

Elle:  Great tomato sauce… and the soft grilled vegetables and the crispy rice was a good combination.

Prawns and Burong Mustasa- Spaghetti tossed with chopped prawns, anchovies and bur0ng mustasa

Cody: A light pasta dish. No heavy sauce here, the flavors of the anchovies and prawn pieces being the highlight of the dish.

Elle: Simple and refreshing pasta with no sauce.  The burong mustasa gave the dish its flavor. 

Pandenini- Angus Roast Beef with Tomato Salsa

Cody: Tasted like Adobo rather than roast meat.  This was just ok, Saving grace was the sun dried tomato dressing on the side of the dish

Elle:  Tasted the Panini style bread and left out the meat.  It was just okay and yes the better part of the dish was the tomato dressing/sauce on the side.

Prito Trio- peeled shrimps, calamari, dilis cooked “okoy” style with sauce blend of Pinakurat, Garlic and Aligue

Cody: Ordered this dish at the end of the meal but this is supposed to be an appetizer and liked it so much we ordered it twice . The ingredients were fresh, the shrimps were crunchy, the squid was soft and tender. The sauces were incorporated in every piece. Very Very good.

Elle: shrimps were soft, squid rings were not gummy.  It was deep-fried but not oily.  It had a bit of a kick as well.  I liked the concept of the sauce in the small servings. 

Chocolate Truffles-mango and calamansi

Cody: it was okay , had slight hints of the fruits it represented

Elle:  regular truffles, I could not taste the mango and the calamansi.

Maja Blanca Cheesecake

Cody: Imagine a cheesecake with creamed corn. 

This is it. It was just okay. Drizzled with arnibal.

Elle:  Same opinion. I was expecting it to be as soft as Maja Blanca.  It wasn’t great.

Banana Q Tart

Cody: The banana pieces were a little tough to eat, I love the ice cream though.

Elle: I liked the part when the waiter presented the dessert complete with a flambee.  It looked good but the bananas were hard and slightly burnt and separated from the tart.  The ice cream was good though. 

We appreciated how Chef Laudico  presented Filipino food. We wouldn’t be surprised it ever there is a Filipino restaurant outside the philippines ; they would served food this way.  We recommend this brunch buffet. Serivce was excellent, They change our plates after every dish. Warm plates to boot. Noel , our server was indeed a gentleman. He knew the food very well and served us well. One of the perks was the drinks were bottomless and we could order one drink from another.  They also served bottomless Twinnings tea and excellent brewed coffee!