Sometime last week, we got invited to a private dinner by the owner and head of La Taverna, Chef Cristian. Point of the entire thing was to come "try out" the new items on his redone menu. You know music bloggers get invited to album listening parties? Well, this was kinda like that but with food.

Does this mean we've blown now? Because I'm ready to quit my job and start eating full time.

This is our second invite to something like this. The first one was when the girls from Sugarcane Kitchen invited us to their dessert tasting thing. Almost like people respect our opinion on food now...LOL.

We got treated to an amazing 5 (??) course dinner by Chef Cristian and we got to meet the lovely Nicole of 2 Scoops of Life & Style too.

First Plate

Manchego y Olivas

Manchego cheese and green olives stuffed with red peppers.

FOLLY: Olives are not my cup of tea. This was my first time trying them and it took everything in me not to press the eject button on the roof of my mouth and forcefully expel these.

Second Plate

Pollo Con Jamon and Pork Ribs in BBQ

Chicken cubes wrapped in parma ham and sautéed in olive oil. Ribs marinated in BBQ sauce and garlic.

NOSA: The chicken was a bit bland and the real zing came from the parma ham. The ribs, on the other hand, were my absolute fave. It wasn't "fall off the bone" tender, but the BBQ + garlic mix was amazing. In hindsight, maybe the chicken didn't taste all that exciting because the ribs tasted so good.

FOLLY: I liked the chicken though, and even more so cause it was (single) bite sized. I hate awkwardly portioned finger foods.

Third Plate

Berenjenas rellenas de Cangrejo

Eggplant stuffed with crab and vegetables topped with mozzarella.

NOSA: Eggplant virgnity lost. The others at the table weren't really fans, but I really liked this one. Never had eggplant before so my mind was all the way open for it.

FOLLY: I lost my virginity this night too. Hahaha, NO.

If you've never had eggplant, I'd describe it to you as having the same texture of sweet potato.

Fourth Plate

Penne al Forno

Oven baked penne with spinach and parma ham.

NOSA: I really liked this one too. But then again, I probably like anything with lots of cheese on it and I also like Charcoal shawarma. What I'm trying to say is, take my opinion with with pinch of salt.

FOLLY: Clearly, Nosa lost his virginity and became a slut all in the same night cause he loved everything. Parma ham is Chef Cristian's sure hand. Anything with it is guaranteed to be good.

Fifth Plate

Mejillones en Escabeche

Mussels in vinaigrette sauce and fresh cubed tomatoes.

FOLLY: This is a cold salad with mussels. I'm still looking for a more succinct word to describe this course so you're going to have to bear with me a bit here. The pedestrian part of me thought it reminded her of Titus, whilst my more refined self thought it'll be fab on a toasted baguette.

NOSA: Felt like this was missing something. Bread, perhaps. Not to say it tasted horribly or anything, far from it. It just tasted like a smaller part of a whole. Like we were missing the big picture.

Go try out the new stuff and let us know what you think. Tonight is Pizza Night too. All pizzas are N2000!

Private Dinner at La Taverna