People's Palace

Being Asian, I should be familiar with Asian cuisine and I was surprised that my taste (as with food and not taste as in preference) wasn't asian enough. At least, that's what I think. Though I can generally see why Filipinos can be very not Asian in many ways than others because of Hispanic and American influences that we Filipinos (in general) were/are very much open and willing to embrace, it should still be a given that Asian cuisine shouldn't be too foreign.

I had dinner at People's Palace one Friday, not too long ago and so the memory is still a bit fresh. They serve Thai Fusion cuisine and so I thought I knew what to expect. But no... what I had in mind was totally not what was in my plate. The food was really good (don't get me wrong, though the tone of my writing may be leaning to the negative side). I enjoyed it, actually. It's just that I was surprised by myself by how I found it very exotic. It's not too often I try Thai cuisine but it isn't really that far from Filipino food. Still, it felt different and awkward how I don't find any assimilation to my experience with the food.

It just dawned on me as I'm writing this that it's actually good how the experience is different. I think that restaurants need to seperate themselves from competition and it's how people identify their food among a group that are generally very similar. And that is how I think People's Palace did a really good job.

Anyway, going to the food... We had for starters a very unique Pavlova. Yup, we started with the desert! It was Ange's birthday and it was for a surprise. It was the best dish that I've had that night. You can really distinguish and individualize the taste as you bite. The "real" starter we had was the prawn, pomelo and chicken salad. Yummy! Also very good. This is mainly the culprit to why I felt the food was very foreign. Although the flavors are familiar by themselves, all combined will tell you a very different story. It's definitely a must have when you eat there.

We had everything to share so we had (1) the ever so famous thai street food, pad thai (2) Chicken Curry and (3) Fried Noodles in Curry (I'm not too sure what it was exactly. I can't tell if it was chicken or something else). The main course was mediocre compared to our starters.

I almost forgot that I had Lemongrass and Ginger Iced Tea for drinks (just had it to try something different. And mind you, it was different alright) and Sticky Rice for desert (nothing very different here).

You won't find anything asian about its ambiance. Well, maybe a bit zen but that's it. Everything is simple: generally white walls, slick furnishings, and a high ceiling. I remember it being a little loud but I'm not so sure (my memory isn't that fresh after all). But I tend to be very reserved when I'm in a very intimate mood. Although, the ambiance was intimate, I still remember having a loud laugh and didn't care. I specially love the men's room (...and I always consider it everytime I would go to anywhere. Bathrooms are forever sacred for me. It can make or break anything.). I love the mirror and how everything inside was bright and very crisp.

Where is People's Palace: Greenbelt 3 (I've been passing by it and never noticed it was there until the dinner)

Budget: we had everthing under 3,000. Ow, and don't think they give out all-you-can-eat rice. They charge per serving. (We fell into this trap. Good thing we weren't much on rice so we weren't that shocked when we saw the bill.)