Garde Manger: Because Healthy Dishes Can Be Tasty

The one great thing I learned from my visit to Garde Manger is this: a healthy but tasteless dish can be outclassed. That being one of Garde Manger's raison d'être is enough for me to pay attention.

I'm not the healthiest of eaters. However, I have a strong desire to binge on healthy dishes because: 1.) I'm no longer a spring chicken, and 2.) I really want to lose weight!

But the thing is, I can't live on greens alone. Some people can, and I applaud them, but I ain't one. Maybe someday. Having said that, Garde Manger offers transition curations; a midway between certified heart-stopping {literally} and heart-friendly dishes. They also have full-on greens, too. I'll stick to the in-betweens for now. Baby steps. 

Garde Manger occupies the space that formerly belonged to Spruce. It's right in front of Bad Bird.

I definitely have strong feelings for Garde Manger's Palomino {that's the one on the left}! It's coconut juice, lychee, chia seeds, and lime concoction. The Bahamas {cranberry, pomegranate, pink lemonade} is mighty fine as well, but my heart is pretty much set on the Palomino for now.

The Fruits of the Ocean Ceviche plays with both the eyes and the palate. The colorful appetizer has fresh tuna chunks, clams, shrimps, pomelo, and avocado. The best part of the mix for me is the addition of seaweeds! Love those!

Garde Manger has a couple of fresh spring rolls in their menu. The star for me is the Mu-Shu Sesame Chicken. Those two hefty wraps are insanely good on their own, but even better with the chili-hoisin sauce!

Freshly shucked oysters are must-orders, too! Different toppings are available for these metabolism-boosting bivalves. There's the pickled apples, shoyu wasabi, chimichurri, and gin lime.

The Enlatados {canned} are inspired by Chef Miko Apiras' recent trip to Spain. We tried the Smoked Pulpo {baby octopus} and Curry Smoked Mussels.  The olive oil-soaked mussels and baby octopus were amazing! Each was enlivened with spices and potato chips as sides. 

The salads at Garde Manger are meals unto themselves. They are mains, and they are really filling. Apart from the taste, the best part about them is the properly proportioned meat. It's not a pin-in-a-haystack type of meat. 

The Bulalo Salad includes halved bone marrow, kitayama sirloin strips, potato salad, and of course, crispy garden greens. The Sisig Salad {rillettes} is amped up by sour cream and pili nuts! They both sound simple, but the taste is complicatedly delicious! They're huge enough for sharing, too!

Garde Manger
4/F Hole in the Wall
Century City Mall, Kalayaan cor. Salamanca St., Makati City
Facebook: Garde Manger PH
Instagram: @gardemangerph

Onward and Upward!