What's for dinner? Let's ask Lolo Dad. :)

My husband and I went out for dinner to celebrate his nth birthday last week. We haven't tried Lolo Dad's Cafe yet, located along the stretch of Quirino Avenue, Malate, Manila, and we've been curious to try it out for the longest time. His birthday seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so, and we did just that.

A cozy little restaurant along Quirino Avenue.

Since we were first-timers, we had to ask for recommendations. We can't not sample the house specialties, can we?

We decided on some soup in lieu of appetizers. Per our waiter's recommendation, we had their double espresso of mushroom and tomato soup. As you can see from the photo below, it's called double espresso because of how it is served - in dainty coffee cups. :) 

Tomato on the left, mushroom on the right.

After the soup, which we devoured with some freshly-baked bread (which we loved, too!) and dollops of cream cheese, our waiter arrived with some lemon sorbet - "to cleanse our palate". They arrived in little clay pots, with wisps of cold air escaping from what we presumed to be liquid nitrogen from inside the pot. Hmm.

Gobbled this up in just a couple of bites, it was that good!

And then, dinner is served. :)

For me it was the pan-fried fillet of seabass with onion cream sauce, salmon and mushroom, and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were not your usual ones - I forget which one it is, but it was so, so creamy, I loved it to the last spoonful. Of course, the seabass was the star of the dish.

Served a la Iron Chef :)

The birthday boy, Archie, had rack of lamb with three-cheese risotto. The lamb, grilled medium and with glops of mint, was simply the best. I've never had lamb that good!

Never mind the risotto, which I didn't like all that much.

Archie had a glass of red wine to go with the lamb and to complete the meal. To say that we were satisfied with our dinner would be an understatement. :)

Happy birthday, Tatay! <3

The food was a bit pricey for your usual dinner, but it was worth every peso. Plus, it's not every day that we dine in a restaurant as special as this one. We loved the place itself, too, which was cozy, warm, and small. Yes, small, which makes the dining experience more exclusive, if you will. A week before, I had a table for two reserved for us, so being seated was not a problem we had to contend with.

There's a bonus on our visit, too: we got to see (not actually meet, unfortunately) the famous Chef Ariel Manuel. Remember the guy who created the Vanilla Almond ice cream for Selecta? Yes, that's him in the commercials. Archie noticed that no plate left the kitchen and was served to the customers without Chef Manuel giving it a once-over. Talk about quality control.

So, would I recommend Lolo Dad's to you? Absolutely. :)

Lolo Dad's Cafe is located at 899 Quirino Ave. cor. Leon Guinto St., Malate, Manila.
Contact Nos: (63 2) 522-2941, 524-2295, 526-7151, +639228125971
Operating Hours are as follows:
Monday : Open from 6:30pm to 10:30pm | Dinner
Tuesday to Saturday : Open from 11:00am to 2:00pm for Lunch | 6:30pm to 10:30pm for Dinner
Sunday : Closed

Bon appetit! ;)