Standing along Roxas Boulevard near Manila Bay is the Heritage Hotel, which houses the often overlooked Latitude, the hotel's restaurant.

Latitude's menu may be filled with restaurant staples, but they are well-made, and in the case of its steak and a certain soup, quite exceptional.

The Asian Smoked Salmon (P480) is served with horseradish cream and mango salsa. The cream is more mayonnaise than horseradish and the salsa is overpowered by sweetness, the fish nondescript.

A much better way to start the meal is with Pia's Green Salad (P220), a mesclun bouquet with blackened chicken breast fillet served with raspberry dressing served on the side.

The vegetables are crisp, the dressing light, a subtle mix of sweet and tangy.

A pleasant surprise and a must try is the Carrot Ginger with Cilantro soup (P150), a puree of carrot and ginger with a hint of cilantro.

The soup is thick and creamy, its smooth carrot taste enhanced by the heat of the ginger, ending with a kick of cilantro.

The soup is made without milk, but you wouldn't know it, given how creamy it is. Bang for your buck at a hundred and fifty pesos.

We tried two kinds of steaks, the US Ribeye Steak (P1,100 for 250g and P1,400 for 350g) and the US Sirloin Steak (P980 for 250g and P1300 for 350g).

The former is beautifully marbled, while the latter is beefy and juicy, even when cooked well done.

It's important to tell the staff how you want your steak when they take your order, because if you don't, they're automatically going to make it well done.

It comes with your choice of starch, and grilled vegetables. The mashed potato is smooth and spicy, the grilled vegetables firm and sweet. I was almost tempted to order the vegetables on their own.

The steak comes with your choice of sauce: peppercorn, mushroom, pan gravy, or red wine, but it still tastes best on its own.

The cakes (mostly P140) are mediocre, the cheesecake nice and dense, but lacking tanginess, the tiramisu lacking coffee and tasting a tad too much of cream.

Latitude is a nice place to have a casual lunch in. Stick to the soup and the steak, then take a walk by the bay. It'll make your day.

Located in the Hyatt Hotel in Malate, the Fireplace Grill is probably one of the most elegant, secluded places in Metro Manila.

With its quiet surroundings and dim lighting reminiscent of intimate fireplace light (and yes, it does sport an actual fireplace as well, located behind the counter burning local wood like Ipil Ipil and Madre de Cacao that helps flavor the steaks), the restaurant is a perfect place for clandestine meetings or marriage proposals.

Oh yeah, the food is good, too.

Let's start with the bread. Don't even think about passing up the bread.

Get there early enough and it will still be warm, the crusty buns just a few minutes out of the oven, to be broken apart with your fingers, soft insides eaten with butter or used to mop up extra virgin olive oil with fragrant balsalmic vinegar.

Start off with the Oyster Tempura (P577.09++), oysters enveloped by pastry topped with nori strips, fish roe, and cucumber bits to round off the flavor.

The first thing that hits you is the sweetness of wasabe, followed by the realization that it doesn't contain any of its heat.

Drizzling fresh lemon on the tempura gives another dimension to its already complex flavor, taking it from a yummy tiny slighty salty fried thing into a really yummy tiny salty fried thing with zing. Trust me. I know whereof I speak.

What I really love about the Fireplace Grill are its side dishes. This, my friends, is a restaurant that gives food sidekicks equal billing, so much so that you're tempted to forget the main course altogether.

Take for example the complimentary Potato Gratin that comes with the steak.

A huge serving of scalloped potatoes baked with milk and Parmigiano Regiano, soft and creamy and just makes you feel good, like the world is a nice place where bunnies cavort with unicorns. It's that much of a comfort food.

Likewise, the Creamed Spinach (P225), which is creamy, containing the spinach's lovely flavor without the bittet aftertaste.

Vegetarians (heck, even meat eaters) will like the Grilled Portobello Mushrooms (P520), with its big serving (two giant mushrooms), meaty texture, and a taste that hints of seafood: oysters and crab.

The Risotto of Wild Forest Mushrooms (P750), with its bouquet of button, shiitake, abalone, and portobello mushrooms is simply divine.

The rice is firm, yielding to soft creaminess, with the mushrooms taking on a smoky flavor.

The dish may be a biy salty for some, but that's probably because of the parmesan cheese shaved over it. It also comes in a big serving, and is best shared.

The Porterhouse Steak (P3450 for 25 oz) is tender and beefy, with a hint of smokiness that tells of salt, pepper and the grill.

It comes with mushroom, Bernaise and green peppercorn sauce, the latter being the best tasting but as with good beef, is best done without.

The steak is, simply, the bomb.

But don't stuff yourself yet, there's still dessert to look forward to.

The Chocolate Soup with Vanilla Pepper (P350) looks like a flattened souffle and tastes like a melted chocolate cake.

The river of gooey chocolatey goodness is balanced by a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

It's one of those desserts that could probably kill you, but one whose taste would be worth the instant cavities you are bound to get after eating it.

If that's too much chocolate for you, balance it off with the Fruit Salad with Lemon Sorbet (P350). This is not your usual fruit salad, containing blueberries, dragonfruit, red currant, cantalope and kiwi, aside from apples and pineapples in a light syrup made with Grand Marnier, orange juice and honey.

It's got a medicinal quality to it that disappears when mixed with the sorbet, which is sweet, tangy and refreshing. A light dessert that's a great way to end a heavy meal.

Unobtrusive and out of the way, it's easy to forget that the Fireplace Grill exists. Its cuisine, however, must not be overlooked.

Fireplace Grill
6pm - 11pm

If there are cuisines that Manila needs more of, it's Vietnamese and Thai.

Thankfully, Chef J Gamboa has added to the Thai roster with Azuthai, an authentic Thai restaurant located beside his and his family's immensely popular El Cirkulo, Tsukiji, and Milky Way.

The interiors may look contemporary, but the cuisine comes straight from the motherland.

When we tried Azuthai, my companion and I made it a point to stay away from the regular things people order like Pad Thai (I could do with some right now, actually) and Pandan Chicken, opting instead for traditional Thai dishes yet to be discovered.

The Azuthai Appetizer Sampler (P375) contains two pieces each of Prawn Spring Rolls, Fish Cake and Fried Spring Rolls.

Nothing like a nice selection of fried food to whet the appetite. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I know I should be describing the tastes one by one but truth be told, I ate my share before I remembered to record individual impressions. My bad.

The Crispy Duck Salad (P325), or Yam Ped Grob is crispy duck jerky served with spring onions, tomatoes, and chili, flavored with tamarind dressing.

The dish is a mix of flavors and textures — sweet and sour and crunchy and chewy and fresh.

I liked the veggies more than the duck but that's a personal preference.

After 10 years of not eating meat, I'm still trying to get used to meat that isn't steak.

Instead of the usual Tom Yum Goong, we ordered Tom Ka Gai (P345), chicken soup with galanggal, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk.

It's hot and milky and packs a punch, going straight down your throat and up your sinuses.

The mushrooms and tomatoes provide texture while the coconut milk tempers the soup's spiciness.

The soup is great accompaniment to Massaman Gaeh (P395), Massaman Lamb Curry with shallots, potatoes, and peanuts. The lamb is tender, easily pulled apart by fork and spoon.

It has a slight gamey flavor that compliments the curry, which is thick and without much spiciness.

I would have preferred the dish without peanuts, as I feel they get in they way of enjoying the lamb. The curry goes well with Thai sticky rice, which isn't on the menu but can be requested.

Our only concession to "the usual" was when it came to dessert, when we ordered one of my favorite after-meal treats, Tub Tim Krob (P125), sweetened water chestnuts with coconut milk.

Water chestnuts covered in colored, coagulated potato flour (tastes waaay better than it sounds, believe me) swimming in chilled sweetened coconut milk.

I recently learmed how to make this recipe and have to restrain myself from eating it forever.

Azuthai serves authentic Thai food in the middle of contemporary Makati.

The restaurant may be serene and calming, but that's only to enhance the fireworks that go on inside your mouth.

Azuthai is located at 900 A. Arnaiz Ave. (Pasay Road) cor Paseo de Roxas, Makati with phone numbers +632 817 6252 and +632 813 0671.