Its hard to say no, when a chef invites you to come over to his restaurant and try their menu, its very rare to have an invitation and I very appreciate the invitation of Chef Robert Spakowski to let us try and check out Tapella restaurant in Greenbelt 5, it’s a Spanish restaurant that resides in the al fresco dining area of Greenbelt 5 and I learned about it last early 2015 when the restaurant was introduced under the culinary touch of Chef Robert Spakowski.
I regret that I missed the re-launch of Tapella, they re-launched a new set of menu and also introducing the new man of the kitchen. It was at the end of Typhoon Lando when we planned to have a sit down lunch at Tapella, my family was supposed to come with me but then they decided to stay indoors for mean the time even if the typhoon is gone, But I invited my geek tech gaming culture bloggers to come with me and have a get together before the year ends. (during our talks at Tapella, we learned that Chef Robert Spakowski is also a gamer too! I heard about some Playstation games that he is crazy for… awesome chef-gamer guy! )
Tapella is just right in the corner of the entrance between Greenbelt 1 and Greenbelt 5. They have a nice strip of restaurant outside and you’ll spot Tapella infront of a nice green grass landscape set up of Greenbelt.
One of the featured specialty of Tapella is that they have a bar and al fresco dining area. I heard that many Spanish foreigners and food lovers of Spanish food come here to get a bite of Tapella dishes.
Inside the restaurant is another bar for quick drink and its also the information center and also where we saw Chef Robert Spakowski waiting for us
Dining area inside Tapella Restaurant
The restaurant air conditioned dining area is a bit small, there are times that the resto is full, and I suggest you book a reservation if you plan to have a date or group dinner.
For walk ins, you may get an empty space around after lunch time, its best to go after lunch and before dinner time.
Im still clueless on what to order, but then our Chef Robert Spakowski mentioned that he prepared the menu for us (and prepared it personally…which is very special…wow!)
I grew up loving Spanish food…my family name originates in Spain, but little I know more about Spanish food, here in Cavite, we usually cook some Spanish style dishes, but it’s a mixture of Spanish and Filipino cooking.
Here in Tapella, prepare to indulge yourself with authentic style and taste of Spanish cuisine. The restaurant is also popular for their paella and their tapas (not beef tapa, it’s the small bit size food that you eat during wine and beer drinking)
Here’s a preview of their menu
Feel free to view it by clicking on the photo
Here are my geek blogger friends – Chad, Vincent and then Earl arrived after we ate some appetizer.
Here’s Chef Robert Spakowski explaining to us the food he prepared on the table, He always goes to the kitchen to prepare the food and he handling these food to us personally. We learned that Chef Robert started his career as a executive chef in a Venezia in Manila and then after some years building his reputation as chef even working in both Beijing and Shanghai, he was asked by a family member (of him and owns the resto) to come home in the Philippines to manage the Tapella restaurant, he then studied and practice making Spanish dishes and was awarded a Grand Diplome in Spanish culinary arts under the program of chef Jose Andres in New York. Back to Chef Robert, his culinary interest before is mostly not Spanish, but after studying and practicing it for years, he perfectly added a new set of culinary skills under his hat that helped him launch a new Spanish dishes here in Tapella.
Here’s the food that was served to us in Tapella restaurant in Greenbelt 5
Home made bread for some appetizer.
Mixed greens with candied walnuts, goat cheese and tamarind balsamic dressing
PHP 200
Mango Gazpacho soup
PHP 175
It’s a cold tomato soup with crab meat and that jelly thingie.
Huevos Con Morcilla Sisig
sisig, sausage and egg on bed of fried show string potatoes
PHP 275
I was afraid to try it because I thought it was oily, then I learned that its not your ordinary sisig ( a kind that will never give you a tummy ache haha) it’s the best sisig in Greenbelt (maybe) but for me, I super enjoyed this Huevos Con Morcilla Sisig. A mix of pork sisig and blood sausage. I didn’t want to mix this with the string potatoes, but it was good eating it bit by bit.
Enjoy eating the sisig first and followed by the string potatoes.
Chef's selection of 8 tapas
PHP 495
Chef Robert Spakowski showed to us their tapas. You see in the photo is not the complete set, the other two were served on the table….which I forgot to take a photo.
Here’s a closer look
This is one of my favorite..the onion soup with quail eggs.
Tapella Truffle Cream Pasta
PHP 395
The most glorious food of my day is their Tapella Truffle Cream Pasta, I mentioned before that Im a truffle fan boy and I love any food that is added with truffle oil. It’s the most aromatic food when it was placed on the table. Plus, I loved pasta, so this one added in my must-try-on-my-next-visit
Paella De Marisco
PHP 700
Paella is a celebrated popular dish here in the Philippines, a dish kind of rice cooked with meat or seafood, but the main origin of this food is from Spain, we inherited the recipe during the Spanish colonial times.
Tapella’s version is packed and loaded with seafood and its much more creamier and sticky than the pinoy version. Its good, heavy, tasty and I didn’t finish it all, the other parts ended as my take out. But I so loving it when I ate it with a nice meal at home.
Red snapper in white wine parsley sauce with mussels and mushroom
PHP 550
I think this was the hardest thing to prepare, because it’s a fish meat and this has to be carefully prepared with out its bone. Best served when hot and the mixed of mushrooms and mussels add some creamy seafood flavor.
Chuleton Villagodio
Certified Angus Beef prime rib grilled Villagodio style (min of 600 grams)
PHP 475 / 100 grams
The fun here in Tapella ended with a nice grilled Angus Beef, the style of grilling is a bit different, the meat is grilled over a clay plate and it was cooked under a fire.
The juice and taste of the Angus beef comes out after it was cooked with rock sea salt.
It’s the best happy ending for us after a taste of Tapella’s Chuleton Villagodio
Im a bit clueless if the beef is ready to eat..
but I didn’t got any worry, because I asked the Tapella staff to cook it for us
We heated it for some minutes till we heard the “shhhhhhhhhhhhh”
Chad and Vincent are enjoying the lunch out hahahahah
Its funny that these gamer bloggers can be also a food blogger if they will try it.
Ok time to cook the other side.
Tapella used a very high grade Angus beef, I can tell because the taste is so good. And its so rare to have it.and its expensive too
Thanks to Chef Robert Spakowski for introducing us to Tapella restaurant. I guess we’ll see you soon this 2016, and I have to go back there again for the truffle pasta and the paella.
Check out Tapella Spanish Restaurant at the ground floor, al fresco area of Greenbelt 5
Follow Tapella Spanish Restaurant https://www.facebook.com/TapellaByGaudi
