Prime Time Dining

Hubby and I just endured a dismal, lackluster lunch at Taco Bell when good friend and fellow meat eater Jay texted an invite to Gulliver’s for dinner. Thoughts of soft, juicy prime rib flooded my nacho-addled brain. Beef served in its own natural juices. Faster than you can say au jus, it was Yesyesyes!



I don’t know what it is about roast beef that reminds me of country club or hotel buffets. I guess it’s the omnipresent carving station, with the glistening meat under the bright yellow bulb. The light at the end of the buffet tunnel. Salvation from the parade of gravy-laden dishes. I have fond thoughts of the Baguio Country Club roast beef. But then again Baguio is at least a six hour trip away.

Whereas Gulliver’s is conveniently tucked in in the top floor of the Great Eastern Hotel in Makati Avenue. The hotel façade is enough to turn away the uninitiated – quite dreary actually. However if you’re familiar with Gulliver’s of San Francisco, you know that crossing the hotel lobby is well worth it. For this is the Manila branch of the very same Gulliver’s in SanFo. Take the elevator to the 10th floor and suddenly it’s a whole new world (cue Disney music).

This is not a swanky place. More dark, old English tavern with hideous carpets (as an aside the lack of light made it extremely hard to take decent photos). But the floor to ceiling view of the Makati skyline is quite beautiful and the prime rib, downright transformational.

I use prime rib and roast beef interchangeably but there is a difference. You can have plain old roast beef and you can go the extra mile with prime rib. It’s all about the cut. Blair Mitch is partial to the meats from the rib section: tender, well-marbled with fat that makes roasts juicy and flavorful. I got the petite cut at 680 pesos, while Christian took the English cut at 890 pesos (note: two people can technically share the English cut but we were too hungry to even entertain that option). Jay wanted to know if there was a German cut and was given a bug-eyed look by the waitress dressed as a saucy Irish wench. There is also an end cut which is mostly composed of the toasted portions.



The roast beef came with creamed corn, spinach soufflé, Yorkshire pudding and baked potato. The best part was hearing the splish-splash of the au jus poured by the waitress. And I loved the creamed corn enough to research on the recipe:

Gulliver’s Creamed Corn
8 ears corn
1 cup whipping cream
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
Butter
2 tsp. flour
Grated Parmesan cheese
Cut corn from cob and place in saucepan with whipping cream. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in salt and sugar. Melt 2 teaspoons butter in small pan and stir in flour. Do not brown. Stir butter-flour roux into corn and cook until slightly thickened. Turn corn into oven-proof dish. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. Brown under broiler. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

If you’re trying to avoid the evening rush hour, drive down to Gulliver’s for some roast prime rib action.