Among the highlights of the menu is the T-bone hybrid steak, aged for 28 days and grilled to perfection on a Kopa charcoal oven from Slovenia, a wagyu and Angus cross, in which the incredible marbling of the former and the hearty flavor of the latter are combined.
How do you describe dining at Lobby 385, a new restaurant tucked away in the warren of little streets worming through houses walled like fortresses in San Juan City? It’s Kalel Chan’s new baby, a venture all his own with partners Paulo Cheng, PJ King, Jeff Siy, Warren Sy, and Kelvin Yu, the OPM band Itchyworms’ bass guitarist. Kalel continues to be at the helm of the Raintree Hospitality Group as corporate chef, with which over the past two decades he has solidified his expertise manning and running a variety of restaurant concepts, ranging from in-city dining to dining destinations.
So what is it like eating at Lobby 385?
It’s like arriving on a big-ass black bike, like the one Kalel owns, a Triumph speed twin, at a black-tie party at the Château de Fougères in France, although what Lobby 385 offers is a vintage Manila vibe, housed in what appears to be a modernized version of a 1920s-built ancestral home, replete with the impression of an imposing stairway at the main entrance.
Order the Lobby Signature 100% Angus Burger and it’s like taking big bites at a mean old sandwich in your tux, meat juices dripping onto your lapel.
Either that or, if we are to emphasize the eat-as-you-are code of behavior the new restaurant inspires, you could be a muscle man, biceps bulging, tucking into the Truffled Ponzu Arugula Salad or a Shrimp Bisque Cream Pappardelle with a glass of Chennin Blanc held daintily between your fingers, muscled pinkie up, or a coy, waif-like, virginal Gabrielle Anwar in a flimsy dress, like the one she wore learning the tango, getting tangled, and tangling away in the arms of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, finishing off a whole slab of 28-day Dry-Aged Australian T-Bone Hybrid Steak all by herself, beer, stout, sturdy, and strong, on the side to wash it all down with.
That’s just how Lobby 385 is. Among the highlights of its menu are the steaks, especially the T-bone hybrid steak that, aged for 28 days and grilled to perfection on a Kopa charcoal oven from Slovenia, is a wagyu and Angus cross, in which the incredible marbling of the former and the hearty flavor of the latter are combined. Served medium rare, it comes with a portable hot stone so you can cook it to your preferred doneness. This hot stone could be an interactive bonus to the steak experience, but keep it away from children’s reach in case you’re planning a Sunday brunch at Lobby 385 with the whole family.
But this restaurant is not—repeat, not—a steakhouse. The menu has so much more to offer that is as much a showstopper as the selection of the steaks, including the Petite Steak that is light in size but heavyweight in flavor.
For starters, Kalel considers the Stracciatella Caprese a must-try, a personal favorite salad of plump tomatoes, grilled grapes, kaffir threads, and figs crema de balsamico, or figs hydrated and reduced in balsamic vinegar. He is as excited about the Potato Pave Crisp, a twist on fries with hollandaise sauce, hard, salty pecorino snow, and truffle spray, and the Butter-broiled Crab Cakes, sizzling in its melting butter base.
Don’t miss out on the Bacalao and Prosciutto Croquettes, balls of salted cod and dry-cured ham on a bed of piquant and tangy salsa verde, kicked up with aioli.
There is also the Hulk Lasagna Al Forno, baked in the Kopa oven to form a crunchy crust, adding texture to this pasta dish drenched in Angus meat sauce and spinach cream with parmesan and mozzarella toppings.
We all love fried chicken, but at Lobby 385, we like it haute. The comfort food on Kalel’s menu levels up with its chicken-and-pork tonkotsu gravy, which brings it, crispy outside and tender inside, a few notches up the sophistication scale, which gives it a name worth checking out—Haute Fried Chicken.
I’d definitely go back for the Beef Salpicao, prepared table-side and served still cooking in a frizzle of its own juices and garlic. My mistake was I didn’t order rice on the side, which would have paired so well with the bubbling hot garlic sauce, although the salpicao came with crusty bicho-bicho, with which to wipe the bowl clean of the very last drop.
For dessert, try the Classic Tiramisu, classic as it gets, but with amaretto instead of dark rum and a twist of Belgian cocoa powder. Beyond classic, more old-fashioned, harking back to Christmases at the ancestral house with our beloved old folks, is Grandma’s Pecan Pie. And, even finer, there’s Mulled Wine Poached Pears with crème Anglais, vanilla ice cream, and parmesan tuille.
Both hard and soft in the right places, that’s Kalel, a no-nonsense, no-frills cook, although as a chef, he has been shaped from childhood at hotel-worthy, fine dining restaurants. The boy he was, I imagine, would be climbing trees, or going up the roof, or challenging his band of friends to an outbreak of fisticuffs, only to be called down by his parents, dressed in little dandy clothes, and whisked away into grand hotel lobbies. What I imagine has proved to be right on the spot. When I shared it with Kalel, he said, “Parang ako na ako (This is so like me). I love it!” After all, to this day, he still treasures many food memories at hotel lobbies, after which this new restaurant of his, The Lobby 385, has been named and modeled.
So while in the kitchen, what Kalel whips up is stuff for serious eating, he understands the power of a magnificent façade, marble walls, brass furnishings, plush seating, ambient lighting, and art hung on the walls to make the eating beyond food, more like an experience or a memory-in-the-making.
At Lobby 385, where Kalel put Niehls Manzon, one of his many mentees over the years, as head chef, you can eat as you are, like a Neanderthal or a sophisticate or both. The choice, ultimately, is yours.
Open from Sunday to Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and from Thursday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Lobby 385 is at 385 P. Guevarra Street, San Juan City. Call 0917 169 5338 or check out @lobby385ph on Instagram.