What’s new is the Seafood Tower piled high with king crab legs and claws, Boston lobster, chilled Australian oysters, mussels, poached clams, tiger prawns, and more.
 

It’s pretty new in Manila, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill, and many have yet to try it because it has been quite a challenge to book an available table, whether for lunch or dinner, since it opened on Aug. 31 on the second floor of the grand wing of Newport World Resorts in Pasay City. The food scene is still abuzz with the news, first announced by Newport World Resorts chair Kevin Tan just weeks before it opened, housed in a 400-square-meter space imbued with a cool Britannia vibe, thanks to its darkwood panels accented with cherry reds and forest greens, and casually elegant or elegantly casual with its Spanish tiles, brick accents, and bespoke Philippine-made furniture.

The restaurant, which traces its roots to the chichi Chelsea and Mayfair neighborhood at the heart of London, is a study in approachable luxury, divided into three sections, the main dining hall to the left with its open kitchen, two private rooms that can each seat up to 10 to the right, and in the middle, right at the entrance, is a black polished Spanish-marble centerpiece bar gleaming against navy-blue tiles with gold-accented shelves. An al fresco area encased in a glasshouse is in the works.

Indeed, foodies are still agog about the just-opened dining sensation. Many still post about it with the hashtag #newrestaurantalert. Yet, already, at this restaurant eponymous with the British TV host, writer, multi-Michelin-starred celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, something new is coming up and literally, it is towering.

Beginning tomorrow, Oct. 1, a new addition further excites the menu, at whose core rests the Gordon Ramsay signature Beef Wellington, the iconic fillet of MB7 Wagyu beef tenderloin in a sheath of crusty, golden pastry with a layer of mushroom and truffle duxelles, creamed potatoes, and a drizzle of red wine jus.

What’s new is the Seafood Tower piled high with king crab legs and claws, Boston lobster, chilled Australian oysters, mussels, poached clams, tiger prawns, and more.

It’s a lot to take in. The Seafood Tower, not to mention the Beef Wellington, is more than enough of a treat well worthy of a grand occasion, but if you are new at this restaurant, the first Gordon Ramsay restaurant in the country, whether or not you have tried any of the 85 restaurant concepts in the Gordon Ramsay network around the world, you’ll have to also order many of the other menu highlights.

You can’t forego the Classic Caesar Salad, for instance, a gourmet take on a timeless dish with anchovy fillets, slow-cooked egg, crunchy croutons, crisp romaine lettuce, Dijon mustard, and a generous topping of parmesan cheese that’s been aged for 36 months.

And then there is Crispy Crab Cake & Caviar, topped with a poached hen’s egg, drizzled with hollandaise sauce, and crowned with caviar.

You can’t resist the Aged Steak Tartare, either, with its beef fillet, egg yolk confit, gherkin gel, pickled shallots, and game chips.

We’re just talking about the starters. For mains, you can’t go any more British than with the Fish & Chips, featuring pink grouper, Koffman’s thick-cut chips, crushed peas, and tartare sauce, and then there’s also melt-in-your-mouth Pork Ibérico Secreto served with Café de Paris butter and beef-braised onions.

To end the meal with a bang, order the Flamed Bombe Alaska, but I preferred the Sticky Toffee Pudding with vanilla icea cream and butterscotch sauce because it paired really well with my after-lunch coffee.

Open daily from 12 noon to 3 p.m. for lunch and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner, Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill is on the second floor of the Grand Wing of Newport World Resort on Newport Boulevard in Pasay City.