From a list of almost 500 restaurants endorsed and nominated by Spot.ph readers last year, the judges thereafter shortlisted the nominees. This lead to the announcement  of 13 admired restaurants in each of their categories recently concluded at the Nescafe Gold Spot Awards 2009.

Encore (previous Embassy Superclub) was filled with food industry players, food enthusiasts and the media for an afternoon of foodie glamor and tasty anticipation for the would-be winners of Nescafe Gold Spot Awards 2009.

Nominees, Foodie Enthusiasts and Guests

This year’s judges include Chef Aileen Anastacio, Yummy editor-in-chief Becky Kho, Chef Him Uy de Baron, award-winning blogger Franco of Table for Three Please, food writer and blogger JJ Yulo and actress Cherie Gil.

Ms. Myrza Sison, Editr-in-Chief of Spot.ph with Jonel Uy of NomNomClub.com Food Blog

Mr. Logan O’Brien, Consumer Marketing Manager, Coffee Business Unit, Nestle Philippines

Sponsored by Nescafe, online voting via Spot.ph ended last January 31, 2010. With more than 250,000 votes cast for 55 restaurants in 11 categories (2 categories were purely by the judges), without further adieu,

Manila’s Best Restaurants for 2009 are:

Best Japanese Restaurant – Inagiku
Best Filipino Restaurant – Abe
Best Steakhouse – 22 Prime
Best Delicatessen – Santi’s Delicatessen
Best Bar – Cav Wine Bar and Bistro
Best Chinese Restaurant – Shang Palace
Best Italian Restaurant – Paparazzi
Best Buffet – Spiral
Best Dessert Place – Cupcakes by Sonja

*Best Restaurant Chain – Cibo
*Best Service – Cibo

*New Restaurant of the Year – Lusso
*Restaurant of the Year – Lolo Dad’s

*Best Restaurant Chain and Best Service was solely determined by readers through mobile and online votes while New Restaurant of the Year and Restaurant of the Year were purely from the panel of judges.

22 Prime - Best Steakhouse

Inagiku - Best Japanese Restaurant

Cav Wine Bar And Bistro - Best Bar

Santi's Delicatessen - Best Deli

Abe - Best Filipino Restaurant

Cupcakes By Sonja - Best Dessert Place

Best Buffet - Spiral

Best Chinese Restaurant - Shang Palace

Paparazzi - Best Italian Restaurant

Cibo is the only one which brought home the bacon for two categories while Lolo Dad’s got the most coveted title of Restaurant of the Year.

I have tried Lolo Dad’s Brasserie in Makati where I met Chef Ariel Manuel but I haven’t been to their main branch in Malate. I hope to do so soon.

I shared these information earlier online on-the-spot during the event through my twitter, plurk, and facebook network accounts. Among my networks, Shang Palace got the most cheers which tinkled my fancy about the restaurant.

I want to visit Shang Palace very soon! Congratulations to this year’s Nescafe Gold Spot Awardees!

Last night’s dinner was made of Yummy, figuratively and literally. Yummy foodie magazine invited a group of foodies, including Nomnom, for an intimate dinner at Tosco in Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City.

Tosco, Dusit Thani Hotel

And who would say no to an intimate dinner invite by a food magazine? It’s almost sure, the food would be great. And I was not mistaken.

Potato Sour Creme Soup

Potato-Sour Creme Soup

For soup appetizer, we had potato-sour creme soup.

It was good and creamy. The lemon grilled shrimp slices even made it better.

I found the initally served bread complimentary to its rich taste and I cleaned up my bowl to the last drop.

I think the leaves on top is tarragon – an aromatic Eurasian herb for seasoning.

Tosco Bread

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken Breast with a Surprise

The main entree looked like a simple chicken breast but I found a surprise marinated apricot and orange cinnamon couscous at its center. The serving of rice is also worth mentioning with its citrus-like aftertaste and scent. It was something new to my taste buds and I found it pleasing. Stems of green asparagus lined the plate.

Couscous is a north African dish usually characterized by steamed semolina and meat; in this case chicken meat.

Chicken breast with Orange Cinnamon and Apricot

Trilogie

Yes, you read it right – it ended with ‘gie.’ The dinner was concluded with a trilogie of vanilla, red wine creme, and caramelized mango. It was the goodness of dessert times three.

Tosco Trilogie: Vanilla, Red Wine Creme, & Caramelized Mango

The vanilla was prepared light and covered with shreds of crispy barquillos. Lovely.

It was my first time to taste a red wine creme and I loved its softness with hint of strawberry. Although I think I’m alone with this conclusion since the plates of those around me left the red wine creme half-consumed.

The caramelized mango was, well, caramelized mango.

Although a combination of three desserts sound overwhelming, I surprisingly found it wanting. The three were all sweet but it was not overdone. Simply said, I cleaned the plate.

Tosco's Caffe Latte

And just like after any sweets, a good cup of coffee is always appreciated after.

Yummy Planner 2010

Yummy Magazine - December Issue

It was a good way of celebrating the holidays and the blessed year of 2009 for Yummy Magazine as they release the Yummy 2010 Planner and 3 new cookbooks namely YUMMY Meals in Minutes, YUMMY So-easy Sweets, and YUMMY Weekend Cooking.

The Yummy Planner 2010 is now sold in major bookstores at P250 while the cookbooks are at an affordable price of P100 each.

Their December issue is also now out with cooking tips for Christmas like how to have a delicious and inexpensive Noche Buena. They are also adding new sections to the magazine and website Yummy.ph. Something to look forward to in 2010. Check it out here.

Tosco Wine Bar, Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City

More photos of Yummy Christmas Dinner.

We also shared a good chat over dinner with fellow foodies Fran, Az, and new friends Oggie & Ferdz of HappyFoodies.com, among others. It was also nice to see Anton of Our Awesome Planet again and Joey of Table for Three Please, for the first time. It was a Yummy dinner indeed!