AFTER a long hiatus from the restaurant scene, Chef Bruce Lim recently staged a comeback via Bruce Lim’s Rustique Kitchen, which replaces the old French restaurant Le Regalade along A. Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road), Makati City. Chef Bruce joins hands with businessman Tony Boy Cojuangco to bring Chef Bruce’s brand of food to the dining public.
The concept of this new restaurant is comfort food that offers comforting familiar flavors with a contemporary twist. There are a lot of Filipino dishes that have been ‘upgraded’ on the menu, although there are quite a number of international favorites, as well. So the menu shows Ilocos Corn Chowder next to French Onion Soup, Sizzling Oxtail Kare-Kare and Tortang Talong on the same list of main entrees as Cornish Hen with Mushroom Risotto, and Signature Buko Pie and Quesong Puti Cheesecake followed by Warm Chocolate Tart among the dessert selections.
Bruce Lim’s Rustique Kitchen also serves burgers and sandwiches, salads and pasta, with prices ranging from and affordable Php150 for Premier Sauteed French Beans with Danggit to Php375 for Softshell Crab Pasta to Php995 for Lamb Rack Crusted with Pili Nuts.
During the grand opening, Chef Bruce gave everyone a sampling of the exciting food that the restaurant serves, beginning with pass-around appetizers such as Tuna and Salmon Tartare (sashimi grade tuna sliced and topped with diced fresh salmon salad), Good Ole Burger (grilled beef patty topped with Swiss cheese in homemade buns), Tortang Talong (grilled eggplant topped with sautéed pork and eggs enhanced with salted eggs), and Gobble Gobble en Crute (oven roasted turkey ham with sliced apples and mango cream cheese topped with alfalfa sprouts).
Served at the tables were Crab Bisque (brandy enriched crab bisque served with brioche), Oxtail Kare-Kare (oxtail simmered in peanut sauce served with tripe salad and fried rice cakes), and Fish Market (dried fish and fresh lapu-lapu baked in lemongrass marinara) with a side of Sauteed French Beans with Danggit (French beans sautéed in roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes and roasted shallots, tossed with fried danggit). The Oxtail Kare-Kare was particularly interesting, being deconstructed, that is so unlike the usual serving of Kare-Kare in clay or ceramic pots.
For dessert, Chef Bruce had his Signature Buko Pie served. It’s a layer of crumbled crust topped with warm buko pie filling served in a margarita glass. I’ve tasted this in Chef Bruce’s old restaurant, Chef’s Table, at Infinity Tower in Bonifacio Global City a few years ago. It wowed me then, and it wowed me again this time. It’s proof that the simplest flavors can sometimes be the most impressive.
Soon, the restaurant will introduce a Slab Menu, whose idea is to serve dishes in huge slabs, such as Salmon, Tomahawk Steak and Pork Confit. Going playful with food once again, Chef Bruce looks forward to infusing more Filipino ingredients and flavors into his food in the months to come.
Bruce Lim’s Rustique Kitchen is open Mondays to Fridays, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. for lunch and from 6:00 p.m. onwards for dinner. It is also open for dinner on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays.
