Monday, October 15, 2012

Stella: A Star on its Own

Today, I was invited to try Stella Wood Fire Bistro in Bonifacio High Street. FM and I have seen this when we dined at Nanbantei and Aria. I told him I wanted to try it. Luckily, I was able to do exactly that today.



I loved the play on colors of the place. It was classy and colorful. It was welcoming, warm, yet still gives off a sense of being a tad bit upper scale. I feel that this mattered to ensure that their clientele would be maintained at a certain class.

To give you a brief background, Stella was named because they wanted the place to be a STAR on its own. Stella means star for those who may not know. They serve an international mixed cuisine but mostly veering towards West Coast with hints of European.  Chef Donny and Chef Francis, both DLSU-CSB alumni's make use of local ingredients and ensures that they are able to showcase the actual ingredients by not putting in too many stuff. To quote their Director of Operations, "We like to keep it simple."

Once the group was complete, drinks were served.


In order, we had the peach lemonade, buko and lychee shake, passionfruit lemonade, berry and banana shake, and the raspberry tea. Shakes are at Php150 each while the lemonade sparklers are at Php110 each. 

I ordered the Green Mango and Watermelon shake which was surprisingly good and sweet. It wasn't filling but it was refreshing and it was something new!

Now off to the starters. Since Stella opened end of May 2012, these have been some of their best sellers. I saw shrimp and I was like, bring it on baby! 

Rocket Room's Spicy Gambas Chino Php350
Rocket Room's Spicy Gambas Chino (Php350)  was out of this world. The shrimp was fresh and the chili taste was just enough. The chili kicks in at the end and does not overpower. It just tantalizes the palette to make you want to eat more.


Stella's Bone Marrow (Php395) was to die for, literally. We were actually scared to try it but since there was one brave soul, the others soon followed. I was 2nd to the bravest. Made of rosemary sultana compote, gremolata, herb garlic foccaccia crisps, the Bone Marrow was surprisingly not oily nor icky in any way. It was actually pretty good and if you hadn't seen the kick ass bone marrow, you can delude yourself into thinking it wasn't anything that would just cause you to keel over and die.


Now off to the main course. Yes, the one above were just appetizers.


The Roasted Seafood "Firecracker" Fusili (Php395) was another revelation. It was made of spicy olive and smokey sundried tomato cream, dried chiles, fire roasted seafood, fresh herbs, and malagos ricotta. It was cheesy, spicy, sweet, and a whole lot of things. It was pretty okay but I would put it on my top 10 pasta dishes.


The Fire Roasted Truffled Mushroom (Php350) which was made of porcini dust, fresh harbs, and malagos ricotta was simply to die for. This was OH SO GOOD! Seriously! It was mushroom and truffles, fire roasted. It was yummy!


Stella's Porchetta (Php395) which was pork belly roll stuffed with double smoked bacon, fennel, and herbs; served with warm rosemary sulatana sauce was another house winner. It was sweet and creamy yet I can assure that any meat lover would salivate over this. It was masculine and feminine all at the same time. It is for everyone.


The Salt Baked Gindara Fillet (Php395) was a light dill-citrus cream with citrus bits. One thing to remember when eating this is to not scrape until the bottom part because it is filled with LOTS OF SALT. If you manage to not scrape the salt part, this is actually a wonderful dish. I say this and I am not even a fan of fish.

Dessert finally came and this was Stella's Woodfire Chocolate Almond Cookie Dough priced at Php195. This is made of salted caramel, rosemary pistachio, and topped with mantecado ice cream. Verdict: Worth trying! 


 I have wanted to try Stella when I first saw it and I'm glad it delivered. Almost every dish was truly every gluttons dream and I left the place with a smile on my face. A testament that my tummy and I were both very happy.

Stella & Rocket Room
Address: Bonifacio High Street Central, 1634 Fort Bonifacio
Contact Number: 917 891 7053/ 621 3111 / 621 3222
Email: mimi@raintree.com.ph
Facebook: Stella & Rocket Room   

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* I was invited to review the food. I did not pay for my meal. However, the free meal did not in any way sway my opinion and everything you read here is MY PERSONAL OPINION. 

29 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Yes this place is great :D ! We also recommend the Porchetta and the cookie dough. Also this basil lasagna of sorts. Can't remember the name, though.

    Oh, and you can also cross-order with its sister restaurant/dream bar of mine Rocket Room. We get the booze from there :P

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  3. Sumptuous dishes. I;m drooling right now. The place seems a cozy place to spend dinner with love ones.

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  4. Palatable dishes. Super love to eat their Stella's Porchetta. Hmmmmm....

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  5. architectural design of the place is quite minimalist, I took to notice it since these places would really be .. just so right to feel at home.. goody-oozy time plus those mouthwatering foods I guess would sum up a perfect experience!

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  6. Love the food and drink pics! Agree on their principle, the star is the guest! =)

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  7. This looks like a nice place. There are a lot of new areas in the high street to explore.

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  8. The place looks neat. There are a lot of new places in the new wing of the High Street.

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  9. Your photos and review just made Stella, a star on its own! I'd love to try it all!!!

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  10. Wow! Stella has is indeed a class of its own. I've never heard of bone marrow being offered in restaurants in that manner. Just goes to show how innovative they can be. :) That would probably be one of their unique selling points. :)

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  11. Oh boy, the food looks delicious! Look at that Bone Marrow! And the place looks really nice :)

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  12. Oh boy, the food looks delicious and look at that Bone Marrow! The place looks really nice :)

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  13. Stella is one of my favorite places at BHS Central! The bone marrow is fantastic and I suggest ask for a little bit of vinegar; just dab a couple of drops over the marrow on the crackers and it's perfect. Matches well with a bottle of malbec, just ask the waiters :) Poor and slow response when it comes to asking for the check though...

    jsncruz
    http://jsncruz.com/

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  14. OMG! This is the first time I learned about Stella. That spicy gambas, OMG!! Thanks for sharing this. Will put this on my to-go list.

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  15. that porchetta looks good. Nice to know of such a dish.

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  16. If I were to visit Stella, I would be feasting on the truffled mushroom and gindara fillet. Nonetheless, all of the foods there look delicious.

    dimaks | The Urban Walker
    http://the-urban-walker.blogspot.com/

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  17. You were certainly served a wide array of delicious-looking food but I am very much interested in trying the Fire Roasted Truffle Mushroom and of course - the dessert!

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  18. What a great place to go and enjoy eating sumptuous food.

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  19. The food really looks so delicious. I wonder when can I try that Bone Marrow, though I'm a little scared honestly.

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  20. Though the price might me on the upper scale. But I think it's worth to visit Stella. The ambiance it self and the food were exceptional. And our best bets are the bone marrow and porchetta.

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  21. Ang sarap sa paningin nung porkporcheta at nugn drinks na iba iba ang color!

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  22. Spicy gambas is my all-time favorite. Looks like Stella Star serves a good gambas dish. :p

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  23. The bone marrow looks yummy! The Mantecado ice cream seems to be interesting too when paired with cookie dough. =)

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  24. My taste buds crave for these dishes... just mouth-watering! I always order green mango shake. It's my favorite. I would love to try Stella's Bone Marrow and the Rocket Room's Spicy Gambas, looks very yummy.

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  25. The place is so classy the way I look at the posted pictures here. It deserves to be treated that way. Stella is a part of the word conSTELLAtion, a group of stars in the galaxy. And to be a star connotes a celebrity, well-known personality.

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  26. the food from appetizers to dessert all look promising. it's sad that im in davao, i can't try them soon...Yahweh bless

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  27. I like the name since I am also "estrella"...but Dios Mio...cholesterol overload!!! I will make sure I have a low fat diet for at least a week before venturing here. Still, everything looks delicioso :)

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  28. The bone marrow looks good and yummy, but my arteries don't think so. haha. :D Lots of cholesterol!!~

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