Sometimes it would take a good restaurant to kick off my blogging grove after an out of town adventure. I must admit that the concept of Apartment 1B was quite interesting. It seems to be a generic name with a classy touch because of the 1B — (but the Apartment 1B is the actual unit name in One Lafayette Square which was formerly an unknown bar). The Gourmet Comfort Food conveys that this is a place for people with good taste, and a place to leisurely enjoy a good meal with friends. But sometimes you would think a resto would use Gourmet word as an excuse to charge high prices. This 2 month+ old place is owned by Marivic Diaz-Lim with interiors by Popi Laudico (of the Chef Laudico’s family).
The prices are reasonable given that the food lives up to its name gourmet comfort food. But be prepared to spend about P500/ head. They are open as early as 7am in the morning and closes at 11pm (mon-thurs) and 2am (fri-sat). They are closed on Sunday unfortunately. This is just walking distance from the Salcedo market so this is a good place to have lunch after the visit to the weekend market. It is a two floor resto with a seating capacity of 70 (i think). The second floor is a cozy place specially the tables with the sofas. I’m tempted to rent the entire second floor which is good for 40 for P45,000 for a despedida party we are planning. Overall, great food anytime of the day!
Apartment 1B Interiors by Popi Laudico
This is the first floor area of the apartment. It is recommended if you can get the comfortable sofa chairs (see below).
Very Nice kitchen counter which reminds me of the australians restos in Singapore. The waiters are friendly too.
As you go up the stairs, this cozy table setup with sofa chairs and rug underneath is just one out of the three tables in Apartment 1B. These are the hot places to reserve.
Interestingly, it has a TV for watching UAAP, NBA or PBA games! The best place in my opinion is the table in the far end. It is private and has those sofas.
Gourmet Aidan is learning how to order but there are no pictures for him to point to.
Apartment 1B Menu
Wine Menu and Beverages Menu
Breakfast Menu
Starters, Sandwiches and Entrees
Dessert and Small Plates Menu
Puree of Squash and Ginger, herbed croutons — Fantastic blend of fresh squash soup with a ginger kick to it.
Baked Samosas, mushrooms, spinach and cheese (P200++) — I never loved samosas (the fried ones) until I tasted this soft but crunchy samosas. The spinach and cheese combination was very good that you’ll forget that each samosa would cost you P70+.
Special Beef Lasagna and Garlic Bread P390++. This beef lasagna was tasty and very good. It is part of the weekly menu and our only complaint was it was obvious that the lasagna was reheated that is why the top lasagna layer was “makunat” (stale ba ang english?).
Crabcakes, Fresh Lump crabmeat, mustard sauce P250++. The crabcakes were flawlessly done with good salad dressing and mustard sauce. the potato bits are a bit salty to our taste.
White Toblerone Cheesecake, Berry coulis P180++. No doubt, you have to end your meal with this killer dessert of Apartment 1B!
Apartment 1B: Gourmet Comfort Food
Marivic Diaz-Lim
One Lafayette Square
132 L.P. Leviste Corner Sedeno St
Salcedo Village, Makati City 1227
Tel: 843-4075
Email: apartment_1b@yahoo.com
Looks like a nice restaurant … I also read about this place in Socky’s blog a few weeks ago. =)
Confusion was the name of the unknown bar 🙂
The former occupant of that space was Con-fusion, a nice restaurant and bar (they had a great triple choc mousse). Not quite unknown, Anton.
I totally agree with you, the white toblerone cheesecake was superb!
Hi Anton, I tried Apt 1B a few weeks ago. Good value for money of which there are few around. The french onion soup is one of the best i’ve tasted. Grilled pork chops are good as well.
If you’re in the neighborhood, you also might want to try Malcolm’s Place at 108 HV dela Costa corner Tordesillas St. Among the better offerings are wagyu burger and a cream-based salmon pasta. Still have to try their wagyu steak which at P1,300 per is probably the lowest-priced in town. Nice interiors too. Cheers
You’re absolutely right, Anton! One of my favorite entrees is the Carbonara. It is definitely out of this world. The White Toblerone Cheesecake is to die for.
I also love the interiors because it kind of reminds you of home. The lamps and the chairs are simply a blast from the past. (Guess I’m giving away my age here!)
All in all, a great place to relax and unwind with your friends :o)
wow, sounds like a really nice place! ma-try nga! 😉
hi anton,
speaking of great food and fab restaurants, just thought you might know the location of this japanese sushi bar called kasai sushi, not sure if it’s kasai or something, can’t remember, just saw it on ‘good finds’, that tv show of angel jacob on the lifestyle network tonight… however, i missed the address of the place… it’s a revolving sushi bar, not a lot here in manila so i got excited when i saw it… am a jap food freak and want to check out this one… maybe you know and you can help… your site rocks, very informative, very interesting… keep up the good work!
cheers,
mrw
it is sakae sushi if I’m not mistaken. There is one in the Fort which
is the flagship store and one in MOA 🙂
anton
There is another revolving sushi restaurant actually in Greenhills. This one is one the second floor of the car park near McDonald. I think its near pedestrian overpass bridge headed to the Jewellery. I forgot the name though.
I love this place. Good food, good ambience, and free WiFi. 🙂
This is in my office neighborhood. Free WiFi? Hey I should bring my boss to host our meetings there hmm…
hi anton,
thanks heaps! you’re right it’s sakae sushi! so silly of me! will definitely try this one out soon. cheers to you and your family! looking forward to big loads of new food / resto stuff on your site plus other v.interesting places, events and just about anything that makes life in manila so much better.
btw, can you recommend other jap/sushi places around town? my favourite is kimpura. then sugi. but it would be cool to try out others.
mrswyn
my favorite jap place would have to be Omakase.
Good food and money well spent!
Their rolls are so innovative too!
Wow, this is one place I definitely have to try while I’m here. 🙂
Hi Anton! I recently took my friends to Apartment 1B and they all loved it. The food and ambiance was great as you described. I especially loved the samosas and cheesecake.. yummmyy! 🙂
I hope you’ll keep on writing about these stuff, I’m trying my best to visit all the ones you featured.. haha 🙂
Instead of Circles, my officemate and I are going to try Apartment 1b tomorrow. Thanks for the menu and detailed info! The place looks cool. Hope it’s as good as the real thing 😉 Cheers!
I finally got the chance to check out Apartment 1B. Sad to say, I was totally disappointed with the food. I started out with the house salad with a dressing so sweet that it masked the flavor of the blue cheese. For my main dish, I chose the Blue Marlin with a chorizo tomato relish. There was not even a hint of the chorizo taste in it. And finally to cap our meal, I ordered the “to die for” White Toblerone cheesecake as described above. Again, I could hardly taste the Toblerone. In fairness to the chef though, my partner’s spaghetti a la vongole was very good.
I also didn’t like being served my main dish while still eating my salad.
The place is really nice though.
hi, anton. i came upon your blog purely by chance. now it’s in my ‘favorites
‘ folder. hope to hear more from you.
cheers!
place was cool,service was very good, and food was excellent 🙂
i loved the service at this place. i totally enjoyed the baby back ribs (it really was good for two w/c isn’t bad considering the price tag). my friend had the 1/2 chicken and found it a bit too salty. when our bill came and the waiter asked how our food was, they struck off the chicken from our bill when they found out she didn’t enjoy it. talk about ensuring customer satisfaction =)
i recommended this place too to one of my friends who was looking for a restaurant for his regional colleagues. he told me afterwards everybody said it was a very good choice.
kudos to apartment 1B!
…..cool looking place….i will put you in my visit list for later{january 2009}…..i’m pleased with what i see here….
Mrswyn: Have you tried TANABE Japanese Restaurant in Remedios Circle, Malate? It’s the best Japanese restaurant for me. They also have a branch in the 2nd floor of the Entertainment Hall area of SM MOA.
Food is great, their sushi is the best (complete selection!), and their kitchen & sushi chefs are Japanese!
Lots of Japanese eating there too so that says a lot about the restaurant.
Cheers!
Had dinner here last night and everything we ordered was great! I especially loved the chicken. 🙂
wow, P200 for samosa? The cost of samosa here – 2 pcs for P15.
the place we want to have lunch or dinner coz it looks private in a way..we want privacy comfort and relaxing athmosphere like this restaurant i feel sleepy and relax just by looking at this place lol
I dont mind spending for their baked Samosas soooo good! Corn chowder is good too! and I also love the Steak Frite. I also tried their grilled marlin with tomato relish the first time i visited this place, i find the sauce too sweet for my taste..its like a sweet blend spag sauce..
overall food, service and ambiance is great!
Just ate there this evening & it was a pleasant experience. Good food, nice ambiance,& much better than average wait staff. My only complaint was that I’d been craving meatloaf & after reading some reviews I was really looking forward to my meatloaf entree. I’m not saying it was so bad but it wasn’t traditional American meatloaf or anything remotely close to it in taste which I was expecting. I will return to Apt. 1B & would recommend it, but if you’re an expat looking for a taste of home I’d discourage you from ordering the meatloaf.