Walking Tour of Wagyu Beef Fest & the P120,000 Wagyu Fantasy Meal

Yummy Girl Pam Lim caught in the act of shooting the Wagyu Black Cheek Beef.

If These Cows Could Talk! The Walking Tour of Wagyu Beef Festival by Carlos Celdran.
In a special one-time-only walking tour, pescetarian Carlos Celdran toured the media in Diamond Hotel’s Wagyu Beef Festival. The festival showcases the different ways you can enjoy Wagyu beef prepared by the different chefs of Diamond Hotel. One of the reason I attended this PR event is that rumor has it that Amor Maclang creates one of the awesome media events in the country today. I must say she did it! She surprised and entertained the media with the Walking Tour of Wagyu Beef Festival by Carlos Celdran. By the way, I’m still uncomfortable being called Media which is associated with tri-media of TV, Radio and Print because bloggers usually don’t follow the sugar-coating techniques of this medium and we don’t have the same reach levels. Maybe we need to qualify the Media term for the bloggers either by calling it New Media or Reality-Based Media.

Overall, it was the first time I attended a grand PR event and it was awesome! I’ve put in a mental note to only attend PR events by Amor and Geiser Maclang. If the wagyu cows could talk, they would appeal to Carlos and other hungry wagyu fanatics to please stop the slaughter of thousands of wagyu beef cattle in Japan, Australia and the US. It is crazy that they are even branding the Wagyu beef as the healthier kind of beef because of the higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. I’m a struggling vegetarian-wannabe and at least for the moment I can enjoy the so called “foie-gras” of beef. After eating wagyu, all other beef fails in comparison. We had fun and all of us enjoyed the beef (probably except for Carlos).

Lastly, who on earth in manila would pay for Php 120,000 nett for an Indulge package of Wagyu Fantasy Meal and an overnight stay at the Presidential Suite of Manila Diamond Hotel? This is already equivalent to two houses donated to Gawad Kalinga! At least this is relatively better than Manila Peninsula’s Mother’s Day Ultimate Fantasy worth Php1,500,000.00. This could already create an entire village in Gawad Kalinga! What could they be thinking?!

Related Posts:
Malcolm’s Place and Wagyu Rib Eye Steak!
Wagyu Beef by Market Manila
STILL CRAZY! CRAZY! CRAZY! by Carlos Celdran

P.S. Carlos — why not offer this as part of your special tours? Maybe P1,000/ head for a wagyu beef festival tour of Manila?

If These Cows Could Talk! The Walking Tour of Wagyu Beef Festival by Carlos Celdran.

The tour started at the second floor with Wagyu Beef 101 by Wagyu-Expert Carlos Celdran. Here are the facts:

• Wagyu (wa means Japanese, and gyū means cattle, or simply “Japanese cow”)
• Wagyu (和牛 wagyū?) refers to several beef breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling, and produces a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat.
• All Kobe Beef are Wagyu but not all Wagyu are Kobe Beef.
• Kobe beef comes from a breed of cattle called Wagyu. In order to earn the distinction of “Kobe Beef”, the Wagyu beef must come from Kobe, Japan, and highest cultivation standards according to the Hyogo perfecture. This is the fabled regular massages, top notch food, the odd sake skin treatment, and heater water beds while listening to Bach and Mozart.
• The “Wagyu beef” designation can legally be applied to the meat from any cattle of the Wagyu breed; it’s a genetic thing, not a place appellation or a reference to how the cattle were raised and fed.
• Because of the Wagyu cattle’s genetic predisposition and a special diet, wagyu yields a beef that contains a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids[1], and the tell-tale sign of a highly marbled beef. The increased marbling also improves the ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats.

The waiters started to serve the Palm Court Cafe’s Wagyu specialties. Everyone was excited!

Palm Court’s Cafe Wagyu Menu

Broiled Wagyu Burger
served in toasted ciabatta bread with onion rings, tomato jam and yellow mustard

Wagyu Black Cheek Beef
braised in a sesame beef broth, served on buckwheat noodles with vegetables

Broiled Wagyu Black Zabuton Steak
with corn on the cob, french fries and orange flavored BBQ sauce

Wagyu Black Cheek Beef — Braised sesame beef broth served on buckwheat noodles with vegetables. This is served bulalo style and the meat was tender, tasty and indeed melt-in-your-mouth.

Wagyu Burger – served in toasted ciabatta olive bread with a side of onion rings, tomato jam and yellow mustard. This was small so we can still have some more space for the other dishes to be served. Based on my experience, any burger that calls itself wagyu burger is not good at all. (maybe because it contains the unwanted pieces of the wagyu meat)

We head down to the ground floor passing through the Palm court cafe towards Yurakuen- famed for authentic Japanese Wagyu cooking. To be ready for the next culinary stop,

Yurakuen famed for offering an impeccably mouth watering taste of Japanese culture and flavor. Trying to fascinate us with their dance. I’m sure if Aidan would be there, he would try to scare them with his “Grrr!”.

Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant Wagyu Menu

Japanese Premium Beef Sukiyaki Course
w/ appetizer, sashimi, Steamed Japanese Rice, Japanese Pickles, Miso Soup and dessert

Japanese Premium Beef Shabu-shabu Course
w/ appetizer, sashimi, Steamed Japanese Rice, Japanese Pickles, Miso Soup and dessert

Japanese Premium Sirloin Steak
w/ 3 kinds of sauce

Japanese Premium Tenderloin Steak
w/ 3 kinds of sauce

Japanese Premium Beef Teppanyaki Course
Choice of Sirloin or Tenderloin
w/ appetizer, sashimi, salad, grilled vegetables, Japanese Pickles, Miso Soup and dessert

Carlos had a funny black costume change maybe resembling a Wagyu Cow. Or was he dressed as a black samurai?

Thinly sliced Wagyu beef. I really can’t appreciate the marbling not unless I could compare it based on regular beef meat.

Japanese Premium Beef Sukiyaki Course w/ appetizer, sashimi, Steamed Japanese Rice, Japanese Pickles, Miso Soup and dessert. The sukiyaki was not as tender and tasty and maybe, wagyu shouldn’t be cooked this way. You had to chew the beef several times because there were hard pieces on the meat.

We had the privilege of eating with the Yummy Girls Pam Lim and Editor-In-Chief Becky Kho! We actually love Yummy and after only 3 months, they have a circulation of 30,000 — congratulations!! I was wondering what FOOD would have to say about that? My topic of discussion was FOOD and how they suddenly changed their olddie magazine look to a young and fresh design for their May issue.

Ah, Teppanyaki time! Japanese Premium Beef Teppanyaki Course. Choice of Sirloin or Tenderloin w/ appetizer, sashimi, salad, grilled vegetables, Japanese Pickles, Miso Soup and dessert.

Can you notice the difference in the marbling? I’m still not a wagyu-beef connoisseur so anyone out there who can confirm if this is how the marbling should look like?

Look how easy the chef cuts the wagyu meat. The dishes are created by the restaurant’s award-winning Japanese chef whose training and expertise of the region’s culinary art gives diners the genuine Wagyu experience. The teppanyaki was really yummy!! Or maybe the slices of meat makes me want to have more! More please! More! This was also served with three different sauce which I failed to write it down as I still wanted more of the wagyu beef!

The tour continues in the top floor of Manila Diamond hotel in the famous french restaurant Le Bellevue. This restaurant bore witness to a lot of marriage proposals and valentines dates because of its awesome view of Manila Bay!! I can’t wait to watch the sunset from this viewpoint! Le Bellevue (and Palm Court Cafe) introduces a fusion of international flavors with the lingering succulence of American Wagyu Beef from the best and largest producer of Wagyu Beef in the world, Snake River Farms!

Restaurant Le Bellevue Menu

Tartare of Wagyu Beef
with roasted sesame and mustard seeds set on
wagyu carpaccio with Parmesan shivers and oregano

Broiled Wagyu Burger Steak
with goose liver on toasted cereal bread, sautéed mushrooms, herbed BBQ sauce and spicy potato wedges

Broiled Peppered Wagyu Rib Eye (180g)
with creamy pepper sauce, baked polenta and vegetables

Pan Fried Wagyu Black Steak (180g)
with seared scallops on Shiraz reduction, stir-fried vegetable balls and rice fritters

Charcoal Broiled Marinated Wagyu
gold kalbi eye short plate with spicy Texan BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, mushroom ragout and sautéed artichokes

Matsusaka Sirloin
with forester mushrooms and Balsamic Merlot reduction. Tempura vegetables

Tartare of Wagyu Beef with roasted sesame and mustard seeds set on wagyu carpaccio with Parmesan shivers and oregano. This is raw wagyu meat at its finest. I never liked carpaccio until the day I tasted the wagyu version.. Sarap nito!

Broiled Peppered Wagyu Rib Eye (180g) with creamy pepper sauce, baked polenta and vegetables. For some reason, this one has a forgettable taste. In fact, the waiters just decided to give us forks (only) to show how easy the meat can be cut. Apparently, all of us had a hard time and we were screaming for “where’s the knife?”!

Same story here and I already forgot what this is called. Maybe, this is the Charcoal Broiled Marinated Wagyu gold kalbi eye short plate with spicy Texan BBQ sauce, corn on the cob, mushroom ragout and sautéed artichokes.

Broiled Wagyu Burger Steak
with goose liver on toasted cereal bread, sautéed mushrooms, herbed BBQ sauce and spicy potato wedges
VS.
Pan Fried Wagyu Black Steak (180g)
with seared scallops on Shiraz reduction, stir-fried vegetable balls and rice fritters

The broiled Wagyu Burger Steak with foie gras unanimously won and the Yummy girls can attest to that.

Finally, Cowboy Carlos Celdran in his third costume change prepares to unveil the crazy P120,000 nett Wagyu Fantasy Meal.

This is insanely crazy! Just imagine this meal could already provide two houses in Gawad Kalinga and make two families happy plus be grateful to you for their entire lifetime. So this was what the guard was protecting! Now, we wonder no more!

Manila Diamond Hotel’s Wagyu Indulge Package
(Php 120,000 nett for full package couples only and Php 90,000 nett without the suite)

Beluga Caviar on Timbale of Salmon Tartare with Warm Broiled Potato
Mousseline of Avocado with Lemon Served with Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1995
Black Truffle Soup Elysee
Melon Sorbet with Dry Sherry

Matsusaka Beef Tenderloin, Morel Mushrooms stuffed with Goose Liver
Old Port Wine Reduction and Golden Leaves Asparagus
Roasted Garlic and Sweet Potato Hash

Served with a bottle of Chateau Margaux 1999 or Chateau Latour 1999 or Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1997

Mango and Creme Brulee Napoleon
Green Tea Creme Anglaise Mango Coulis

Overnight at the Presidential Suite with Bubble Bath Set-up

Breakfast in Bed the following day.

We went home with Diamond Hotel’s famous Ensaymada and an overnight stay for the first 40 registrant.

Diamond Hotel Philippines
Roxas Boulevard, cor Dr. J. Quintos St.,
For Reservations: +632 528 3000
email: bizcenter@diamondhotel.com

Yummy Girls (Pam Lim and Becky Kho), Mom Exchange (Jen and Stan Tan) and Our Awesome Planet (Anton and Rache).

Sorry my blogger friends, my photo of you guys were not good so I prefer not to post it. But I had fun hanging around with Ajay, Noemi and Jayvee once again. We were looking for Lori but not sure if she went home early.

Wagyu Meat Suppliers in Metro Manila: (thanks to Lori and Marketman for this!)
VIGER TRADING at 816-10-34 or 0922-846-7112/ 0918-9287157, or check out their table at Salcedo Market on Saturdays.
Snake River Farms: (632)631-7228 to 30.
Wagyu is also available at Terry Selection with branches in Pasong Tamo and at the Podium.