at World Kitchens.
By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter
A WEEK before its grand opening on Feb. 12, BusinessWorld was invited to dine at World Kitchens. The signs had been up since last year, and its huge space at the Araneta City’s newest mall, Gateway Mall 2, may be a bit overwhelming, and might tempt fate. The whole of World Kitchens takes up 2,500 square meters of space, and seats about 700. Bearing these numbers in mind, we went to World Kitchens for a tasting with a little bit of trepidation. No matter: we left more than satisfied, and raring to come back (with family and friends).
The restaurant should be in good hands: it’s a concept and partnership by the Araneta Group and Singapore’s food and beverage guru Andrew Tan Hock Lai, who has served Lee Kuan Yew, members of Britain’s royal family, former US Vice-President Al Gore, and Japan’s Emperor and Empress. At its most earnest, it’s a high-class food court with 15 restaurants from all over the world — but that description doesn’t quite capture it.
The 15 restaurants are as follows: Chef Fung (by Fung Chi Keung, Cantonese cuisine), Chef Jessie (by Jessie Sincioco, Filipino food and then some), Sticky Sweet (Asian desserts), Unagi Yukimitsu (Masaki Watanabe, Japanese rice bowls, especially eel), Kuro Maguro (bluefin tuna sashimi), HK Ma’s Bistro (Steve Ma, modern Hong Kong cuisine), The You No Men (Takahiro Fujita, Japanese noodles), Asador de Manila (Gale Tan Sun, Spanish roasts), Dario Pizza & More (Dario Bonaccorso, Italian cuisine), Shinshima (Hoshiba Fumihiko, teppanyaki grilling), Prana (Rajan Veeranan, Indian cuisine), and Santai Singapore (Aaron Shen, cocktails and wine). Think of all those arguments about where the family wants to eat: it all ends here.
BusinessWorld felt a touch of technophobia with the digital menus and the QR Code ordering system, but after the initial fluster, the dining experience went smoothly. The servers were attentive to the wrong buttons pressed and the general confusion with the internet connection, so that went by almost unnoticed. During our visit last week, some of the stalls were not yet operational and were receiving last-minute touches, but they’re all slated to be operational by the Feb. 12 opening.
The dishes arrived quite swiftly (our ramen from You No Men arrived in five minutes). The broth was almost opaque, almost syrupy in its viscosity and the noodles had a smell that suggested their fresh make. One sip from the bowl, and we were sold.
Next came the tuna rolls from Kuro Maguro — lacy, delicate, and almost buttery in its softness. The Master Stock Chicken with rice from HK Ma’s Bistro was very moist and juicy. We ended the meal with an entire Pizza Bomba (tomato sauce, mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula, and Parmesan cheese). The pizza was smoky and crispy in the right places, while sufficiently chewy and soft where you want it.
All these arrived and were polished off in 45 minutes (we do count that on soft opening basis, there were only us and three other tables to serve; we can’t promise the same speed after the grand opening).
This feast was had for a little above P3,000 — a positive bargain, since we must have eaten enough for a family of four. We do recommend this place to end all fights on where to eat, and an excellent culinary experience for not a very princely sum.
World Kitchens is open daily at Level 4 of Gateway Mall 2. Learn more about World Kitchens at https://worldkitchens.com.ph/.
