Porchetta Solo. Ponti’s famed pork belly is seasoned with fennel and garlic for a minimum of 6 hours. For the solo version, a large slice of this pork belly is served with pilaf rice, and what they call the Pommery Salsa di Senape. With that size, one slice is all you really need for this dish.
Dry-Cured Roasted Bacon Slab. The clear favorite among the group! And it’s not surprising why, as this slab of bacon is juicy, tender and flavorful. This meal is seared and roasted 14-day dry-cured, hang-dried whole roasted bacon slab, with mustard and caramelized onion compote.
4-Cheese Wagyu Burger. Is it as good as it sounds? We’ll let the rest of the description do the talking: 1/3 pound of wagyu beef patty smothered in homemade recipe cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato, buttery brioche bun with ale-battered french fries.
Lasagna Carbonara. This is not for the faint of heart, as this creamy and luscious pasta rich and indulgent in flavor. Made up of homemade lasagna, mozzarella cream, Pancetta Tesa strips, Grana Padano cheese.
The egg yolk was a rich touch to the creamy pasta sauce.
With all the delectable dishes we’ve had, it was time to move on to dessert.
Cheesecake Caramel Panna Cotta. The panna cotta was silky in texture, and the cheesecake crumble was a nice touch. We loved how the dulce de leche provided that added panache in flavor.
Butter Maple Bourbon Milk Shake/Tennessee Chocolate Marble “French Toast”. What could possibly be the best breakfast ever, the chocolate marble french toast was wonderfully crispy, with a melt-in-your-mouth marriage of chocolate and bread when you take a first bite. The butter maple bourbon milk shake went so well with the french toast– the bourbon complemented the maple rather nicely, and provided that kick in the after-taste.
After stuffing ourselves with the dishes, we could not leave Rye at Ponti without having some of their drinks! Here’s what we tried:
Spicy Bastard. Ah, the famed cocktail at the end of their “Irresponsible” spectrum. While it sounds wild and even possibly dangerous to take a sip from, the cocktail was actually quite refreshing in flavor, complemented with the spicy kick! Given that this is one of their strongest drinks, we could not feel the alcohol at first sip– this is definitely one of those traydor drinks that will leave you walking in circles if you’ve had one too many, so be careful. It’s a bastard, indeed!
Rye’s claim to fame, is of course, their fine range of whiskey, and trying to craft that interest and passion to the “uninitiated”, or as we like to call it, the “whiskey virgins”. Rye serves different kinds of whiskey samplers, which they call the 4-shot tasting flights, classifying them according to flavor, strength, and quality. While there are other tasting flights such as the Maiden Voyage, Earn Your Wings, and the Four Flavor Dog Fight tasting flights, we had what they called the Star-Spangled Banner under Top Gun. Just the right strength in the middle.
The Top Gun tasting flight included the following: Rittenhouse Rye, Maker’s Mark, Gentleman Jack, and the Bulleit Bourbon, each with their own set of nuances.
Aside from being a gastropub of sorts, Rye also holds regular whiskey-tasting events for whether you’re a whiskey savant, or just looking to learn more about the fine trade.
It was an overall great dining and drinking experience at Ponti, an interesting mix of the refined and the irresponsible, a place where you can enjoy great food and drinks yet throw your inhibitions to the wind as you indulge in a chill night with your friends. Oh, and that whiskey is fine.
Rye Tasting Room at Il Ponticello
Ponte Salcedo, 120 Valero, Makati, Metro Manila
https://www.facebook.com/ryetastingroommanila
