The Stock Market at Bonifacio High Street

Last week, Ken and I were invited to an intimate dinner with fellow bloggers at The Stock Market Cafe in Bonifacio High Street to introduce us to their new menu.

We were told to come in our 1930s clothes. Ken dressed up all in black, with a buttoned up polo and hat. Hannah of FlairCandy was also there and she wore a Chicago-inspired dress. She looked more like Cleopatra and was really pretty. Here’s the 3 of us right before dinner:

I know, I only wore that printed blouse. I don’t have any skirts or dresses in my wardrobe. 😀

Anyway, as soon as Ken and I saw the interiors of The Stock Market, we felt at home. The dining area has a really cozy feel.

There’s a small kitchen at the dining area.
We saw them prepare our crepes for dessert right there.

We love the simple elegance of the restaurant, especially with the large windows. I can only imagine how it feels to dine in there during lunch. The colors around us were also very relaxing to the eye. Perfect for a first date or some bonding time with loved ones, if you ask me. 🙂

A brief background about The Stock Market: It’s owned by Del Monte. But, early this year, they re-opened under the management of The Bistro Group of Restaurants that operates the restaurant chains TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Fish & Co., Flapjacks, Krazy Garlik, Pig Out and BillyRock.

Now, along with the new management, there are two other new things about The Stock Market you should be excited about – a new chef and a delightfully fresh menu.

Meet Chef Jonathan “Boom” Jota. He is now the corporate chef of the Bistro kitchens.

With his extensive background in culinary, Chef Boom brought in new concepts to the Bistro kitchens, including The Stock Market. He explains, “I love to create and render these creations in a way that will make the food a feast for both the eyes and the palate.”

But, even though 85% of the menu of The Stock Market are completely new dishes, they still made sure to keep the essence of freshness that has been the restaurant’s trademark ever since. You can only expect them to use fresh ingredients and that all the dishes are made from scratch. Their preference to use organic ingredients ensures that their dishes are good for the health, too.

And, oh, before I go ahead and show you what we had for dinner that night, let me tell you that Chef Boom and the whole Bistro team came out with the new menu of The Stock Market just last month! So, if you’ve been to their restaurant before, I strongly recommend you come by again to taste their new dishes, most especially the ones I’ll be featuring here.

Let me share with you all the dishes that were served to us. But, first, let’s start with our beverages. Ken and I decided to try something new. I chose the Malunggay Citrus (Php 165), which was served in a very tall glass. Hannah commented that it tasted like wheatgrass so she enjoyed it, too. Very refreshing and it did help me cleanse my palate after every dish I tasted that night.

Ken decided to go for the Ampalaya Cooler (Php 165). We were a bit anxious to taste it to find out if we’ll hate it or enjoy. Well, what a surprise. We both loved that the bitterness of the ampalaya was just an aftertaste. Another refreshing drink. 🙂

For appetizers, first served was Pier 21 Clam Chowder (Php 250). It’s served on a bread bowl, topped with chives.

I scooped it up to see how hefty the amount of chopped up clams and veggies are in there. You see the generous amounts of ingredients I got in one serving?

We both enjoyed the thickness and the flavors of their clam chowder. I remember having seconds even with the knowledge that there’ll be a ton more food coming. 😀

 

Next was the Tomato and Cheese Supreme (Php 225). It’s a combination of fresh cream tomato and cheese with herb foam as topping.

We enjoyed the sourness of the tomatoes and how the saltiness of the cheese complements it. Good thing I tasted it a few minutes after it was served so it was nice and warm. 🙂

We then tasted their Cold Melon Soup Rhapsody (Php 210). It was definitely something new to us, what, with the melon taste and all. We’re used to only enjoying that fruit’s flavor in shakes or juice. This soup had a subtle sweetness to it, too.

On to their salads. I first tried The Stock Market Harvest Salad (Php 350 – a house specialty). It has caramelized walnuts, fresh market fruits (grapes, bananas, apples), romaine lettuce tossed in pineapple vinaigrette. It’s served with a pineapple wedge on the side.

I loved the caramelized walnuts and the sweet-citrusy taste of this salad. I want to try make this at home. 🙂

Next is Chef Boom’s recommendation, another house specialty (that only means a must-try), the Pacific Cove Salad (Php 420). It’s served with fresh shrimp, crabmeat, fresh avocado, ripe mangoes, cucumber, tomatoes on a layer of crisp romaine lettuce with their special house dressing.

I was a li’l hesitant to try this ‘cause of a known allergy to crabs. But, they all were enjoying it so I just had to. 😀 And, it was good! Ken and I both recommend this. The house dressing truly accentuated the flavor combinations of all the ingredients.

And, oh, in case you’re wondering, I think my allergy to crabs is gone so I was doing okay that night. 😀

We didn’t get to take a decent photo of how this was served to us,
but it was pretty close to this photo that you’d see on their new menu.

Next, another house specialty, is the Salmon and Spinach Dip (Php 350). As you can see on the photo, the dish includes a big serving of smoked salmon in four cheese dip. On the side are Tuscany bread, soft pita and fried chips. Definitely, 3-6 people can share this! It’s one of their bestsellers, and we so know why – cheese and salmon. C’mon! 😀

One of the first dishes served to us was their Seared Ahi Tuna (Php 365). It’s freshly seared Albacore tuna loin, coated with black and white sesame seeds, served with grilled tropical fruit salsa, light soy wasabi and lemon. I don’t particularly like eating raw fish, but I did try this. I ate my whole serving of 2 pieces of tuna loin ‘cause it was really tender, almost to the point that it melted in my mouth. I liked that it didn’t leave a fishy taste too.

By this time, we thought we’d be served with main dishes. But, no. They came out with this huge dish of breads and spreads – Trio Gastronomy (Php 390), a combination of chunky chicken melt with seafood delight on fresh foccacia bread, with house salad and chips on the side.

As you can see, the serving’s also good for 3-5 persons. They were all very creamy and good. We only took a small serving of each ‘cause we were getting ready for the main dishes. 😀

Note: All the dishes that were served to us were for sharing. Yes, we didn’t get one serving each. Otherwise, I don’t think I could’ve survived with the ton of food that came to our tables. Glad we were all cowboys that day, if you know what I mean. 😀

We were served 3 of their pasta dishes. I first tried Frutti Di Mari (Php 425). It’s spaghetti combined with shrimps, squid, clams, and mussels, tossed in red wine and marinara basil sauce. It has this very subtle spiciness to it.

The next one I tried was the Spaghetti Vongole Bianco (Php 320). It’s spaghetti with Vongole clams and is tossed in white wine reduction with basil, mint and chili flakes. This one’s very light and I can see health-conscious foodies ordering this.

Oh, by the way, their pasta dishes are prepared upon ordering, ensuring customers only get freshly cooked dishes everytime.

Next, the last pasta dish, but definitely our favorite is their Carbonara (Php 420). It’s vegetable fettuccine with a creamy sauce, mixed with prosciutto (Yes, not bacon!), mushroom and topped with an organic egg yolk.  We all loved it! Someone even said she has forgotten her name after tasting this. 😀 We HIGHLY recommend you order this one! 🙂

In all honesty, with the number of dishes coming out of the kitchen, I lost track of which ones were served to us first. 😀 But, we already gone through the appetizers and starters. Now, on to the entrees and main dishes.

Hannah and I were first to dig into the Seared Salmon (Php 580). It’s Norwegian Salmon seared and served on top of garlic mashed potato with fresh vegetables and caper tomato sauce on the side.

The texture of the mashed potatoes wasn’t mushy, as you can see from the photo above, much to my liking. The salmon sits comfortably on top of it. And when I started to work my fork through it to get a taste, I already know it’s going to be glorious. The fish was cooked well and the garlicky flavor of the potatoes combined with the subtle saltiness of the salmon was so good. 🙂

This next dish was a surprise. If you’ve been reading here, you’d probably have read me saying I don’t like nuts mixed with anything. Imagine how I felt when I found out about this next dish – Almond Chicken Tenders (Php 310). I love almonds. I love chicken. I love them separately. So, when I heard Chef Boom telling us those are tender chicken meat coated with almonds, deep-fried, I got really curious. As soon as I bit into it, oh goodness! The crunch of the almonds and the tenderness of the chicken go so well together! I didn’t even need the house dip and honey mustard dressing that the dish came with. Yum! We also highly recommend this one. 🙂

Another dish that was served in barbecue sticks was the Sassy Spring Rolls (Php 275). Those are crispy egg rolls stuffed with tuna, onions, spinach and cream cheese. It’s served with vegetables crudités (raw veggies in bite-sized strips with dip), sour cream and chives.

The texture reminded me of cheese sticks that we used to make at home. But, with the spinach’s slight bitterness mixed with the saltiness of everything else with it made it truly a delight.

If you think we’re done, you’re wrong. We still have the meat dishes!

We started off with the Texan Barbecue Chicken (Php 525), another house specialty. Would you believe that the chicken is marinated for 48 hours for this dish?! The chicken meat was so tender! I also tasted the rose herbed rice and they were a perfect combination, especially with the skewered vegetables on the side.

Next was the Country Style Pork Ribs (Php 425). I only took one piece of the ribs ‘cause I was starting to really get full. It was so succulent, sweet and tender. Another favorite. 🙂

The last meat dish I got to taste was the Pork Tenderloin Madness (Php 390). The pork is marinated in The Stock Market’s special herbs and spices, grilled then served with Turmeric rice and house salad. The rice was fragrant and savory by itself and so the smoky flavor on the pork was definitely a pleasure to taste along with it.

We were given a few minutes before we were served the desserts. And we were all ready for them when they were placed on our tables.

First up is the Flaming Orange Banana (Php 295). The bananas and oranges were glazed in butter and rhum. They sit on top of a pineapple center. The cream you see at the bottom is crème anglaise (creamy custard sauce). There was also non-fat ice cream in there, but when I took the photo, we almost were done with it. Candied walnuts were placed on top of the ice cream.

Next is the Mango Crepe. I saw Chef Boom prepare the crepe himself at the small kitchen at the dining area. It’s also served with ice cream and mango sauce. Surprisingly light dessert when I tasted it.

Lastly but definitely my favorite among all the 3 desserts is the Crème Brulee Duo (Php 295). The one on the lower left of the photo is their mango version, topped with mango coulis. The other one is the classic version, with caramelized sugar on top. Sweetness was just right. I think I finished off one serving of the classic all by myself. 😀 What a gratifying ending.

All throughout the dinner, with all the dishes that were served to us, we all agreed that Chef Boom came up with a very cohesive menu for The Stock Market. Everything has something that connects all of them. It could be the seasoned vegetables served on the side, the freshness of all the ingredients used, the organic ingredients or the delicious combination of different flavors. One thing’s for sure, you can order anything off their new menu and you’d agree with us on this. 🙂

Segue: Among all of us who were there, 4 came in dressed in the 1930s theme. I just had to take photos of them!

As a final note, I have to admit, the prices at The Stock Market may be on the expensive side. But, considering the freshness and quality of food, and the overall concept of their menu that’s truly something notable, plus the cozy ambiance make it worth it. Again, I’d consider it best to take someone here for a first date and enjoy an intimate dining experience with them. 🙂

The Stock Market

B3 (Quadrant 3) Bonifacio High Street

Bonifacio Global City

Open from 11am to 10pm

Contact #: 856-6300 / 856-2888 local 1898

Email: thestockmarket@bistro.com.ph