These past couple of years, hungry people in BGC are wont to craving good comfort food and satisfying these pangs of particular hunger, as there are so many choices of homey, hearty fare in the area. From cafes to restaurants, gastropubs to hidden gems, what's great about establishments set on tapping onto simple cravings (done with creative and flavorful flair) is their attachment to feelings. Comfort food isn't bound by a certain geography nor recipe, just a feel-good experience that will make diners feel right at home. And when we associate homey happiness in a bowl of pasta or a plateful of rice, you can't just help but smile and enjoy your meal, and come back for more.
A new restaurant in the block is set out to do exactly this: Paprika Comfort Food + Cocktail Bar. Adding just a little more touch to the homey feel of this new establishment is its location– its spot in BGC is quite hidden, a short flight of stairs up from the lobby of the RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Tower, a building a short walk away from The Fort Strip. Just like a hidden gem, I got a little lost looking for the place, but was directed by the building guards to the right place (second floor, near the elevator and comfort rooms, in case you need some directions as well).
'It's my first venture,' co-owner Panjee Lim shares excitedly about Paprika. 'When I went back from Europe, I decided that I really wanted to open an establishment. But not just any kind, I really loved the homegrown feel of entering a trattoria or a taverna, or a tapas bar. Very small, very personal, a small venue with a small open kitchen. There's a lot of soul, a personal touch.' Paprika's menu of comfort food is a collaboration of Panjee with her boyfriend and the chefs.
Bacon Onion Marmalade Bruschetta
We start our lunch with bacon–that porky, flavorful favorite that everyone just loves to gobble up in many forms of both novelty and nostalgia. At Paprika, we nibbled on it as appetizers in their Bacon Onion Marmalade Bruschetta (P165). Bacon and onion marmalade tops six crisp pieces of toast with melted gruyere. Adding more texture and refreshing flavors are crowns of alfafa sprouts, and a drizzle of balsamic. It's salty, sweet, smoky, cheesy, chewy, and crunchy. Oh yes, it's bacon too, just to remind you that it's an instant palate pleaser.
Paprika's Bagoong Pasta (P220) is one of the popular items on the menu, an ode to crispy pork binagoongan with a spaghetti twist. The sauce is more sweet and spicy than salty, with chunks of fresh tomatoes lending more freshness to the flavors. While most of their Pinoy diners love this dish, my palate played pasta favorites and found Aligue Pasta (P300) to be the charmer. What makes their version of the crab fat pasta quite memorable is the coconut cream sauce, lending a creamy profile with every forkful of spaghetti. It made the dish less punchy, with a smoother finish. The Aligue Pasta comes topped with battered fried shrimp.
'With Filipino comfort food it's tricky, we have our own preferences or how we grow attached to a certain way we have it at home. Like with adobo, of course everyone has their own version of this,' Panjee says, 'some have it with gata, some dried, some have it with a lot of vinegar. What we all agreed on is this version, a version that will most likely sell to all adobo lovers.' Speaking in behalf of Adobo Club (which is fictional, yes, but should there be one in Manila I consider myself an automatic member), this Adobo Overload (P305) by Paprika is indeed, going to sell well with us adobo fans.
The overload comes in the form of four adobo elements: the thick cut of pork adobo, a heaping of adobo rice, a serving of savory adobo sauce, and a good drizzle of adobo mayo. 'The adobo is our best seller since we opened,' Panjee tells me. I'm more of a chicken adobo fan over its pork version, but this Paprika signature dish is truly one to try and wipe out on your own. The serving is actually hefty enough to share, but adobo lovers will probably find themselves asking for more adobo mayo to slather on the pork, and drizzle the adobo sauce all over the rice. The pork is already flavorful as is, but the point of this overload is to, well, overload. 'Surprisingly, something so simple is the one that's so in demand,' shares Panjee, 'I even have friends who call in earlier before they visit to tell me to please make sure the adobo is available.' If in other Filipino restaurants, adobo won't be on top of your mind to order (in my case, it's a trio of crispy pata, sinigang, and anything inihaw), at Paprika it is being ordered at every table.
'This pares was also a back-and-forth recipe,' explains Panjee, on how they collaborated to present a pares that's both familiar and a little bit new for their diners. With roast beef slices that are tender, coated with homemade pares sauce, Parika's bowl of Roast Beef Pares (P255) does its comfort food magic. Grab your fork and spoon, and mix everthing well with the garlic rice. If you prefer it spicy, this dish is served with chili-garlic oil on the side–pour and mix that all in and enjoy it after a long day at work!
For comfort food leaning more on Western flavors, try Paprika's Baby Back Ribs (P325), half rack of flavorful meat served with garlic mashed potato, and the Chicken and Waffles (P245), with two thick pieces of buttermilk fried chicken served with maple syrup and house gravy. These are two straight-up meaty and savory classic comfort food you can enjoy all day.
Their cocktail list features classics and your usual suspects, and both local and premium by the glass are easy on the pocket. While some cocktail bars charge a meal's worth for one glass of cocktail (hopefully not drowning in ice), you can enjoy an Amaretto Sour (P135), a Mojito (P145/P165), and a Lychee Martini (P115) for less than 200 Pesos each. For even more of a boozy steal, head to Paprika during Happy Hour (5pm to 8pm daily) and take advantage of their buy one, take one on 12 cocktails, and buy two, free one on imported beers.
For more creative cocktails, Panjee shares that they hired a mixologist to concoct unique drinks and create in-house infusions for the adventuruous and discerning drinker. There's S'mores (P255), a playful-looking Baileys cocktail that packs a punch with its marshmallow infused vodka, the curiously green Geisha (P285), the refreshing La Playa Barcelona (P305), their twist to the white wine sangria, and their most attention-getting drink, Bacon and Eggs (P375). It comes in a bowl full of smoke for the full effect, a whiskey based drink with lemon, egg white, topped with smoked bacon.
Should you rather have dessert than drinks to end your meal, Paprika offers one that's both photogenic and delicious. 'We didn't want to overplay the whole dessert thing,' explained Panjee, after I noticed that they only had one dessert item on their menu (a heartbreak for dessert lovers such as myself!). 'Our sous chef Miguel came up with this dish, and I like that it's so playful yet when you try it, it's not too much.'
When the dessert finally arrives on the table, it elicits coos and giggles all around. It's as if the server had an oops! moment seconds before bringing you your jar of chocolate, spilling over some chocolate soil and a smudge of chocolate syrup adding to the sweet mess. An instant charmer this dessert was, with an equally charming name: WTF! (What The Fudge) (P180).
The small pot is filled with alternating layers of dark chocolate ganache, white chocolate ganache, and coffee jelly. It's topped with chocolate soil, and if this is lacking, scoop up some of the ones that is scattered and wipe the wooden plank clean of the chocolate mess. This dessert is not cloying, making it a good palate cleanser and a conversation starter once you are about to end your meal.
'I really believe in comfort food, a homegrown touch and personal vibe,' Panjee shares with a smile. 'And it's such a huge concept to work around with. I love that it's a very wide concept, that it really doesn't box you in a particular cuisine. Our chefs can have more fun, play around with the concept, and we serve what we personally like, and what we hope everyone will love, too.' Perhaps that homey, 'feel-good' inducing dish for you will come in the form of a deliciously creamy aligue pasta, a plate of adobo done four ways, or their one-and-only playful dessert that tastes as good as it looks. Comfort food continues on strong, and Paprika is the new little spot worth a visit where you can unwind with some, paired with a cocktail of your choice.
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Visit Paprika Comfort Food + Cocktail Bar at the second floor of RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center, 25th and 26th St., BGC. Paprika is open Mondays to Fridays from 10am til late, Saturdays from 5pm til late, and Sundays from 10am to 5pm. Contact 425-9621 or 0917-3116616. Like Paprika on Facebook (/paprikaph) and follow on Instagram (@paprikaph).
