Tipple & Slaw opened January of this year at The Forum, BGC, and is rolling out their updated menu this week. The restaurant and bar has evolved their menu (still primarily being a sandwich bar) to showcase even more flavors–from appetizers, a french fries menu, a wider sandwich range, to more dessert and drink options.
Inside Tipple & Slaw
Serious sips and tipples for the thirsty
If you head to Tipple & Slaw thirsty, a lot is in store for you. There are virgin (non-alcoholic) sips, and for the more thirsty, some serious drinks to tipple. They also have your usual suspects for your liquor, imported and local beers. "We're doing forgotten cocktails," Chef Francis Lim adds, mentioning their push to also go back to the classics and traditional drinks, aside from a handful of new cocktail concoctions.
Their Cocktails (P270 each) menu now has 22 drinks for you to choose from, and for that quick-fix, Shooters (P270 each) come in 10 varieties. The Tipple Margarita showcases their own twist to the classic tequila cocktail by infusing the flavors of green olives–and it works.
For the thirsty folk that desire (or are required) to be sober, there are plenty of non-alcoholic choices for your wholesome tippling. Their Iced Teas and Fresh Juices, Chef Francis mentions, use juices and teas that are freshly extracted. There's Orange, Strawberry, and Mango Iced Tea (P95 each), and Strawberry Lemonade (P125) and Fresh Lemonade (P125). For heavier, more filling sips, there are Fruit Shakes and Milkshakes (P150 each) available, and the intriguing ones on their menu that calls me back for a return to Tipple & Slaw are the Roasted Marshmallow Milkshake, Dark Chocolate & Vanilla Milkshake, and Peanut Butter & Banana Milkshake.
Hefty handheld eats and tasty treats for the hungry
Co-owner Juano Gutierrez shares that sandwiches are their main stars at Tipple & Slaw, and that he takes pride that their restaurant prepares their own meats, such as their bacon and corned beef. "Breads, meats, sauces–almost everything," Chef Francis adds, that about 80% of their items on the menu is made from scratch. "Right now, we're also trying to develop our own ketchup," he says.
In previous visits to the restaurant, I was able to order Corn Fries (P200) and Crisp Wild Shrooms (P250), two appetizers and bar chow favorites from the old menu that have been retained in their revamped menu. The corn fries is a uniquely crisp way to enjoy your corn–it's made out of real mashed corn, shaped into fries and dipped in a light batter, then fried. It's crunchy, slightly salty, and retains the sweetness and juicyness of the corn inside. It is served with BBQ mayo, wasabi mayo, and spiced brown honey mustard. The mushroom appetizer is also made from fresh mushrooms, and comes with truffle ketchup and mushroom sauce.
A personal favorite from their Tipple & Slaw is their version of Chicken Nuggets (P250). Chef Francis happily shares that theirs is a healthier take on the fast food favorite, as they use pure chicken breast and absolutely no extenders, embraced with a lighter batter. They use corn oil for frying these homemade nuggets, and serve BBQ sauce and honey mustard on the side.
If you love fries, you'll be pleased that part of the update of their menu is a Chips & Fries section. If before they only had three items, including the Corn Fries and Disco Fries (P280), now the restaurant has nine kinds of fries to choose from. The disco fries–which are potato fries topped with chopped fried chicken tenders, chicken gravy, and melted cheese–can have the option of adding chopped chicken liver. So I take my disco fries with these nuggets of liver, and the combinaiton of the flavors and textures dance happily on my palate. Other fries to watch out for are the Pastrami Fries (P280) with beef gravy and parmesan, and the Breakfast Fries (P250) topped with chopped bacon, fried egg, hollandaise, and sharp cheddar.
At Tipple & Slaw, they take sandwiches seriously. Here, it's not just a snack haphazardly put together and slathered with some generic condiment or sauce. Sandwiches here are hefty handheld meals, and most are sized for sharing. The old menu listed 17 sandwiches, while the new one has 20, plus 2 dessert sandwiches (more on that later), and the chef revealed that they have some off the menu sandwiches as well.
The Pastrami Sandwich (P350) is part of their old menu, but the meat itself has been improved in flavor and texture. Tipple & Slaw's version of this beef brisket is brined, cured, and smoked on low heat for hours. The chef mentions that the meat is also covered in a lot of spices–mostly Israeli spices, as they stick to a more traditional recipe of pastrami. The sandwich is served with potato chips, slices of pickles, spicy mustard, and creamy horseradish.
Meaty, moist, and juicy, the thin slices of angus beef (I counted six layers of it) had a good balance of smokey and salty. The sauces complement the pastrami, but the sandwich is good enough as it is. Since I prefer some acidity in every bite, the pickles and horseradish sauce were my top picks as companions to my pastrami.
Other handheld delights that they've carried over to the updated menu are the Porchetta Sandwich (P350), Italian Beef Sandwich (P350), and Lobster Roll (P450). A third burger is introduced in their new Tipple Burger (P380) which combines smoked fresh ground beef, cheddar cheese, bacon, and grilled mushrooms in BBQ sauce. They now also have a line of sandwich wraps, featuring fillings like chicken, soft shell crab, sisig, and carne asada. I was able to try the new Roast Lamb Wrap (P350), a plate as colorful as it is flavorful.
The open faced wrap of homemade spinach tortilla has flakes of slow roasted lamb shoulder, which reminds one of the texture of pulled pork. The earthiness and dark flavors of the lamb is a good combination with the sweet-sour of pickled red onions, leafy textures of chopped cilantro and mint, plus the mild saltiness of goat cheese. The homemade harissa sauce adds this addicting layer of heat in every bite, and will make you crave for a bottle of beer to pair your wrap with.
Seal your sandwich meal with yet another sandwich, but this time around, have it in your dessert! Two sandwich desserts are available: the Smores Ice Cream Sandwich (P180) and the Apple Pie French Toast (P180). I had the latter to end my early dinner at Tipple & Slaw.
Two fluffy pieces of french toast, drenched in sweetness of slowly melting vanilla ice cream, sandwiches grilled apple slices, caramel sauce, cinnamon dust, and powdered sugar. The smear of ducle de leche on the plate was a delight to mop up with the bread. "We're working on a streusel to add to this dessert," Chef Francis mentions, and that addition will make this dessert sandwich have more of that apple pie-ness to it. A surprise is the drizzling of balsamic vinegar reduction, its acidity cutting the sweet to counter that cloying and clingy kind of sugar high.
While the late-night crowd gathers at Tipple & Slaw for some serious drinking, I can see myself doing some serious biting, as there are still more sandwiches to try. Chef Francis says they still have a long list of sandwich ideas, and some of these can soon be ordered off-the-menu. It's great to know that in this rice-loving metro of ours, these bunch of guys are taking sandwiches seriously, eager to please us with their hefty, handheld grub.
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Tipple & Slaw's new menu items are available starting Wednesday, August 13, 2014. Visit them at the second floor of The Forum (Beside Pablo's Pub) along 7th Ave in BGC. Like Tipple & Slaw on Facebook (/tippleandslawbgc) and follow them on Instagram (@tippleandslaw).
