A feature of many high-end restaurants in Manila these days is the degustation menu, which is the best showcase for the abilities of the chef.

Often, these menus don’t just offer riffs on what is available on the à la carte menu, but is designed to show off special ingredients, techniques and the artistry of the chef.

One of the pioneers in the offering of degustation menus is The Goose Station where Chef Rob Pengson creates refined and exquisite dishes based on Filipino classics.

For its October event the Ordre Mondial group within the Bailliage of Manila decided on a "BYOB" dinner at The Goose Station since we had never had an event there and we had sampled Chef Rob’s new menu just a few months earlier.

To whet the appetite, we had the “Foie Gras Cone” which made its appearance in the first menu of The Goose Station and has remained a favourite ever since.

The dinner proper started with “Tuna Kilawin” which was a deconstructed version of the dish with the addition of other seafood and an intriguing gel noodle. This was subtle in flavour to showcase the freshness of the seafood. Even the mustard ice cream was quite mild.

This was followed by one of our table’s favourites of the evening, the “Filipiniana Eggs Benedict”. This was served with a pan de sal so you could do a scarpetta with the runny egg yolk.

The next dish was a “Foie Gras Taho”. All the ingredients of a regular taho were there – custard for the bean curd, Pedro Ximenez for the syrup, and tapioca, but the sweetness and richness of the whole thing cut by the bright acidity of the green apple.

A course of “Squab Inasal” followed next. Slightly gamey and chewy, this finally gave us a reason to drink our reds as we were confined to champagne for the first few courses.

We also had some rice mixed in with other grains – this was a Filipino dinner, after all!

Another favourite of the evening was the last course - “Beef BBQ Short Ribs”. Perfect with the Mill’s Reef Syrah from New Zealand.

For dessert, we had a “Calamansi Tart” which was in fact too sweet for the dessert wine – a 2001 Trimbach ‘Frédric Émile’ Riesling Vendange Tardive.

It was an excellent dinner and I have no qualms about recommending this restaurant to anyone looking for a great degustation experience.

Jay Labrador, Vice-Échanson