Nostalgia Dining Lounge is the new revamped version of Oakroom Restaurant at Oakwood Premier-Joy Nostalg Center in Ortigas. Launched February of this year, Nostalgia Dining Lounger still aims to be food enthusiast's best bet as one of the Best Restaurants in Manila. With its rebirth, the restaurant is sporting a new look that is suggestive of old days gone by mixed with modern sophistication - best fit for a fine dining restaurant that represents one of the Best Hotels / Apartment Services known in the country.
Staying true to the name Nostalgia, Executive Chef Jerome Cartailler bring forth his beloved family recipes from France since way back alongside the usual crowd favorites during the time when Nostalgia is still Oakroom.
I have always loved Oakroom Restaurant at Oakwood. If you are a regular reader of YedyLicious, you know the countless times I have blogged about it. I even hosted couple of giveaways. So, when I heard that they recently made a revamped to further better serve their patrons, I was so excited. Right after my trip to Palawan, I went directly to Nostalgia to check out its new look and other offerings.
Unlike the defunct Oakroom Restaurant which main focus is the buffet offerings, Nostalgia takes pride with their ala carte dishes. The buffet for lunch and dinner service is still there, but the quarterly themed ones took the back seat this time. The ala carte dishes, as mentioned leans heavily on the old favorites and chef Jerome's family heirloom recipes.
THE FOOD
My visit happened during lunch service and I noticed that there are numbers of diners partaking with the buffet spread while the others were happily digging into their ala carte choices. The buffet spread as always, featured enticing International dishes that Oakwood is known for. But my mission that day was to check out the ala carte dishes that Nostalgia has to offer.
The lunch started with a basket full of bread and some butter. You might remember how I raved about the goodness of Oakroom's bread in one of my previous blog posts and I am happy to say that it remained that way to this day.
Given that Nostalgia exudes an aura of a fine dining restaurant, I was expecting that the serving portion would be a little less than the usual servings at other casual restaurants. I guess I may have underestimated their generosity because when I was served the Thai Grilled Chicken Salad (Php360) I was taken aback by its heftiness.
The big plate was brimming with glass noodles, crisp greens, pomelo, nuts, and thick shreds of grilled chicken. I am very picky when it comes to Thai food, to be honest. Choosing this salad as a prelude to my lunch feast was a risk - one of those I was so glad I took. This salad only proved that while chef Jerome is of French descent, his talent transcends that any dish from any culture is expected to be executed well under his helm.
The Steamed Mussels (Php425) was equally impressive. New Zealand mussels when steamed can be good on its own. Yet the white sauce made up of white wine, shallots, garlic, and cream gave it depth in flavor. It was so simple to look at but the flavor is so complex you would know that it takes more than hard work to come up with such astounding dish.
Lamb Chops (Php985) is not part of the Signature Dish at Nostalgia's menu but judging the way it was cooked to perfect tenderness, it could might as well be. Its appearance may look as if it was a tad over cooked but one bite and the tenderness of the meat will welcome you. I particularly love the fatty part of the meat since it suggests a flavor which reminded me of juicy pork rind (chicharon) but in a different level of awesomeness.
A serving comes with mashed potato dotted with chorizo and olives, topped with roasted vegetables which innate sweetness and texture with a snap suggests the freshness of the vegetables. It's buttery and creamy with a savory taste brought by chorizo.
I was also able to take a bite of Nostalgia's Chicken Supreme (Php645) a dish deserving of its "supreme" name. There are a lot of elements on this dish but the things that stood out for me is the savory taste of the chicken, its tenderness, and the impeccable execution of the sauce.
As of the time of writing, there are only six items in the dessert menu of Nostalgia. While I heard that the Tartufo could easily melt my heart as a coffee lover, the Deconstructed Black Forrest (Php325) is well worth it as well. It is essentially made up of chocolate cake, whipped cream, pudding cherries, and kirsch.
The serving was so big I swore from the get go that I could not finish it myself. But it's goodness got the best of me I finished everything up to the last piece of strawberry. If only the chocolate shavings were not that hard to pick from the plate, I could probably finished every strand of it as well.
Another notable thing on Nostalgia's line of dessert is their New Zealand Ice Cream Selections. For only Php180, you'll be given a big scoop of your chosen flavor with condiments. Ice Cream flavors include; Caramel Chocolate Crunch, Affogato, Chocolate Ecstacy, Macadamia Supreme, Strawberry Surprise, Vanilla Classic, Rum Raisin, and Super-Fruit Sherbet.
Also, now that summer is upon us, Nostalgia Dining Lounge offers probably the tallest Halo-Halo (Php410) you'll ever have in a restaurant. Presented in an oversized glass, this Filipino favorite boasts of ube jam, custard, sweet beans, coconut gel, jackfruit, jellos, and milk just to name a few.
THE PLACE
In contrast to Oakroom's simple yet elegant set up, Nostalgia Dining Lounge features an equally elegant interior highlighted by decorative art pieces from the old days. If you dig vintage decorative items, you will definitely have feast of the eyes at Nostalgia Dining Lounge.
What used to be an almost bare wall with just a gigantic LCD TV attached to it for the diner's viewing pleasure is now sporting a wooden open cabinet that houses vintage trinkets and memorabilia. I could say that this part gives life to the place.
Aside from the main dining area, Nostalgia Dining Lounge has three private dining rooms which can be booked for special occasions for no extra cost.
The biggest of the three and my personal favorite is the Old Manila Private Room. This room features ambiance reminiscent of a dining room in some ancestral house of old Manila. It can easily fit 14 guests.
The Bohemian Paris Private Room on the other hand is best fit for casual dining. The pink walls and sophisticated but playful decorations made me think that this can be a good place to have a catch up session with girl friends over delicious feasts. This room can fit 4 to 6 diners.
The Cosmopolitan Shanghai Private Room is as large as the Bohemian Paris room but it exudes a more serious albeit still elegant ambiance. One couldn't go wrong with an Asian set up with positive vibes during luncheon or dinner meetings, so I guess this can be a perfect place for such occasions.
The closing of Oakroom Restaurant can be a sad news for some but its rebirth in the form of Nostalgia Dining Lounge only proves that change for betterment is always good. I have fond memories of Oakroom yes, but with the kind of revamped it undertook, I am more than excited to create happy memories at Nostalgia.
Nostalgia Dining Lounge
(Formerly Oakroom Restaurant)
Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg Center Manila
17 ADB Ave. Ortigas Center,
Pasig City, Philippines
Contact No.: (632) 637-7888 ext. 8603
Website: www.oakwood.com
Facebook: /oakwoodmanila
