TLDR: beautiful space, impressive food. Looks and feels Michelin with NYC prices but I think there were some things that needed to be considered for the tasting.
Saw Helm on 50 Best Discovery Philippines and thought it sounded promising so I booked it! It was one of the more expensive meals I booked during my trip.
I booked the 12-course menu but I think I should have done the 8-course; most of the dishes were quite heavy and I was unable to finish them all. For example, we had a butter heavy truffle risotto, followed by a buttery rich cod, then fatty lobster, and rich scallop, one after the other before a bread course of beef tallow brioche served with scallion pork fat spread. Individually, these dishes were meticulously executed and delicious however, as a whole, the menu was severely and overwhelming rich. I felt like each of the dishes would be better appreciated if they weren't in sequence and I thought I felt my arteries clogging with every bite.
My favorites of the night were: the buckwheat porridge with egg yolk emulsion, chicken skin, consommé and truffle foam; lobster wth housemade sambal and crab fat sabayon; the scallop with housemade XO and sunchoke puree, and wagyu and "beef stew." For desserts, I loved the matcha white chocolate gelato, meringue, and blood orange; and the earl grey orange sponge with dark chocolate cremeux and a million other ingredients.
It was a little difficult for me to find at first; the mall is incomplete and when I went, most stores were closed so I got a little lost. Make some time beforehand just in case you run into the same problem I did!
Service was attentive, friendly and kind.
Overall: Still going to give 5 overall, but I hope in future menus they add some acidic dishes in between the rich courses or maybe lighter dishes so we could appreciate all the heavy hitters more. read more