#cirkulo

[thehungrykat1]

Chef J. Gamboa is Philippines' New Lambassador of Australian Lamb

Award-winning Chef J. Gamboa has been officially named as country's newest Lambassador, a role dedicated to championing the quality, versatility and growing appeal of Australian Lamb among Filipino chefs and consumers. The official announcement was made during an intimate press lunch held at Cirkulo Restaurant last May 7, 2026 which was attended by key media and industry partners.

Cirkulo is part of the Milky Way Restaurant Group which is owned and operated by Chef J. Gamboa's family. This also includes Milky Way Cafe, AzuThai and Tsukiji Japanese Restaurant which you can all find inside this building along Arnaiz Avenue in Makati City. The Hungry Kat was one of the invited media guests for the afternoon's big reveal so we were excited to head to the Milky Way building once again to join this festive occasion.

The Lambassador program is part of ongoing efforts to build greater awareness and appreciation for Australian lamb in the Philippines through chef led advocacy and consumer engagement. Australian lamb is globally recognized for its high standards in food safety, natural production systems and consistent eating quality. Through chef-led advocacy, the Lambassador program aims to bridge the gap between product awareness and actual menu adoption.

Cirkulo is a 2026 Michelin Selected restaurant which has been serving its loyal patrons for over 30 years. It first opened its iconic red, round doors in August 1995, introducing Manila to a vibrant selection of tapas, sangrias, and a playful approach to dining. Under the management of siblings Malu Gamboa Lindo and Chef J. Gamboa, Cirkulo has preserved its Spanish favorites and is well know for their signature dishes such as the Suckling Pig Sisig, Slow Roasted U.S. Beef Belly and the Paella Montana. They are open daily from 11:30am to 2:00pm and from 5:00pm to 10:00pm.

The interiors are designed by Vickie and Luigi Antonio and exude a cosmopolitan yet warm atmosphere. The dining room is adorned with collages by National Artist Arturo Luz, abstracts by Lao Lianben, photographs by Ava Lugtu, and unique matador hat lights from the original design by Ramon Castellanos. The floors are crafted from 60-year-old supa wood, restored from old bowling lanes.

We were seated with our good friend Justin Yap together with other friends from the media and blogging community. Guests were welcomed with glasses of Cava Sangria and Iced Tea before the start of the program.

As the new Philippines Lambassador, Chef J. Gamboa will lead initiatives focused on elevating lamb in the Filipino dining experience and making it more accessible in the local market. "I've been a big fan of Australian Lamb since we opened Cirkulo in 1995. Through the years Australian lamb has always been guest favorites on our menu. I'm honored to be a Lambassador and happy to share and promote our Australian Lamb and beef dishes with our guests."

Meat & Livestock Australia Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, Valeska also welcomed Chef Gamboa to the group. "Chef J. represents the best of what we look for in a Lambassador - culinary excellence, strong industry influence and a genuine passion for quality ingredients. We welcome him to the global Lambassador club." Chef J. Gamboa will lead a series of engagements including chef collaborations, menu development initiatives and consumer-facing activities designed to make lamb more accessible and relevant in the local market.

Now it was time to sample some of the delicious lamb and beef dishes that Chef J. Gamboa had prepared for the guests. We started with the Tartar de Buey which comes with Australian beef tenderloin, capers, shallots, roasted bone marrow, and served with toasted brioche. Despite being served raw, I liked the deep flavors of the tartare which was seasoned well.

Cirkulo also featured some of their other appetizers like the Bolas de Queso. These are crispy Grana Padano cheese balls which are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy inside.

The Potato "Carbonara" Omelette is an upgrade over the standard omelette dish we usually have. This egg omelette comes mixed with potatoes, pancetta, cream, and Grana Padado Italian cheese.

One of the best starters we had was the Slow Roasted Australian Lamb Shortribs which is cooked with garlic, pepper, sea salt, olive oil, and fresh lemon. The meat was quite tender and I didn't taste any of the gamey flavors from the lamb.

We also has a salad course, the Insulate Di Gorgonzola. This comes with Lolorosa, Granny Smith apples, gorgonzola, walnuts, pickled carrots, radish, and apple vinaigrette.

Chef Gamboa also gave us a few surprise dishes that were not on the menu for that afternoon. The Roasted Bone Marrow and Beef “Mole Asado” was obviously my favorite. It is served with toasted brioche and sea salt.

Get a spoonful of the bone marrow and slather it on the toasted bun then bite away. This was so good but I had to control myself from eating too much of this sinful dish.

We also had a taste of their meaty Kebabs which were served with hummus and vegetables.

After all those appetizers, it was finally time for our main courses. The Cordero Lechal Asado is an oven roasted Australian suckling lamb prepared with rosemary, garlic, and chimichurri sauce. This was a very different way of enjoying lamb and it was the first time for me to see it prepared this way.

Another exciting lamb dish is the Lamb Shank Ossobucco. Unlike the traditional version with veal, this uses red wine braised Australian lamb shanks and is cooked with lemon gremolata until very tender.

The main highlight of our menu was the Chuleta De Lomo Alto Con Hueso, a huge charcoal grilled bone in Stanbroke Farms Australian Ribeye (800 grams) served with roasted vegetables and thyme salt.

This is prepared in their custom Josper oven so the result is a perfectly cooked medium doneness ribeye steak that everyone really enjoyed.

We can't have a Spanish meal without paella, right? The Paella Montaña comes with Portobella mushrooms, whole roasted garlic, asparagus, and truffle oil. This was a great compliment to all our meaty lamb and beef main courses.

To cap off our lamb feast, guests were served two special desserts. The Warm Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake with Liquid Center comes with a gooey molten lava filling and is served with raspberry coulis and fresh oranges plus a scoop of Vanilla ice cream.

On the other hand, there is also the Warm White Chocolate Bread Pudding with bourbon cream sauce topped with Vanilla ice cream. Both desserts were a great way to end our afternoon at Cirkulo.

We would like to thank Lambassador Chef J. Gamboa and Spanky Enriquez for hosting our lovely press lunch at Cirkulo. It was a great way to experience these unique lamb dishes that more Filipinos should be able to try. Congratulations Chef Gamboa on your new role and we hope to catch up with you again really soon.

Cirkulo Restaurant

G/F Milky Way Building, 900 Arnaiz Ave., corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City

8810-8735 / 8810-2763 / [phone]

www.elcirkulo.com

www.facebook.com/CirkuloRestaurant

[huttson-blog]

Here's where you can order halo-halo and other crafty cold treats for delivery or pickup — ABS-CBN News

Here’s where you can order halo-halo and other crafty cold treats for delivery or pickup — ABS-CBN News

Read more at ABS-CBN News

— by Nana Ozaeta: All you need is a tub of ice cream, a big glass of halo halo, or even a scoop of creamy buko pandan salad from these 9 specialty purveyors with pickup and delivery available…

Image courtesy of ABS-CBN News

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[anabelbosch-blog]

Feed Me, Seymour

  Well, it's a line from a movie/musical play and though I am not a theater person in the least, I've loved that line. (Then again, the fact that it was the line of a carnivourous talking plant will get my attention, won't it?) Then again, I am a little piggy nowadays and my one addiction seems to be food.

So let's talk about food.  I love it, I cook when I have time, and I eat.  I do love salads but that's an appetizer to me, not a meal.  I don't count calories, I eat what I fancy, my tastebuds have moodswings of their own.  And being a drinker, I do love adding booze to my food when I can, either on the side, or in the dish itself (my pasta has vodka, my goulash has cerveza negra, my shrimp get drunk on tequila, my tomato sauces are cooked with red wine, my seafood normally has white wine, my chocolates have brandyand chili-what can I say, this list can keep going....) Not that I have anything against non-alcoholic food, of course.  As long as the ingredients are good and fresh, I'm there baby.

I've missed my love affair with food.  As a friend said yesterday, she's noticed I eat when I am happy more than when I am not.  And I eat with people who love food too.

So I've been foodtripping- and my biggest reason I desire to travel is to eat my way through the planet- I want real thai food, I want pho, I want tapas in Spain, I want to eat pasta where it was born.  But until I have the time and the money to do just that, I've been having fun just eating globally in a local setting.  I will share a few of my favorites here:

Casa Armas.  Located on Nakpil Street, though there's a Makati branch on Jupiter Street.  It's mid-range in price, not cheap, but not painful.  A good place for a small gathering of friends or an intimate date- this Spanish tapas bar has been an old favorite.  It's small, cozy and I used to go there when Mr. Armas was still alive (or bump into him down the street at the old episode.)  He was such a sweetheart and I am glad that even after he has passed, his legacy lives on.  In the times I've been able to return there in the last year, I've been in good company (with Marco, or Nancy, or Ba'ba), we get good service (the Maitre' D Jun is very attentive) and I love the tapas- my favorites are the Manchego cheese and Jamon Serrano, but so far they are all good.  The crab is about a grand but it is steamed in white wine and butter and garlic and I'm a big crab freak- YUM.  The mussels are served in a tomato sauce cooked with green peppers and are delicious as well.  For a bigger group (about four or so) you have to order in advance the Iberian Chicken (which I have heard great reviews about)- slow roasted chicken in olive oil and garlic....I've seen it, I've smelled it and I am ordering that when I get a group together to eat there!  One of my favorite date places, or hideaways to grab a meal and a conversation. Found out tonight that they're open on Sundays too. Yipee! 

CIRKULO, Pasay Road.  Pricey, but OH. MY. GOD.  Had a dinner date there for my birthday.  Good wine selections, great place, food to die for.  Had the cirkulo paella (good for 2-3 persons) with chorizo and duck; and the slow roasted US beef belly with portabello mushrooms.  Still Spanish style cuisine.  Waddled out of there and chainsmoked cigarettes I was so full.  Tastebuds had mutliple orgasms.  Going back, for sure.

Xocolat, Serendra.  Yes, I love chocotinis- the Xoco Sunset is still my favorite, dark, rich, sinful....a great place to go with the girlfriends.  They have real food too- the salad is huge you can share it and they have a cream cheese caviar appetizer I really like.  The chorizo panini is my favorite, but the pastas are great too.  The best way to start a girl's night out.

Route 196, Katipunan Extension.  I know it's a bar, and bands are playing- but I am thankful they have food and not your usual barchow.  The pizzas are wicked and well priced- go for the margherita or the noypi.  The tinapa rolls are excellent- smoked fish rolled in lumpia wrapper served with vinegar as a dipping sauce.  They have sisig too, and it's better than most bars.  Madz, pa order ng kanin!!!!

Shawarma Snack Center, Salas St, Malate in between  Mabini and MH del Pilar.  I love middle eastern food and despite shawarma being available on almost every corner in Manila, few of them are really good.  They also have ala carte, the hummus, the motabal, the tabbuleh- and the falafels are kick ass.  They also have carinderia style turo-turo.  Pre-cooked dishes you just point at and it's on a plate in moments.  Not much of an ambience- its really just like a carinderia though they've opened a posher version across the street, but to grab a bite and good food, hell why not?  Just tune out the indian pop music.

Ziggurat, Euphrates corner Tigris St, near Makati Avenue.  More expensive  than the Shawarma Snack Center (which is low end in price- think Mr. Kebab), but good too, and a better ambience.  I like the table outside where you sit on a platform on cushions.  And it's smoking outside, and they serve beer, which most the mideast food places do not.  They have food from all over the middle east, from Egypt to Pakistan.  If you're the adventurous type and like spicy food, this is your place.  You can try out a lot of things that you've never heard of.  Love it.

Assads, UN Avenue.  Do your shopping for ghee and vegemeat and curry pastes and bread, grab 10 peso samosas (still the best anywhere) and stop by next door at their cafe- the mutton biryani is good for two and is about 200 pesos.  Curries too.  Can you tell I like indian food a lot?

seventy 7 bar and restaurant, Kamuning Street, QC.  Cozy place- the vibe of an old house with the hardwood floors and high ceilings and couches if you're there early enough to grab one.  Again, the pizzas- the 77 pizza and the longanisa pizza (lukban longanisa) are favorites.  Also a must try: Tuna Oriental (which I want to steal the recipe of hahaha)- an asian style tuna tartare with ginger, sesame and chilis.  Great finger food: titas (crunchy wonton wrappers topped with beef and cheese) and I lived on their pastas for ages.  Best with cold beer. Also now open on Sundays.

Oarhouse, Mabini St, Malate.  Of course I'm going to shamelessly plug the place.  But to be fair, the kitchen has gotten busier.  Old favorites are the eggplant mozzarella and the pork schnitzel, adobong kambing, as well as the beer and onion soup.  The new favorites are the vodka cream penne, the dong aligue pasta, the Belgian Beer Beef Stew and the Chili Con Carne.  Every now and then we put specials up on the board, food not on the regular menu and with limited availablity: like goulash, shakshuka (vegetarian), shells ala Kels (susong dalaga in gata), deep sea eel curry, to name a few.  We're still doing a lot of R&D but we're gonna be having fun in the kitchen and adding stuff as we go along. Watch out for baknat- Redgie Cinco's beef jerky...soon available at the bar. 

More later, as I explore food from new (and old) places.  Dammit, I'm hungry again.