Impressions Maxim Hotel: Mom's Surprise French Cuisine Birthday Dinner (Pasay Manila)

Every year we try to cook up a surprise birthday dinner for the greatest foodie in the family: our mom.  Choosing some place undiscovered used to be easy.  Now with my advent of Instagram and Facebook, it is usually our mom being the first to know every new restaurant joint that pops up.  So, we decided to go with the classic at Impressions.

Located at the 3rd floor of Maxims Hotel, Impressions is afine diningFrench restaurant spear-headed by celebrity chef Cyrille Soenen.

The family has already tried celebrity chef Cyrille Soenen atBrasserie Cicou before.  But, we're more epicurious to try this one after seeing its collection of awards.


We made reservations only to find out the the place is barely empty.  The function room is occupied by Senator Enrile so the staffs were very preoccupied there when we came in.

After a few minutes of waiting, we were ushered to our seats passing by a bar...

and an open kitchen.

Although empty, each table already has a table set up. 

There was a cheery long table near us.  We recognized celebrity Gretchen Barreto as one of the guests.  And since they might think that we're a paparazzi, I just took a photo of the empty side of the place. =))

Food

Soups

French Onion Soup (350 php)

The French Onion Soup has a fragrant and sweet flavors of caramelized onions topped with huge pieces of crouton and a generous amount of gruyere.

♥ Philippine Prawn Bisque (390 php)

The Philippine Prawn Bisqueis beautifully presented with tiny sea urchin flan and caviar.  Aside from visual appeal, it is so delicious!  This is one of the best prawn bisque version we've tried!

Create Your Own Set Menu

• 1 Appetizer or 1 Main Course + 1 Dessert (950 php)
• 1 Appetizer + 1 Main Course + 1 Dessert (1,500 php)

We opted to order the Soups separately because it is actually more affordable than being included in the Create Your Own Set Menu.  And, then we chose the 2 course of the Create Your Own Set Menu.  Although the Main Course is limited with this option, they actually offer it in the ordinary serving size which is huge. 

Mains

♥ Impressions Bulalo (650 php)

Hearing bulalo sounds native right?   But, the Impressions Bulalo is nothing familiar to us.  It is a completely different French interpretation.  The Impressions Bulalo is a US beef short rib in creamytruffle beef broth with vegetables.  I liked it.  The truffle is not too strong bringing a wonderful balance with the beefy taste.

♥ Bavette U.S. Hanging Tender with Shallot Sauce (788 php)

The Bavette U.S. Hanging Tender with Shallot Sauce is superb!  The meat was cooked consistently and I couldn't pick a better complimentary than the shallot sauce.

♥ 12 Hour Cooked Lamb Shoulder Tajine-Style (820 php)

Among our orders, I loved the 12 Hour Cooked Lamb Shoulder Tajine-Style the most.  This is a must try!


Cheese and Desserts

♥ Minestrone of Compressed Fruits (360 php)

My mom got the Minestrone of Compressed Fruits.  She absolutely adored very bit of this beautiful masterpiece.

Flourless Chocolate Cake(350 php)

Framboise (350 php)

The Framboiseis probably the worst option.  We failed to appreciate this.

Mom's Complimentary Surprise Birthday Cake

They prepared a little surprise treat for my mom which was cool.  We got to take home this flourless chocolate cake.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
We were very satisfied with the serving size and quality at Impressions.  For us, it the price we paid was a worth every peso.  If  you're looking for a fulfilling French dining experience, then this is a great choice.