Rocking The Goose Station @ The Fort

As in all of our Manila trips, a dinner with fellow Filipinos similarly exiled to work the slave mines of audit in Ireland needed to be scheduled. I am not in audit myself, but find that most of my friends are; largely due to PIC's mafia web of connections. As the foodie evil genius of these gatherings, I thought we'd try another OAP pitstop -- The Goose Station.

First thing you see upon entering The Goose Station

We had a 7.30pm reservation for seven and it was a bit of a drama getting there to be honest as the restaurant was located in a fairly nondescript office building in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I exaggerate, but it would be a fair comment to say its a bit hidden. I guess it didn't help matters that it was a dinner reservation and that it wasn't in the most well lit area or the fact that you don't really expect a restaurant to be where The Goose Station was. There was underground parking in the building itself though so that was a plus.

Now the minute you enter the Goose, what you see is literally what you get. It was a bit bare, and I thought it would be good for the place to have more character even if you were trying to achieve a minimalist appeal. Also, I must be blind, but apart from the exposed wooden beams, I didn't quite get the barn reference at all. You can see all of it in one sweep in that moment between walking in and taking that next step into the room. At the time, there was our table that would seat seven to the left, another table by the door that sat four expats, a table that sat a couple who ordered ala carte, a long table that sat approximately 12-14 smack in the middle of the dining area, and two smaller unoccupied tables at the other side of the room that could have sat 4 people each. So it was a pretty intimate setting but it was roomy enough that your table and your space was your own and you weren't squished with the other diners.

The Bag Holder

As we settled in, I was loaned a bag holder with the Goose Station logo on it which I thought was absolutely adorable. I still wish they had let me have it at the end, but it was there for diners to use, not to take home. I do appreciate the thought that went into getting this for diners. Some women just like walking around with giant sacks that we pass off as handbags and are usually left helpless when dining as there is nowhere to put them and having this holder just solves that problem right away. PIC on the other hand had a similar accessory issue as he was politely and discreetly told he needed to change into something more appropriate as he was wearing a t-shirt, khaki shorts, and leather sandals. Actually, they mostly had issues with his giant toes peeping out more than anything else. I guess it didn't really fit into their smart casual theme. So he went back to the car, grabbed a pair of basketball shoes he'd just bought, and wore those to hide his hideous (peace PIC!) digits. This seemed to mollify the staff but to be honest, I think PIC would have been better off just sticking to the sandals, the basketball shoes made him look like a street thug.

Soon enough though, we were complete, and we all picked the Express Menu and it was gobbling time!

By the way, there is a slight peculiarity to ordering at the Goose. You have two Menu choices, the full one and the Express. Apart from the full one having more courses and a different set of options, it had their 24 hour steak as part of the choices whereas you paid an extra PHP 1500 (?) for the option on the express menu. It was more value for money to opt for the full menu if you wanted to go for the steak as there was less than PHP 1k difference between the two menus and like I mentioned, you get more options. The only catch though is you have to make sure that everyone else goes for the Full Menu, you can't do halfsies where a few do the full one and the rest do express. It was a bit of a toss up, but since we couldn't get the full table enthusiasm for the full menu, we opted for the express menu instead.

At the end of the evening it was a mixed review. I think it really depends on your palate whether you enjoy the experience or not. Five out of seven were happy, while two of our friends weren't. My guess, is that if you are used to stronger tastes heavy in meats, sauce, and sugar, you will not like dining at The Goose Station as the whole concept of the place is based on the slow progression of food servings that allow you a different but complementing experience with each bite. It was subtle, with hints of flavour here and there popping from the most unexpected places. But again, its not for everyone. Service wise, we had a very polite and endearing server, who I wish explained each dish and what to expect even without prompting. Personally, I'd give it a mythical four out of five stars if I were so inclined to rate it. Its good, not perfect, but getting there.

Their Welcome Snack

Foie Gras with in a cone, you wouldn't think its duck liver at all!

Crab ??? this was a cold dish, cannot recall what it was called...

Eggs Benedict

Sous Vide Salmon

The Fake Hamburger - Love the attention to detail on this one

Goose Confit

Banana Frite

Another dish I can't recall... :(

Love the fake Oreo in the middle

A deconstructed blueberry cheesecake

http://www.thegoosestation.ph/

http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2009/11/the-goose-station.html