FOODIE THOUGHTS: Ziggurat Cuisine: A Pleasure to the Palate

One of Makati's best-kept secrets!

From the outside, it is an unassuming sight but once you step inside the vicinity, the vibe takes a different turn. You choose whether you get the alfresco treatment, or go inside the air conditioned area and sit in the floor, cross-legged style, or take a seat in one of their few tables. Whatever you choose, it does not have a significant bearing on the entire experience as their food is the main lead.

Lonely Planet recognizes this place as one of their 2009's elusive Editor's Pick! The only one in Makati to have gotten this distinction. Cool!

This is their menu! My photo does not give it any justice. The build-up of excitement will reach its fever pitch because one may find it an extra challenge to order food from cuisines that you are not quite familiar with, let alone read it from this HUGE menu with am equally HUGE array of choices..Indian, African, Meditteranean & Middle Eastern. 

HERE IS OUR CHOICES:  
Appetizers:

Hummus (Ponded garbanzo beans with tahini) and Mutabbal (Hand-chopped grilled eggplant with tahini) with traditional bread

Salads: 

Arabian Salad (Garden fresh vegetables with special Arabic dressing). A different taste but delightful still to the tastebuds. 

Arabian Chickpea Salad (Special salad of chickpeas simmered in olive oil, herbs & lemon)

Our Drinks (what an experience!):

Indian Chilli Beer. Spicy tanginess!

Cameroonian Mango Shandy. Whatta kick for a mango juice!

African Ginger Beer. Just like our Salabat, but with an alcoholic taste. 

 Main Course:

Medium Kebab Platter (consisting of chicken tikka, beef tikka, and a choice of beef, chicken, or fish kufteh served with grilled vegetables). All were cooked tenderly, still juicy and very tasty. The parsley salad was something else. It triggered something in me. Haha!

Chicken curry dish (I forgot the name of this dish)

The Rice choices. I'm not sure what their names are but we ordered the ff:
1. Jordanian Rice ( premium Basmati, butter, vermicelli, and almonds)
2. Iraqi Saffron Rice (Basmati, butter, cumin, almonds & saffron strands)
3. Afghani Rice (premium Basmati rice, butter, parsley and cilantro)

They are all long-grained and tastes good and really stood out!

Dessert: 

Baklava (a traditional Mediterranean dessert made with phylo pastry, honey, walnuts and almonds). definitely something that I used to watch only in foreign cooking shows on cable TV. So happy to have tried it! 

What time is it? Time to go home and digest all that good stuff!

Or stay a little bit and have a nightcap 

The moment of truth! LOL 

What's the best thing with this experience? Free of charge, courtesy of our immediate supervisor who treated us to this feast. What an experience!

Overall take on this place: A must visit and must-try! The whole experience is so worth it. Though my legs were feeling nothing after that cross-legged, or 1-sided, seating, I will still definitely come here in the near future to have the same experience like my first time here.  =)

RESTO FACTS:
Ziggurat Cuisine Restaurant
G/F Sunette Tower Bldg. Durban St. 
cor. Makati Ave. Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 897-5179
http://www.zigguratcuisine.com/