The new Edsa Shangri-La mall section has brought with it many new eateries. Besides the usual mall fare, there are several new players around. One of these new players is Green Pastures. This place serves organic food; mostly salads and greens but they also have some unique and uncommon non-vegetarian items on the menu. The place stands out because of the wooden cabin motif it has going on. Looks very rustic and rural. Reminds me of a house in Baguio we stayed in :)
Chesca and I saw this dish on the web, so we decided to try their Pinoy Eggs. Actually, I wanted to try it, because I like anything with a good egg on it. Kind of odd that it's called Pinoy Eggs on the menu if there's just one egg in there, but lets not get into the grammar too much :). Wrapped in a homemade sort of longganisa mix, breaded, then deep fried, the duck egg (yep, duck egg) is served on top of some ferns (pako in Filipino) and little grape tomatoes. Looks great, and the egg is done a bit on the runny side. Check out the next picture...
Mmm. Tastes just as rich as it looks. The longganisa mix on its own was a bit on the salty side for us though. The veggies offset this with a bit of acid-y flavor. The egg was nice and smooth, it's subtle flavor rounding out the whole dish.
We had their farmhouse salad too. It's mix of kale, romaine, corn, avocados, goat cheese, tomatoes, boiled chicken eggs, roast chicken chunks and bacon slabs, all drizzled in a light vinaigrette. Like the name says, this thing is as big as a farmhouse, easily good enough for 3 or 4 people. The salad had a light and almost fruity taste to it, with the occasional burst of savory flavors from the cheese, the bacon and the tomatoes. Don't fret dudes, there's plenty of protein in there along with all the greens. There's thumb sized chicken bits and lots of egg slices to go around. The bacon slabs are the size of the average pinkie finger and really were a special treat. A note to other restaurants: if you can't serve bacon slabs this big, don't call them "slabs". Just call them "strips" or something.
Being the glutton that I am, and not knowing if the salad would fill me up (which it did in spades), I went ahead and ordered their 80-20 burger. The 80-20 refers to the mix of meat in the patty: 80% wagyu and 20% panchetta. It came on a brioche bun and had some creamy cheese-like dressing on top, along with some tomatoes and greens on top. Oh, and there were fries with cumin mayonnaise. The burger had a sweet, almost ham-like taste to it. Oh, and it was really oily, probably from the wagyu fat. The fries were quite a surprise here, as the cumin flavored mayonnaise gave them a really unique and interesting flavor. I think it may have stolen the burger's thunder, even.
At just under 1000Php, this is actually a pretty good, very hefty meal for two (if a bit on the expensive side). The home-like atmosphere and the wooden decor make you feel like you're in the countryside enjoying the food fresh from a nearby farm. Add to that the organic label and all the health benefits that entails, and you've got yourself a recipe for repeat visits.
Green Pastures
Fourth Floor, Shangri-La Plaza East Wing,
Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
