Like a beautiful symphony, Alter Ego will have you from the first note – the perfect balance between the traditional and familiar, the bold and different.
If you’re craving for a dining experience beyond the usual and familiar food, Alter Ego is a unique gastronomic journey you should take, with its mélange of flavors from its fusion dishes designed to cater to modern palates. Balancing playfulness, tradition, and innovation, three chefs collaborated to form a restaurant that promises to satisfy culinary cravings for something familiar, yet radically different.
The restaurant is a passion project that chefs Ronald Allan Lim, Benedict Bernardo and Joy Tan that can be traced 14 years, back when the trio was still in culinary school. Part of the chefs’ training involved having to create dishes out of randomly chosen ingredients – a task that honed their ability to fuse distinctly different dishes onto a single plate. The potentially infinite possibilities presented by the practice gave them the vision of opening up a restaurant that allowed them to put to use their experimental inclinations.
“As chefs, we want you to be always surprised, and keep on thinking and guessing how we do it, and what the flavors are in each dish,” Chef Joy says of their approach to their European-Asian themed menu.
Expat recommends
Alter Ego Salad

Made with garlic shrimp, gorgonzola cheese, candied walnuts, white onions, mixed greens and mango vinaigrette.
 
French Onion Soup Gyoza

The chefs didn’t waste any time showcasing their fusion flair, with this French onion soup poured over ground beef and caramelized onion gyoza, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.
 
Salted Egg Shrimp Pasta

For the main course, you can’t go wrong with this Singaporean-Italian dish made with dry ramen noodles, fried shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and rich salted egg sauce.

Chicken Pandan on Paella

You can also opt for this filling creation: Thai chicken pandan on chorizo paella rice. The dish also comes with three sauces on the side – red curry aioli, sesame soy sauce, and pickled mango.

10-hour Beef Bourguignon

French-style of stew featuring beef short ribs braised in red wine, with shiitake mushrooms, Szechuan peppercorns, and mashed potatoes.

Lemongrass Pork Salpicao

For those who love their pork, Alter Ego offers the Lemongrass Pork Salpicao, served with garlic rice and pickled green mango on the side.

Twice-cooked Pork Belly

This comfort Filipino dish is given a twist by preparing it sous vide for six hours. The grilled pork belly is then paired with ratatouille and buttered basil rice.

Coconut Mango Gateau

Round off any Alter Ego meal with this dessert highlighting the flavors of coconut, mango, and rum. The plating of the dish depends on the chef’s mood. Fortunately, the result remains utterly good regardless of where their moods may swing.
Alter Ego European-Asian Fusion Bistro is located at 41 1st cor. Hemady Sts., Brgy. Valencia, New Manila, Quezon City. For reservations, contact (02) 717-8033, (02) 622-6209, or email discoveralterego@gmail.com. Visit https://www.facebook.com/iamalterego/ for more details.

 
By VIA BAROMA