A Grand Vieux: Tripping in an Old Style Chalet in Antipolo

The first time I went to Vieux Chalet, I was with my workmates, driving around Antipolo.  Right around lunch, Cindy remarked that there was this lovely Italian restuarant with a fabulous view of Antipolo.  When she mentioned the name, I immediately thought to myself how un-Italian sounding it was. In fact, it sounded a bit French. I shrugged this off and went along with them. I was hungry and a vision of a plate of al dente pasta made my mouth water.  When we got there, I saw the sign clearly saying, "Vieux Chalet." I pointed this out to Cindy and told her it appeared to er, French.  

We were both wrong, as the cuisine turned out to be, in fact, Swiss.

Anyway, fast forward two years later and M and I found ourselves hankering for some greenery after being trapped in the city for the holidays.  I remembered Vieux Chalet and suggested it to M, who immediately stepped on the pedal and headed east.

We got lost in the winding roads of Antipolo, so we ended up in the resto at 3pm, which wasn't so bad as we soon had it all to ourselves.

Famished, we ordered their Swiss platter and raclette to start.

M ordered the tenderloin with Cafe Francais sauce.

while I got the osso bucco.

Dessert was apple walnut slice with homemade butternut ice cream.

M ordered a the only bottle of wine they had left-- obviously they had not yet recovered from the holiday season.

I love the light here. This restaurant is so photogenic. I've decided to post more details in my photo album so as not to bombard you guys with pictures.

The Swiss platter was your typical cold cut and cheese platter, but we were a bit disappointed that they only had one kind of cheese (store-bought camembert) and common cold cuts instead of Swiss sausages.  The one standout in the platter was the pate, which wasn't liver-y at all, but tasted of mushrooms, spices, and olives. I forgot to ask what it was, so I suppose I'm going to have to go back to find out! :-D

M's raclette was all right, albeing a bit lighter than the one I was used to in Old Swiss Inn.

I loved the osso bucco. I would've wanted it with a side of gremolata, but it was good on its own. Since we were alone, I wasted no time emptying the marrow from the bone and slurping it up with bread.

M's large order of tenderloin came with Cafe de Paris sauce. I recently looked it up on the Internet and found out that the sauce in Vieux Chalet  was in fact, not sauce (which is made with cream), but Cafe de Paris butter.  This was butter whipped with herbs like thyme and rosemary, then mustard and capers. The mixture is frozen and tossed on top of a steak as sauce. I wish I'd known this earlier, because when M offered me a bite of steak, I-- thinking it was couscous or something-- took a huge bite of it. The moment it touched my tongue I realized it was too good to be cream. I would've spat it out if it taste so heavenly.

The apple walnut slice was again, just all right.  It went well with the butternut ice cream, but after tasting Chatuea Hestia's Ferrero ice cream, my standards have gone up a few levels.

Although a bit pricey, Viuex Chalet is well-worth the trip and the price. The place is nice and charming and the food better than most higher-priced restos in Manila.

And yes Trina and Victoria, I drank loads of water. Loads of it. I am still with the program guys. Thank God we haven't gotten to the part where we start moderating our food intake. ;-)