Having Black Soup with Van Gogh

Hello my friends! I am happy to share that I am creating this post with my new ASUS EEEPC SeaShell =) hahahaha I just love it! It's so compact...pretty and versatile enough for my simple needs. This is my first blog post with my seashell---my cute shelly! hahaha =)

Now on to our foodie adventure!!!

Recently we have been going to the usual places we go to, perhaps because we have been overworked the past weeks and have no strength to look for someplace new. Well, for this evening, we belly up for some BLACK SOUP with VAN GOGH.

I have read nice reviews on VAN GOGH IS BIPOLAR, and since last week, I have been trying to get us dinner reservations. A week prior to this visit, I was informed that they were only serving tea....NO FOOD????...then I press my luck again and got us Friday night dinner reservations! I was ecstatic!

Van Gogh Is Bipolar (VGIB) is not your typical restaurant. They are supposed to serve food that will pick up one's mood. Well, who wouldn't want that, especially on a weekend right?

Incidentally, VGIB is situated in a quaint complex, where it is neighboring BLACK SOUP art cafe. When we entered the complex, we saw a few groups of diners sprawled on the grass area, seated on banigs (mats) with small tables enjoying their food and beverages by candle-light, with a movie projected on a screen. That was a nice sight. Our reserved table was actually inside, but we opted for a table al fresco, so may we may enjoy the movie as well. The Devil Wears Prada was showing that evening...hehehehe. We were asked to go inside and read the restaurant RULES. How strict, we thought. Shoes are not allowed inside the resto, you place your order in a piece of paper and bring it yourself to the counter...oh and after your meal...you clean up your own table! hehehehe

We were fore-warned that food takes a bit of time to be served, so being all famished, we decided to sneak to Black Soup to try a dish or two there and have drinks. We of course asked permission from VGIB if we could have food sent to our table from the other resto, fortunately, they allowed us.

FROM Black Soup Art Cafe:

Grilled Lamb Chops Php 220.00

It was kinda sad looking as it was served to us....placed on a lonely plate with a few tasteless and cold potato marble wedges. It tasted ok though...but a piece of meat like lamb, which is not regularly enjoyed, should be served more joyfully to celebrate it's unique taste.

FROM VGIB

Axl Rose Egg Shot (~ Php 55.00 ---egad! I forgot to take careful note of the prices on this visit...my apologies if I am inaccurate with the prices)

We were initially served with this egg being lightly warmed in a glass of hot water...then the sauce shot was placed on top....

...the person (who I think runs the place) was very kind enough to show us how to properly prepare this .....crack open the warmed egg and plunk in the shot of sauce, which was somewhat like balsamic vinegar mixed with soy sauce and oil...

...pluk.....


...stir..and shoot! He told me it was ok ...i tasted a bit and the sauce was nice =)

Cherry Potatoes (Php 155.00)

My apologies, as I didn't get all the proper names of the dishes we had for the evening...the prices I indicate are very close, if not the actual menu price =). Anyhoos, this was part of the appetizer list. We wanted to try the chili wings, but they were out that night. This dish was yummy. Potato marbles dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette like dressing...more sweet than sour, which was very nice.


Salmon with Van Gogh Rice (Php 285.00)

Pardon my overly lit picture...I just had to take a pic of if with flash because the place was very dimly lit and I really want to show all of you what was served to us.


the dimly lit pic.....

As you can very well see, the Salmon part was very disappointing...it was just a thin strip of Salmon....for a Salmon entree. The Van Gogh Rice was made of black rice, topped with peanuts, cashews, mangoes, tomatoes and a strawberry. They offered us some bagoong sauce, which we accepted and drizzled over the rice. That was a nice touch, but over all we didn't quite get was actually being served to us. The Salmon became more of a side dish to the Van Gogh rice. There was A LOT of rice! The black rice had a unique taste and texture, but the nuts and fruit combination didn't strike us as a merry blend. The dish was ok... a bit pricey for a rice dish (we would have appreciated more Salmon =D ).

I wouldn't know if you will agree with me or not with this review. Perhaps you should just try for yourself and see if their cuisine if of your liking =). Perhaps the items we picked were not their best? Nevertheless, our over all experience at VGIB and Black Soup Cafe was ok and entertaining. It was a unique dining experience worth trying.




Van Gogh Is Bipolar

and Black Soup Art Cafe

Both at

#154 Maginhawa St.,

Sikatuna Village, Q.C

VGIB Tel# 02-394 0188
0929 163 8592