Impressions Restaurant by Chef Cyrille Soenen at Maxims Tower, Resorts World Manila

One of Manila’s eminent French chefs, Cyrille Soenen, is no longer with Restaurant Cicou but he can now be seen topbilling the newly-opened Impressions Restaurant at Maxims Tower of Resorts World Manila.

The restaurant on the third floor of Maxims Tower is adjacent to the exclusive Genting Club (membership: half a million pesos annually). With its swanky surroundings, you can just guess the kind of customers Impressions seeks to attract. But we were quite surprised to find that one can have a meal here for as little as P600.

First, what impresses is the design of the place.A floor-to-ceiling wine cellar makes for a good invitation to have a sip of the very best. From end to end are open view work stations where you can see the cooks and pâtissiers preparing the food.

On the day of our visit, we were welcomed by no less than Chef Cyrille and Resorts World VP for Kitchen Management Hubertus Cramer who told us of their dream to make Impressions the first Michelin-starred restaurant in the Philippines. Not bad coming from two seasoned masters in the hotel industry.

As we waited for our food to be served, I couldn’t help but gaze at the gleaming cutlery.Impressions really impresses – no doubt that I would highly recommend this place for dates and special occasions.

First to arrive was the bread that came with high-grade imported butter and anchovy tapenade. When bread arrives perfectly baked like this, I have to remind myself not to eat too much or I’ll feel too full for dinner.

Up next was the bowl of greens – a mixed salad of crab, mango, assorted nuts and Romaine lettuce. I consume this with gusto, excited with what further lies ahead. Note that this was quite the mystery dinner in the sense that we really didn’t have an idea what the food would be like that night.

The delicate cream soup of mussels and ravioli of mashed watercress and oysters was quite unforgettable. I usually don’t like cream soups, especially if they’re instant or come from the can. But Chef Cyrille’s soup was my favorite part of the meal. It trickled down my tongue so softly and smoothly with such a divine flavor. And I will never view cream soup in the same way again!

More culinary goodness:

The red mullet fillet stuffed with prawns a la Nicoise and laid on a bed of ratatouille –

Duck breast with foie gras with some savory sauce and mashed broccoli. Superb!

And our meal-ender: nougat glacé & strawberry coulis … I love!

Impressions has a separate dessert station so expect them to make exquisite desserts.

As they’ve just opened for barely two weeks, the menu is lean & mean. But here’s the price list on their special offer.

Appetizer or soup or dessert + one main course – P600

One appetizer, one main + one dessert – P800

Appetizer or soup, one main + one dessert – P1000

Appetizer or soup, 2 mains + one dessert – P1200

Impressions – one of the best dining places unveiled in 2011.. take our word for it! 😉

Impressions @ Maxims Tower
Call 908-8888 or 908-8000 for reservations