GREEN PASTURES, Chef Robby Goco’s Farm to Table & “Organic” Masterpiece

Location: 4F Shangrila Plaza East Wing, Mandaluyong City; Eastwood Mall (Opening Soon)
Reservations Telephone Number: (02) 654-3219 / 0922 633-4687
Email: contactus@greenpasturesph.com
Facebook: Green Pastures
Twitter: @greenpasturesph
Instagram: greenpasturesph

Green Pastures Menu

Admittedly, I am not big when it comes to organic food. There’s danger attached to calling a restaurant 100% organic. Aside from the fact that USDA regulates organic farming and calling yourself one will lead you into trouble, you know that organic cuisine can’t be entirely purist especially in commercial locations where logistics slash operations can become a problem. Call it Farm to Table, Back to Basics, Sustainable Farming – how would you really know if the ingredients in the dishes you’re eating had less pesticides, locally sourced, “un-canned”?

Unless you’re Rene Redzepi of Noma and you have a farm at the back of your restaurant.

I think that’s one of the many reasons why the Organic Foods have grey areas, and in the end, it all boils down to whether the consumer loves the dishes you serve or not. At the same time, organic food doesn’t necessarily equate to having more nutritional value versus conventional ones. And Rotenone pesticide is listed under organics but causes Parkinson’s Disease.

GREEN PASTURES by Chef Robby Goco

These were the thought I had before dining at Green Pastures, Chef Robby Goco’s 6 year in the making Farm to Table concept that spun the revolution in the metro last year. I shudder to think that’s the reason why people clamour for the likes of Wholesome Table and Grace Park at Rockwell. The lines were still unbearably long, although reservations are accepted beforehand, but much patience is needed when spontaneously dining at Green Pastures. This is, of course, one of 2014’s Best Restaurants according to the Philippine Tatler.

Green Pastures’ menu changes monthly, depending on the ingredients that are in season. But whether or not the ingredients were organic or healthy, or being left in the open without cover, I don’t care. There’s only thing I am after at Green Pastures, and that is FRESH, FRESH, FRESH. That in all honesty, makes the difference.

Farmhouse Salad – P550

While I could have easily chosen October’s special salad or their DIY salad, the Farmhouse Salad is Green Pastures’ bestseller that is undoubtedly one of the best salad I ever had. The hodgepodge of ingredients listed in its complex menu – Shreddle Kale, Chopped Romaine, Konbu Roasted Chicken, Mambo goat cheese, hard boiled eggs, Dinelli Organic Bacon, Corn, Ripe mangoes, Grape Tomatoes tossed in Honey Mustard Dill Vinaigrette – entails the salad being unbelievably loaded.

See, while eating the Farmhouse Salad, I don’t really think about whether the greens were pesticide free. And you say locally sourced? The Farmhouse Salad has Dinelli Organic Bacon that’s from a commercial supplier, that Chef Robby Goco admits, Green Pastures is not a 100% F2T concept.

Regardless, who would care in a salad that’s absolutely mind-blowing?

House Made Burrata with Toast Bread – P355

But one thing I appreciated was the fact that the strawberries on my Burrata were from Mt Atok. Heirloom Tomatoes were so sweet, I could hardly distinguish the difference between the two. While it wasn’t the best burrata there is, I am a lover of cheese, and would gladly return for the Ricotta or Stracciatella instead.

Flounder Fish and Chips – P395

If there’s anything funny with my experience at Green Pastures, it was the fact that the vinegar spray for the Flounder Fish and Chips wasn’t functional. I ended up opening the cap to douse the Katipunan Ale battered Flounder that’s meaty on the inside and crunchy on the outside. I love, love, love their French Fries in yogurt dill tartar sauce. Eat it while still hot, as when its left in the cold, it won’t have the same crunch as your first bite.

Al Funghi Pasta – P485

I love the Al Funghi Pasta. Organic Mushrooms, Garlic, and Creme Fraiche plus Pecorino in Linguini was divine. I could only hope they have something like this but instead of Creme Fraiche, its oil-based pasta.

80/20 Burger – P465

At P465, Green Pastures’ 80/20 Burger is a knockoff, thought might be a little small on the patty. I always love burgers in buttered Brioche Buns. The Stracciatella? A killer in disguise. Buffalo milk cheese that’s pulled fresh and drenched in EVOO and arugula is cheese that’s welcoming to my tastebuds.

I decided to eat it deconstructed to find out the taste of the patty that’s 80% grass fed beef and 20% double smoked organic panchetta. It’s nice to know that it isn’t 100% beef and Green Pastures honest enough to say it wasn’t.

And yes, the fries? Once again, addicting.

Roast Organic Chicken – P595

If there’s one dish I thought we should have skipped in our dinner, it’s the Roast Organic Chicken. It was tender, fall of the bone in Konbu Brine Broth, but apart from that it wasn’t memorable.

And the past few paragraphs were dedicated to burgers, fish, fries and chicken swimming in oil that’s nothing healthy, but worth to indulge, dangerous to say that it’s not going to block your arteries somewhere. Organic, Farm to Table movements doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy.

Green Pastures has nothing to do with the idea of “Organic Eating” being ridiculous to me. You won’t really fall dead unless you keep on eating something way too much and you know what they say that too much of something isn’t good for you.

I’d like to return to Green Pastures for a FRESH and a breather in dining landscape, Stracciatella that’s worth the hundreds of calories and the idea of “organic ingredients” in my plate – a welcoming “bonus” only to my palate searching for exceptional, impressive, yet simple cuisine.