Birthday Day at the Orchids

We did a lot of good eating in the week leading up to my actual birthday day, and then capped it off with something even more special.

Francisco made reservations for us at Orchids at Palm Court at the Hilton downtown.  I've heard good things about this restaurant, so if you're looking for fine dining, this is the place to check out.  I started our meal with a Calamansi Cocktail as we perused the menu.

We ended up both deciding to do the Vegetarian Tasting.

OK, so this place was so fancy, our server had an assistant. Every presentation of food was meticulous. We were brought an amuse-bouche to begin the meal, which was some kind of savory custard presented in a brown egg shell.

The vegetarian tasting menu is presented clockwise from left below. Everything was tasty and beautifully plated. I think the soup might have been our favorite.

So, dessert just kept coming and coming. The bottom-left was our actual Dessert Duet that came with our tasting, but we were also brought the cute little bowl at the top-left. The server assured us that our dessert would be more sizable. A little tray of macarons and other little treats was brought out with the check, and then we got homemade granola bars to take home that are made from the honeycombs that they have on site.

This delightful experience definitely confirmed that we are not fancy dining people, lol. It was certainly interesting, but it definitely put a huge dent in our restaurant budget! I guess it's nice to splurge for your birthday once in a while. :)