Chateau Hestia, A Place of Hearts From The Hearth

Hestia – Greek goddess of the hearth.  Sister to Zeus, a virgin goddess.

In the olden times, the hearth is located at the center of the house.  It is the fireside, where cooking is done and serves as the central heat source of the whole house.  Nowadays, the cooking area is not at the center of one’s house but still is important for it reflects the soul of the people occupying the place.

Chateau Hestia is not only a B&B place but also a place where you can drop-by to dine – with someone special or as a group; it matters not for this is one cozy place.  They have a dining area that offers European inspired dishes and even set offerings that will definitely worth your time and palate.  The dining area is amply spaced that even if you are physically challenged, you will be welcomed whole heartedly.

During my stay, I was able to experience some of their dishes – both set and non-set for that matter.  From dinner to breakfast to lunch, the food is worth trying out and so are the drinks that they have.  Let me start with the set meal that they have. Please note that they change their set offering every quarter, so expect something new always and it comes with a glass of wine that you get to choose from their good wine selection.  The set offering is something in their standard menu or to be introduced in their standard menu, combined and offered at a reasonable price.  A truly noteworthy thing about the food of the chateau is that everything is handmade – the bread, the pasta, the dips and the spreads, everything is made manually.  Add to that the fact that they support organic farming especially those around and near the chateau, ensuring that everything that you see on your plate is truly edible – specially the flowers.

Set Dishes

Cheese Sampler (Dutch Smoked Cheese, Blu Ramandolo from Fruili, Truffle Pecorino and Swiss Appenzeller)

If you are a cheese lover, then you will love this!  Four types of cheese for you to enjoy!  Each has a distinct flavor in terms of taste and aroma.  My favorite – Blu Ramandolo!  Strong in aroma and the flavor is definitely not for the faint of heart.  If you love cheese, then you will love this!

Assorted Bread with Malunggay Pesto

The bread selection is wonderful!  All made from the kitchen of Chateau Hestia, the focaccia and Malunggay bread are a wonder to the palate!  The pesto is also a delight!  Think of your regular olive oil and balsamic vinegar combination in an Italian restaurant turned healthier minus the sharp taste of balsamic.

Sausage Platter (Currywurst, Weisswurst, Wienerwurst)

From something semi-sweet to something with spice, this plate will give you a short but meaningful tour of the sausage world. Each of the sausage serve has a flavor that you will like especially when you get to alternately eat it with the side dish it comes with.

Squash Soup

It was thick and with cubes of potatoes that gives added texture.  A little on the bland side in terms of the salt and pepper category but that is not a problem since there is available salt and pepper to use to suit to your palate.

Main Course:  Braised Lamb Ravioli with mint sauce, Feta Cheese and Tomato-Lamb Au Jus

The mix of lamb, feta and tomatoes is simply good!  The flavors are not too bold but simply right to one’s palate.  The lamb filling is tender and seasoned right that even without the sauce, you will enjoy eating it.  The only challenge that I have with this dish is the texture of the pasta.  For me it was a little gummy.  Minus the pasta, this dish is a winner.

OR you could choose the Australian Flank Steak with Red Wine Plum Sauce served with corn and chic pea cake.

The steak is cooked to your liking (I prefer medium rare) and the way it is served would tickle your visual appetite. The plate is clean; no unnecessary smudges or even juices coming from the meat.  The wine plum sauce has the right sweetness that truly compliments the meat.  The meat is seasoned right which goes well with the different components on the plate.  The corn-chic pea cake is a perfect palate cleanser in every bite, making sure that you are ready for the next meat slice.

Dessert:  Apple Streudel

The perfect meal ender!  The crust is light and flaky.  The apple is made soft without losing some crunch in some pieces.  Filled with the right amount of nuts to give additional texture, the sweet level just right and you still get to taste that tartness that is so typical of the fruit.  This is such a wonderful dessert!  Don’t forget to eat the flower that comes with it . . .everything that you see on your plate is edible.

Other offerings:

Not only do they serve delicious food but they also have some liquor that is more than the norm in terms of alcohol percent.  To those adventurous enough and has a high alcohol tolerance, then this is for you!  You feel that slight alcohol burn when you take that swig BUT the flavors . . .the flavor is true to its name!  A must try Limoncello and Orange De Vino!

Breakfast:

Is all up to you. 

From something healthy to something filling, they have an offering to your liking.  From fruits to pancakes to something with rice, they have something that would definitely make your day start perfectly.  With good drip coffee to match your plate, their breakfast offering is something that would make a certain fastfood chain breakfast smile giver goes to shame. 

The pancakes are fluffy, light and airy, and I totally love it!  The syrup served is of good quality – no false flavor.  You can also add in either a sunny side-up or bacon to your pancake plate.  With 3 thick pancakes, you definitely have an energize plate to start the day.  Together with their coffee that has a chocolate undertone flavor, you are in breakfast heaven!

A must try during breakfast is their very own pineapple curdle.  Think of it similar to a pineapple jam but made more creamier and smoother when compared to those in the market.  It goes well with their focaccia, malunggay bread and even your basic local morning bread companion aka pandesal (I took home some and tried it with pandesal and I love it . . . .hope they have a bigger jar).  I don’t know the secret of this curdle but it somehow releases the butter flavor that every bread has that it becomes more when compared to its original taste.

Fruit Platter

Croquet

Pancakes with Eggs

Bacon and Eggs

Sausage and Eggs

Pancakes with Bacon

Lunch Offering/Daily Menu

For lunch, you can have it light or heavy, it is up to you.

Hestia Garden Salad – it is light and healthy!  With yogurt giving that added flavor to a standard green salad offering, it is either you stop eating or ask for another plate.  I went for the later.

Baked Spinach and Mushroom Cannelloni – the spinach and mushroom filling is so good!  The way it was seasoned and made to stay inside the rolled pasta is good.  This is one spinach dish that would make you realize that spinach is good – palate wise.

Fried Pumpkin Chicken – is a wonder of wonders!  Chicken fried to golden brown, maintaining soft meat made even juicier because of that hidden wonder tucked inside that chicken roll.  It has pumpkin butter!  This homemade butter goodness is placed inside the rolled chicken meat that when it fried, it melts and gives that illusion of sauce coming out of that innocently looking chicken roll.  One slice will make you ask for the whole chicken roll.  You can share the potato slices that come with it . . . . or not!  Remember, potatoes and butter goes hand-in-hand and is always delicious.

Baked Salmon and Sautéed Shrimps – I cannot eat shrimps due to health reason but that is not enough reason not to try this dish.  The salmon was treated right and cooked at the right heat level resulting to a visual and palate stimulating dish.  With the skin giving that “curl” and the rich oil of the salmon released adding flavor to the usual spice applied already, you definitely need to try this dish.

Kummelbraten – for meat lovers, this is one dish I will recommend besides the from-the-grill meat choices of Chateau Hestia.  This is pork belly cooked till it is soft and made even better by the sauerkraut serving that comes with it.  The juice that you see on your plate is coming from the meat.  That is pork goodness oozing out!

Their From-the-Grill meat choices are quite good!  From striploin to marble steak to rib eye, they have something to your liking.  Make sure you ask them also to cook it to your liking or preference.  The way they season the meat is your classic rub with a dash or so of spice.  What spice do they use?  That I leave to your imagination to figure out.

For dessert, you may try one or two or all if you like, but for a dessert experience wherein your taste buds would go into a short trip then you have to try A Love Triangle.  This is a plate of dessert pieces interacting in such a way that you will end up smiling.  From something sweet (Mango Napoleon) to something with a tang (Passion Fruit Panna Cotta) to something rich (Mousse au Chocolat), this is indeed a love triangle with no hate element.  The texture varies from one to the next and so is the flavor.  That contrasting flavor from the panna cotta is enough to cleanse your palate of the sweet flavor from the napoleon, making you ready to the sweet, bitter flavor of the mousse. That napoleon with a slight crunch, to the smooth light panna cotta, ending with that velvety/ satiny richness of the chocolate. You will definitely end up with a clean plate and a smile.

Chateau Hestia is truly a hidden treasure in Silang, Cavite.  With smiling and accommodating staff, good food, fabulous simple drip coffee, a relaxing ambiance, this is truly a place worth going to or stopping by every time you are within the area.  Visit them and enjoy the good food that they have and know that everything served is made by the people with a heart of Chateau Hestia.