The minute I walked into CRU Steakhouse, Marriot Hotel’s fine dining restaurant, I immediately saw red. A pulled over red velvet chair revealed the crimson table napkins and red glasses on the table that glowed under the muted lights from the red modern chandeliers hoisted above. The focal point of the restaurant was the show kitchen with hot red flames jutting out of their specially designed beachwood grill that carefully hid three high-powered exhaust fans sucking out the smoke from the sizzling meats. With the oily scent out of the way, the resplendent array of aged red wines stacked neatly on a reddish wall exuded a woody trace in the air. CRU’s romantic interiors evoked an old Hollywood glam meant to highlight more than the fire, heat or the fact that they serve one of the finest red-meat steaks in Manila. Red, as I realized it, also conjures the temptation to indulge and splurge.
CRU Steakhouse isn’t called a fine dining restaurant for nothing. Its three paged menu, though short and steep, has everything covered from the starters to desserts. Their selection of steaks is also impressive. I was fortunate to view their chiller where they store their high-valued steaks. Trisha Lagman, CRU’s manager, beamed with pride as she pointed at their 250-g US prime rib eye that has high marbling content, which indicates that the meat is of real premium quality. Pairing the red meats is no problem as CRU shipped fine French wines from regions such as Burgundy, Alsace, Bordeux, Rhona Valley, Champagne and the Loire Valley. The restaurant’s most prized wine, Château Lafitte Rotschild, goes for P56,000 a bottle. By the way, CRU is a French wine term that means “growth place.”
