GARISH IS GOTHAM
by Louie P. Oviedo

Catacomb-like shelves line up its bar with liquors in occupancy instead of the dead. Red drapes and red couches adorn the restaurant which was supposed to be modern Gothic in design and was supposed to resemble the manor of Bruce Wayne.

Frankly, I was not impressed by the design. If they are striving for elegance, the effect was more of garish if you were to trust my impression of the place. Only the catacomb shelves reminded me of what is Gothic. Probably add a gargoyle or two to its entrance and then fan vault ceilings, add a modern twist to these, now that's modern Gothic for me.

If it's supposed to be Bruce Wayne's manor, the only semblance to Batman was the presence of the bat on stage. Batman and Robin usually have their discussions in the library, wherein one of the books is the key the secret bat cave, that was how I remembered it. No, the place does not remind me of that manor, more of Count Dracula's domain. Okay, I can say its more of a confused Gothic.

Nevertheless, people go here, stay here and enjoy being here---the place is usually jam-packed especially on Fridays and Saturdays---even I am tempted to join in with the crowd one of these days. Breeze through their gimmicks from Mondays to Saturdays then check out the place afterwards.

Mon & Tues: Good News for Tomaderos* (*People who make drinking beer a hobby.)
Every Mondays and Tuesdays is Gotham's Bundy Clock Challenge: Pick up the time sheet, time in for the Bundy Clock Challenge, be charged with Php1.50 per minute of your stay, drink all the beer you can drink---you won't pay for the beer, instead, take note of your time.

Meaning: If you stayed for one hour (60 minutes) multiply by 1.50 equals Php90. If, for example, you drank 5 beers in one hour then you pay Php90!!!

Wed: Jam Nights Open to All Bands (Buy 1, Take 1 on San Miguel Beer)
This is open to all bands---bring in your talent and jam with the best of the rest. If Gotham's General Manager, Renee A. Tuason, liked your music then you might get yourself an invitation to play and be featured at Gotham one of these days.

Thurs: Unplugged Nights (Buy 1, Take 1 on Carlsberg Beer)
Gotham's featured bands perform unplugged/acoustic while you enjoy their music with the lights turned low, sitting on bean bags or lush carpets amidst incense and candles. Catch live performances from Wolfgang, Meagan Aguilar and the Eraserheads this March!

Fri: Horny Nights with Hornito's Tequila Sauza
Get horny as you get big discounts on all Hornitos shots or cocktails. Dance the night away with the Hornitos band---for March, it will be Jive and Polyester grooving your night away.

Sat: Alternative Night at Gotham
Featured bands for March are Advent Call, Session Road, and Strawberry Fields.

And every third Saturdays of the month : Cuervo Tequila invades Gotham as they go live on air at 99.5 RT for four straight hours.

And to top it all, they do serve good food even if they are a bar.

According to Brando Santos, Gotham's executive chef, "We wanted to be a semi-fine dining restaurant. Kaso, medyo nahihirapan kasi to take center stage ang food since Nakpil is more known as a bar scene. Last December, we had to change our menu because we had to give to the demands of our market. As a result, we increased the number of appetizers in the menu."

When Gothic opened in May 1999, Jun Ligueco, their executive chef was one of the consultants for Sarap TV. He was the one who formulated Gothic's bestseller pulutan, which they called "Adobo Nachos."

"We infused the Pinoy classic adobo with global cuisine. Nachos are Mexican but instead of corn, we used wheat flour as an alternative. Since we have lots of mangoes in the Philippines Jun thought of making mango salsa in place of the original tomato salsa. Then we put kesong puti bits to top it off---it's your typical Mexican appetizer with a Pinoy twist," Brando explained.

He added that with the influx of information through the e-mail and the Internet, it was inevitable that there should be an exchange of ideas and culture through modern technology. Thus, fusion was born. Purists frown down upon it since according to the, fusion equals confusion. Imagine in one plate, you could see five cultures combined to give the dish its character. However, more and more young chefs are going towards it.

"We cannot help it since some ingredients which we'll be needing could only be found in other countries so we need to improvise. Still, here in Gotham, with the heightened fusion and global cuisine happening around, we try to stick to some of the standards."

Face to face with the Adobo Nachos Drizzled with Quesong Puti and Mango Salsa. Let me just brief you with my impression of it by giving it a score on what is deem important to someone who has made eating a part of her job description. On the scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest.

Presentation: 10
The effort they pieced all the triangular nachos side by side to form a volcano, with the mango salsa and the cheese as lava and the paste to stick it all together---that was impressive.

Creativity: 10
Where else can you find Adobo Nachos with Mango as its salsa anywhere in the City?

Endurance: 9
Even if it has gone cold, their nachos are still crispy. However, soaking it in the mango salsa and the cheese leave it soggy after awhile.

Taste: 7
The garlic has been cut in big slices that I easily got tired of the taste. They should drizzle it with chopped garlic, instead, of the big slices. I also do not like the taste of those big, imported ones so tasting a mouthful of it did not do my taste buds any good.

They have to add sidings for the mango salsa and the cheese in small saucers, since even if it's good for the presentation to let it ooze out, these sauces were not spread out evenly. There are parts lacking in sauce and there are other parts, which have more sauce.

With so much to offer and so much to look forward to---it's just too much---now that's garish.