Trying out a couple of new places

My friends and I decided to have dinner last night in the Bonifacio High Street area because we all haven't been out as a group in a while. Pia wanted us to try something new so when I stumbled upon a write-up about Stella Wood Fire Bistro while looking around in clickthecity, I suggested it. The menu looked interesting so we chose Stella as a our dinner venue.

Unfortunately, Raffa and I got pulled into a very urgent meeting at 8pm that night. I normally don't take any evening meetings on Fridays but this was very important so I had to make an exception. We decided to have dinner really early - at 6:30 PM - so that Raffa and I could have a quick meal, head back to work, then catch up with everyone over coffee or drinks. Since call time was a bit too early, most of the gang still wasn't there when we started. So Pia, Joh, Raffa, and I tried out a few items in the menu. I tried a bit of the Porchetta that Joh and Raffa ordered which was really good and I was happy with my Mediterranean Lamb "Shepherd's Stew". However, the truffled egg crostini though seemed a bit too expensive (not very good value for money in my opinion) and the Spanish Chorizo & Garlic Fried rice was a bit too oily with not much chorizo in it. As it turns out, Stella is part of the Raintree Restaurants group that includes Mr. Jones (one of my favorite restaurants), Momo Cafe, Museum Cafe, and Chelsea. I do like all these restaurants so I guess it's not a surprise that at least some of the menu items in Stella were also quite good.

The scariest moment of the evening happened when Raffa saw updates on his iPhone about an explosion in Serendra while we were in our meeting. As he saw it, he showed it to me and we both started calling our friends to see if they were okay. Apparently, both Joh and Pia actually saw the explosion but they weren't sure what it was. In fact, Pia thought it was just lightning. This explosion became (still is?) a trending topic on social media sites and the sad thing about it is that a few people died and a few more were injured. I read that the cause of the explosion is still unknown.

Anyway, once our meeting ended, Raffa and I were still able to rejoin the group for dessert at 2nd's, which is located where Mag:Net in Bonifacio High Street used to be. When we arrived, Me-Ann and Peegee were already with the gang although Chris and Shar had left due to another appointment. I ordered coffee and the Molten Amaretto Chocolate Cake (moist chocolate with a bittersweet ganache center served with raspberry chantilly cream). The waiter told me this was their bestseller which is why I tried it and it was pretty good.

We all called it a night a bit past eleven since a lot of folks had to get up early the next day. I am just happy that none of the gang was injured; after all, they weren't that far from the blast.