Celebration Dinner at Deo Gracias

My dear Anna recently had a milestone birthday and she celebrated it with her family and friends over a fantastic dinner at Deo Gracias.

Deo Gracias

Deo Gracias is a Spanish restaurant in the Tomas Morato area (specifically, along 11th Jamboree street). At the start of the evening, Anna said that it felt fitting that we were joining her at this restaurant because Deo Gracias is a Spanish play on words on the Latin phrase Deo Gratias which means Thanks be to God. She said that there is a lot to celebrate in this milestone birthday of hers and she was very happy that we were there that night to join her.

We had an incredible feast that evening. We started with several charcuterie board-style starters such as the Tabla Iberica which includes Jamon Iberico, Salchichon Iberico, Chorizo Iberico...

Tabla Iberica

and Tabla De Quesos which includes Manchego, Idiazabal, and Mahon cheeses.

Tabla De Quesos

Croquettes are a popular Spanish appetizer so it wasn't surprising that Croquetas Liquidas de Queso was on the menu. This is a croquette with Idiazabal cheese and a bit of apple jam.

Croquetas Liquidas de Queso

The Gambas al Ajillo y Gulas is a bit of a twist to the popular gambas dish. While it still has prawns, garlic, and olive oil, this dish also includes baby eels. I really loved their gambas!

Gambas al Ajillo y Gulas

I also really enjoyed the Puntillas Fritas. What makes this dish interesting is that the crispy baby squid is served with parsley aioli and squid ink aioli. It's quite cool to have squid ink as part of the dipping sauce of a squid dish. 

Puntillas Fritas

Anna and her family love callos so our menu that evening also included Callos a la Bilbaina which is pork and beef tripe stew with chickpeas.

Callos a la Bilbaina

Instead of the traditional paella to go with our Spanish feast, Anna selected Fideua Pollo y Alcachofas which is like a pasta-based paella (with pasta being used instead of rice). This dish includes chicken, artichokes, chorizo, and thyme aioli.

Fideua Pollo y Alcachofas

Our final savory dish of the evening was also the most grand: Cochinillo Castellano. This Castillian-style roasted suckling pig was delicious. The fact that it had a special presentation, with the wait staff cutting it up using a plate to show us how soft and tender the meat is, made the dining experience even more exciting and memorable.

Cochinillo Castellano

Different wines were served that evening. We had white wine, red wine, and dessert wine. Our friends and wine experts Lala and Ferg helped Anna select the wines that would be served that evening.

I did have a bit of the dessert wine but I preferred to enjoy my dessert with coffee. Our dessert: Tarta de Queso Manchego which is Burnt Manchego cheesecake. This was absolutely delicious!

Tarta de Queso Manchego

I took a photo of the cake display and I saw that this cheesecake costs P3,080. It's really expensive but I think that maybe for a very special occasion, I could buy this. I think my family would love it too.

Cake selection

While we didn't have an official program, Anna did ask me and our other friend Jenny (who is a classically trained singer) to sing a couple of songs. She asked our other friend Mitch to bring her portable karaoke machine. Jenny and I didn't have time to practice and I told her I didn't have time to study harmonies so we went with songs that we were both quite familiar with: Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon and The Prayer by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. Yes, I know it was ambitious, but this was a performance with people I know so it felt like a safe enough space to sing these songs without fear of being compared to Andrea Bocelli and Simon Bowman haha. Since we did have a portable karaoke machine, we ended singing a lot more songs that evening, including That's What Friends Are For (which I loved, not only because it was appropriate but because I had just seen Dionne Warwick perform that song during her concert in Manila earlier this year).

It was such an fantastic evening, made even better by the fact that I got to spend time with a lot of great friends. Anna and I have known each other since high school, we took the same course and were classmates in college, and we even worked for the same company twice so everyone who was there that evening were people I have also known for a long time now. It was an incredible birthday celebration filled with amazing people and great conversations, spectacular food and drinks, and a lot of music and singing. Happy birthday Anna!

Deo Gracias
https://www.facebook.com/deogracias.ph
12 11th Jamboree, Diliman, Quezon City 1103