Sand Under My Feet: Enjoy Asian Fusion Dishes at Bistro Charlemagne Now Open at Ayala Malls Feliz!

I bet you’ve heard of Charlemagne, the name sounds familiar right? You may have encountered him in one of your history classes when you were still at school since he was someone important in history. He was a Frankish King who is widely regarded as the father of modern Europe. In addition to being a king, he united much of the territory of (present-day) Europe under the Holy Roman Empire.

But for those who love to eat, Charlemagne can be associated with great food. You might have heard of Bistro Charlemagne or might have dine at their Solenad Nuvali branch. The restaurant ventured to Manila and is now open at Ayala Malls Feliz. And will open another branch next year at Ayala Malls Bay Area.

Bistro Charlemagne is named after its owner Charlemagne Lim who’s very familiar when it comes to food business as he is a third-generation restaurateur. The restaurant is an offshoot of the Little Asia brand which is one of the pioneers of Asian fusion in the country. Bistro Charlemagne remained true to its Little Asia roots and created new dishes for its patrons to enjoy.
Their menu is a unification of flavorful dishes with 40% coming from Little Asia menu and 60% are newly invented ones. Just like the great king Charlemagne unifying most of Europe back in the day, Charlemagne Lim combined what he already has and crafted new ones to bring about a menu that is so diverse you keep coming back to try the others you haven’t sampled before.

The Ayala Malls Feliz branch of Bistro Charlemagne is located at the 5th floor garden area just in front of the largest Timezone in the Philippines. It is a wide space with the interiors following the same elegant and comfortable atmosphere like the one in Nuvali. You’ll notice that tables here are clustered to form a long table because the restaurant is an ideal place for families, group of friends and/or for meetings and group of officemates.

I went there with my fellow foodies and we tasted some of their best-selling dishes and desserts which includes the following:
Little Asia's Crispy Chicken - a classic house special crispy chicken with freshly made savory gravy. This fried chicken is an heirloom recipe of the family which was passed down from Charlemagne’s grandfather. It is what has kept three generations of restaurateurs alive from the 1950’s until this day. The taste of the chicken is so classic and so familiar, it’s as if like you’re eating one those good fried chickens during special occasions and holidays. In my opinion, even without the gravy, the chicken is already good. It’s juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Beef Tenderloin Rolls with Cheese - finely rolled strips of beef tenderloin with cheese and sauteed in authentic teriyaki sauce. This is Bistro Charlemagne’s signature dish that they are most proud of. Loved by kids and kids at heart like myself. Ugh! I can’t even say how much I love these beef tenderloin rolls. These little babies are like pieces of heaven especially when you bite into it and the cheese oozes out from inside. I swear I can finish one order of these all by myself! A high recommended dish like 10/10! It ain’t so obvious this is my favorite dish at Bistro Charlemagne right? Lol!

Ox Sisig - slow cooked ox tongue and ox tripe mixed with their special livermansi-mayo topped with chicharon bulaklak. Here Bistro Charlemagne recreated the Filipino classic; this sisig packs a punch in spiciness, flavor and texture. “Mouthwatering” is an understatement. This is a must try. Eating ox tongue and tripe is usually an acquired taste but the good thing with this sisig is that you won’t notice the tongue and tripe, only how good it is. I love the flavor of liver on it mixed with the mayo. Oh man, so good!

Shrimp Poppers - lightly battered deep fried shrimps tossed in special sweet chili-mayo and chili oil served with a side salad. This is another dish that I really like here even though they’re on the spicy side and I have very low tolerance to spicy food. The shrimps are succulent and fresh and the sauce is a perfect combo with those plump shrimps.

Japanese Mixed Seafood Salad - tossed tuna, shrimp and kani with spicy mayo finished with ebiko, tempura flakes and sweet soy. A refreshing Japanese style seafood salad. I like how flavorful and full of texture this salad is. It’s a good alternative to the usual salad with a little oomph thanks to the spicy mayo.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls - Vietnamese fried spring rolls stuffed with glass noodles, pork, crab, mushrooms and served with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce. I love eating spring rolls whether it’s the fresh ones, the Chinese version or the Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. I loved that they combined all that in this dish. It’s a very unique dish IMO and fun to eat more than the usual spring rolls because with these you get more of the filling than that of the wrapper (which is the usual thing for our regular local spring rolls).

Bistro Sisig Fries - succulent thrice-cooked pork cheeks blended with creamy sautéed chicken liver sauce on top of fries. I have one word to describe this dish: #Shookt! I mean hello, where do you get two of your fave bar food in one dish? Tell me?! Lol! The sisig part is on the spicy side, but we’re good. The fries are house made and not so greasy.

Ghirardelli Chocolate S'mores - roasted marshmallow laid on Ghirardelli chocolate ganache served with graham crackers. Gosh, don’t get me started with Bistro Charlemagne’s desserts. They offer really good ones like this one. Imagine this uses quality chocolate. Every time you dip those graham crackers, and get those gooey marshmallows and some chocolate and out them all in your mouth at once is like tasting a piece of heaven! Loooove this!

Reese's S'mores - roasted marshmallow laid on peanut butter chips ganache served with graham crackers. OMG, Reese’s! It’s my favorite chocolate variant of all and in the form of S’Mores, this has shaken me to the core hahaha! I’m so exaggerated because this is out-of-this-world good! It’s so fun to eat as well, even without those graham crackers, I’ll take it anytime!

Pandan Crepe - soft pandan flavored crepe filled with shredded coconut stewed in coconut cream and coated in palm sugar and then drizzled with latik (coconut caramel). This this is so unique and so surprisingly good!The crepe is highly infused with pandan flavor. The shredded coconut inside will remind you of macapuno and with that Latik sauce it’s so heavenly. It’s coconut overload!

Blueberry Custard Napoleones - puff pastry with vanilla custard and blueberry filling and with strawberry coulis and pistachio dust. These pretty little thingies were the crowd favorite and it’s not hard to understand why. The custard has a light delicate taste with a good texture created by the crunchy puff pastry and the combination of the blueberry and strawberry it’s nothing short of perfect. Like seriously!

Their beverages are also something to rave about. From left to right: Blueberry Cheesecake Shake, Four Seasons, Lemonade, Banana Peanut Milkshake.

Bistro Charlemagne also offers set meals and a birthday promo where you can get a free Little Asia’s Crispy Chicken if you dine there 7 days before, during and 7 days after your birthday. Terms and conditions apply.

I have tried so many restaurants in my lifetime and I must say that Bistro Charlemagne is one of those that I totally enjoyed, dish after dish, dessert after dessert. The food that they serve here gives so much comfort and leaves a smile on your face. I love how personal the service too and that the crew are attentive and are very well versed of what the restaurant propounds. If you haven’t tried eating here, I’m telling you, you’re missing out! So if you’re from the East side go and visit Bistro Charlemagne one of these days!

BISTRO CHARLEMAGNE
5F Garden Area (Near Timezone)
Ayala Malls Feliz, Marcos Highway
Dela Paz, Pasig City
Contact Nos:

Facebook: facebook.com/Bistro-Charlemagne

Instagram: instagram.com/bistrocharlemagne

For more information, complete menu and restaurant reviews, check out their Zomato profile: