Karangalan Scholarship Fundraiser dinner at Tidal (Spring 2017)

Although this is dated March 8, this was supposed to be posted back in Spring 2017.

Yes, more than 2 years ago.

I am going through my drafts and realized I never posted on this Filipino fusion dinner, so here goes.

The occasion was for a Filipino American scholarship fundraiser for my district...


One of the gals on committee knew the Chef DJ Tangalin, who at the time was working at Tidal in the Paradise Point resort in Mission Bay.  He was formerly of JRDN, Tower 23. He later went on to Bivouac Ciderworks in North Park and currently (as of late Spring 2019) is the new chef at Gaya Gaya, which replaced the former Sarap Filipino Kitchen.

It was a rainy evening from what I could recall. 

We drove by their famous metal observation tower with a turtle inspired top.  At the very top, you have a very nice vantage point of San Diego on a clear day.

We didn't seek out any views that evening since it was cold and rainy.

Tidal, at the time, had been getting press for the new Chef's spin on imparting Filipino inspired dishes to their menu especially during restaurant week.


This was the card at everyone's table along with the evening's menu. Everything is self explanatory.

We were seating in a private area that was cordoned off with a fabric separator.

Cocktails - Roman mule and the mostly finished Maple old fashioned. One of the drinks was a friend's who was sitting across from me.

Maple old fashioned:

The Skirball (so named after the Hollywood producer Jack Skirball who bought the resort in the late 50's.

All I remember was that everyone's drink was pretty good!

The menu:


I believe this was the amuse bouche - various garden vegetables with dots of vegetable puree. Seemed a bit haphazard.

A lot of us were saying our Filipino parents would be thinking, WTF.

The other amuse was more of the same but with leafy greens...

Hmmm.

Now we're talking. This was the seafood longanisa in lumpia form.


There was rice (not fried as specified on the menu and I can't remember why)...Same thing with the vegetables in the handled dish. I believe they were shredded.  The main dish was the roasted pork shoulder. Paksiw is usually a dish cooked in vinegar. This definitely had a tang to it. What was interesting was the housemade Mang Tomas sauce. Normally that sauce is derived from pork liver. This was more of a "mock" Mang Tomas sauce using bread crumbs from pan de sal. Interesting textures.


Pork belly was on top of the shredded pork shoulder...

You can see more of the pork shoulder here:

I liked his versoin of deconstructed pinakbet. He wasn't heavy on the bagoong (fermented shrimp paste).  This was sauteed garlic, onions and long beans. Nice and crisp.

Lastly, dessert was deconstructed turon with anana ice cream, roasted bananas and a churron like crisp on top of the ice cream. The fruit dots  were made from jackfruit. There were also bits of brown sugar sponge cake on the plate.

My thoughts? Not a great looking presentation.  I felt this way for most of the meal. Not wanting to sound like a hater. The best dish of the night was the pork belly with the shredded pork shoulder. The lumpia came in second. I liked what he was trying to do, but it just seemed very slap dash.

But at least we raised some money that evening for the students...

At the time of this writing (Summer of 2019 but backdated to Spring 2019), DJ Tangalin now heads Gaya Gaya in Mira Mesa. I will be trying that restaurant out soon with Mary of This Tasty Life.

Tidal (at Paradise Point Resort)
1404 Vacation Road
San Diego, CA 92107
(858) 490-6363

tidalsd.com

Not sure who is the head chef at Tidal now, but two years ago, it was DJ Tangalin. I hope his offerings at Gaya Gaya are more relatable that the mish mash we had this particular evening two years ago.