No Mood Swings at Van Gogh is Bipolar

I had the reason to throw tantrums that night. Yue (my trusty Nikon D90) got his pop-up flash busted from my carelessness. But hey, it must be the VGIB effect that I remained composed all throughout the night. The Stress Drilon portion began when I got home. I didn't send me to a good night's sleep. :(

But hey, remembering my oh-so wonderful night at Van Gogh is Bipolar, I can't help but smile.

Van Gogh is Bipolar had been a long-time apple of my eye. I just needed the occasion, the funds and the companion to bring with me there. It was supposed to be an anniversary dinner but we think me might get short of cash so we postponed it until the next weekend. We settled for blowing muffin cakes during our anniversary and adopting Moriarty. :)

Reservations made and lord knows how excited and anxious I was. It will be our first sort-of formal dinner and it was very memorable. ♥
(ETA: It was a candlelit dinner. What's more sweeter than that?)

Went wooooow with the visual overload that greeted me. I was like warped into wonderland.

VGIB is a place for good mood. The adventure begins as you remove your shoes before entering. (Ours began when we rushed our way to Maginhawa on a taxi to arrive on our 7PM reservation time. Traffic kinda killed our pockets.

Jetro (the owner) gives you a walkthrough of VGIB upon your visit. First the house rules, VGIB's self-service system and of course, your table. 

Here are the 8 House Rules:

1. Indoors are reserved for 12 diners only. (This is why you have to make reservations first.)

2. Stupid & idiots are welcome. (And obviously the klutzy me is also welcome.)

3. NO SERVERS HERE. If you need anything "Please ring the bell by the kitchen window."

4. Write your name & orders on paper provided.

5. For tea drinkers - Read instructions on How to make your own tea.

6. After eating, kindly place soiled dishes by the kitchen window.

7. For billing, put payment in the red box. Get your own change and receipt. (Yes, you will write your own receipt. Which we forgot to take afterward. Boohoo.)

8. Carve your name on the tea bar & scribble your dark secret inside the dark room.

I initially planned on getting us the 3-course meal at Php666, but D insisted we get the 4-course at P777 instead. They also have the 5-course meal at Php999. Even though we splurge sometimes, we still have to watch our budget!

For the main course, you will have to choose between HAPPY or CHILL. Happy for fish and Chill for meat.

Courtney Love's Potion and Virginia Woolf Tears

The bell rang! Upon the magic window came out the Virginia Woolf Tears and Courtney Love's Potion of the Day. Sounds interesting, right? VGIB's menu choices are named after famous bipolar personalities. Even the owner-slash-chef Jetro is bipolar himself. He turned his bipolarity (that maybe majority of the population will take as something negative) into a wonderful creation that he shares with the curious souls aka us. :) And the best thing about VGIB, they only serve all natural and good-vibes-inducing food. So no mood swings here, only good vibes all the way!

Next came Jetro bearing our appetizer. He said he wanted us to be adventurous on our first time in VGIB -- so he presented , the Axl Rose's Egg Shot. It is indeed for the daring and adventurous. An egg submerged on hot water making it soft-boiled and then added on a sugary, i-dont-know-what-it-is-anymore medley. Sweet and very sweet lumps of sugar, then a kick of spice (I guess) and the creamy taste of egg.  It was a party weirdness in my tongue, and I mean it in a good way. And in VGIB, when you take a shot, you say PROST! :D

Then we started on our soup, the Virginia Woolf's Tears. I can't explain well the taste but it was sort of citrus-y. And as what I said to D, it was the kind of soup that will make you feel better when you're held up in a room and sick.

Courtney's Love Potion of the Day on the other hand, is a different story. It was, as cliched as it may sound, love at first sip. It was the kind of juice that I will take on at any given day and I'm not even a juice lover (blame the soft drinks addiction I have). You, yellow concoction topped with fruits and served cold, I love you already.

Then comes our main course. Happy for me and Chill for D. We picked one of each. My Happy meal is of salmon belly with black mountain rice topped with mangoes. D's Chill meal is of chicken wonderfully marinated and nested on cabbage leaves and them small potatoes (which D and I took dibs on) topped with mangoes and cashews.

We were both in good mood as we chowed down our meal. Then the unfortunate event happened, Yue fell off from the chair I was sitting on. I carefully placed him behind me but alas, misfortune striked. After a moment of panic (that literally lasted for 10 seconds), I was back to my best mood whilst praying that Yue will be alright and the damage can be fixed.

Then Jetro popped the question about our desserts, "Sinful or Wholesome?" When I asked him what Sinful was, he said it was a shot of vodka with dark chocolate. Tempting. But I was concerned with my allergic reaction to alcohol. Wholesome on the other hand, is an ice cream based dessert. I forgot the name though, I was always bad with names.

Because I was in a good mood, so we go for Sinful. I'll mind the allergies later.

Did I made the right choice? I don't know yet. Dessert was called Mel Gibson's Darkest Sin.
The Russian vodka on test tubes already made it awesome for me. I have the quirks for laboratory glasswares, must be the pharmacist in me. And it was my first time to encounter gold bits on alcohol!
Downing the vodka then eating the dark chocolate afterwards, it was actually really good. The combination was perfect. And this is coming from me who doesn't drink alcohol. The warm feeling from the vodka soothes down on your throat together with the sweetness of the chocolate.

Remnants of our Mel Gibson's Darkest Sin. 

We were so full after our meal -- full of happiness! : )

D paying our damage and putting it on the red cash box as Rule #7 orders. VGIB is like a fancy honesty store.

But the best part of being is VGIB is -- making your own tea!! :) Picking which teapot to use is a lot of fun and also what tea flavor you'll have!

Avocado tea for me! 

Red teapot with bunnies on em to match my hair! Haha! That was purely coincidental.

Our experience in VGIB is something that sounds like, "Everything is wonderful and nothing hurts." It truly was, I even forgot Yue's misfortune (maybe because he was still working well only minus the flash). We were just so delighted from our VGIB experience. Whether you are celebrating an occasion or just simply having an average day, a visit to VGIB will turn any frown upside down. Thank you Sir Jetro for the amazing time and for giving birth to VGIB!

Me wearing the Nazi cap (accdg to Jetro) which is banned I think in Germany.

We spent the rest of our night exploring the place and we carved our names on the tea bar before we left! I hope to see it when I go back again to VGIB! It is more than worthy for a second visit! I have been stalking observing virtually via the net how VGIB have evolved through the days and I should say that every visit is a unique and special experience for the diners and that's what makes Van Gogh is Bipolar truly magical. ♥


Van Gogh is Bipolar can be found at 154 Maginhawa St. Sikatuna Village Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines. You can text 0922.824.3051 for reservations. Sir Jetro is really nice and a very awesome person!

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