van gogh is bipolar

april 18,2013

i decided to bring my then-suitor to this place since i've been dying to visit this place ever since coz of the good reviews. well, it was worth going even its raining very hard that night. we really had a great time since we're welcomed by the owner itself who was busy for his exhibit the next week. the place was sooo comfy and cozy and very private. dining experience at its best i must say.

sovangogh was serving what they call the cuckoo diet - designed for beings who are feeling depressed, stressed out, anxious, or just in a plain foul bad mood. it is designed nutritionally and chemically to activate these specific nuerotransmitters in the brain known to make you happy and chill.
the meal includes:

* virginia woolf’s tears - light tangy turkey broth soup with greens and banana chips
* larry flynt’s cabbage experience - entails wrapping cucumber, tomatoes, banana chips, salted egg, and walnuts in a cabbage leaf then dipping in soy sauce.
* "happy" - organic chicken with mountain brown rice and "chill" - crunchy salmon with mountain brown rice
* mel gibson’s darkest sin - absinthe with dark chocolate
* courtney love’s potion - is a cocktail of various fruit pulps and juices using rare ingredients such as wild palawan honey


rating our dining experience:

location: 5/5 (very private)
serving: 5/5 (self service but they're very helpful especially if you need something and you can't find it)
food: 5/5 (yummy and different)
overall experience: can i give this place a 10? hahaha.

xo.
ani

i soughtvangogh is bipolar on a day that i received potentially horrible news. i was with 2 friends, but jetro, owner and resident cuckoo, seemed to intuitively know who needed a bit of comfort. he was very attentive and considerate.

i consider it a privilege to enter his asylum as he calls it. there is peace amidst the chaos. the food is love on a plate, i swear if you could eat love that's what it would taste like. halfway through the meal you let go of sadness and anger. even a trip to the restroom can be cathartic, with all the "confessions" on the wall.

please do not try to walk in and expect a table to free up for you. vgib's food is not meant to be wolfed down and it is prepared upon order. people linger, talk between courses, make their own tea, try the different hats on display. that's why you need to reserve first (09228243051). i suggest you like their facebook page as well so you know when jetro is away and the shop is closed.

take your shoes off before entering, and follow the house rules posted on a board on the wall. leave your baggage at the door. :)

i often read about "van gogh is bipolar" when i search about the best restaurants in maginhawa. a friend and i wanted to explore maginhawa and we decided to go here. i used waze to find the place and honestly, when we got there we still couldn't find the resto. it was located in a lot and had no signage. if we hadn't asked around, we probably would never find it. for those who want to go here, please note that they only open from 3pm-12mn regardless of what it says on the signage (it states it opens at 1pm), please also note they are closed on tuesdays. the whole area can accommodate around 20 people so it's best to come early as they do not accept reservations anymore.

coming invangogh, you'll notice there are so many elements to the place. there really is a story to tell for each section of the restaurant. they even have a guidebook to let you know what you can do inside. there are really a number of things you can do but i probably can't tell them in the order stated in the book. some of the things you can do are:

1. write negative thoughts in the dark room
2. have a shot of the coconut oil
3. have a shot of the baking soda water
4. write positive thoughts on the red wall
5. wear a hat/mask
6. make your own tea

an interesting concept from this restaurant is that once you order, you have to put your payment in a jar and get the change yourself. you will also have to record the sales on a log book which they will use to tally at the end of the day.

the food they serve is a set meal and your choices are vegetarian, pescetarian and carnivore. there's not a specific vegetable, fish or meat you can choose, it varies every time if i'm not mistaken. i had the omnivore set meal while my friend had the pescetarian set meal. i was served with lamb on top of red rice topped with some fruits and herbs while my friend was served with salmon on top of red rice topped with fruits and herbs. with the set comes a tamarind juice and a special dessert. i initially found my lamb a bit salty but then i dipped it in theirvangogh sauce and found that it actually balances the flavors. the serving portion was so big i honestly couldn't finish it so definitely value for money. i also love their tamarind juice, normally i don't drink/eat anything that involved tamarind but i really found their drink very pleasant.

now on the most interesting part, their dessert! i had the wholesome dessert which was a frozen ice candy and it was quite good but it was the sinful dessert that got our attention. it was chocolate liqueur but the alcohol used was actually absinthe! on a spoon, the waiter placed some muscovado sugar and placed some of the absinthe on it. he lit it up on fire as to lessen the alcohol content and finally placed it on the chocolate. my friend drank the shot of absinthe and finally ate the chocolate liqueur. i was so engrossed with the presentation i forgot to take a video!

i also wanted to note how kind everyone was in the resto. the owner's pet cat actually jumped on the chair beside us and ate the leftover skin from my friend's fried salmon. out of concern for the cat, we had told the staff that the cat had taken it and it might be bad for her. the waiter was so shocked and went in the kitchen and a few minutes later came out to apologize and told us they would replace the salmon. we insisted that it was unnecessary since we were already done eating but they still had another one made. we were so embarrassed as it really wasn't our intention to get a new salmon served to us.

honestly the whole experience was amazing, we spent almost 3 hours there because there were just so many things to do! i definitely recommend everyone to try this, perfect date spot as well! :)

eating atvangogh is bipolar is a unique experience. from the friendly volunteer staff welcoming you, to dining on the menu of the week which in this case is a vegetarians delight. i found the experience enjoyable even if the price for the meal is somewhat high but i learned that the proceeds they get from the food also helps sustain the charitable work they do here. in the afternoons from 3pm to 5pm except tuesdays, they invite people to care for the homeless. volunteers are welcome to spend time with the homeless, talk to them or do activities with them. you can also donate clothing, toys and even food bec they also have a feeding program. all this is done out of love and this serves as a good reminder to be selfless from time to time and give back to society.

it was my first time to eat atvangough is bipolar yesterday.

service:

i love that the owner himself was very hands-on. he was out there talking to all the customers. he was very accommodating and pleasant. to our sever, me and my friend are both very honored to be the first yolk-breaking customers that you served.

food:

the food was very interesting. if your palate is not that adventurous then this might not be your cup of tea. it was my first time to taste those kinds of flavor combos in food and i fancied it. it is not typical. it is not what i'm used to, but at the same time, i enjoyed it. it was something that gave me a good feeling even hours after eating it.

experience:

i love the alice in wonderland feel. i love that things are not what they seem here. although i was not used to using the utensils that they had ( i almost gave this a rating of 4 actually because i had a hard time using some of it xd) and i didn't get to see any fairies, everything was really chill- especially in the shadow room. the light room was also nice, but i like the shadow room the best. you won't know what kind of food they're going to give you but they will give you a piece of paper where in you can write down what food you're allergic to and what kind of food you prefer. it is good for people with food restrictions.

overall, was i satisfied? yes i was. will i go and eat here again? yes i will. i enjoyed all the surprises and everything that i experienced for the first time. it made me really happy. :)

dining invangogh is bipolar is a gastronomical healing journey that should be experienced at least once. the menu changes a lot since it's heavily reliant on what's available. notable dishes though were the salmon which was well-cooked and the chicken with a really delicious marinade! both were juicy and went perfect with black rice. nothing out of the ordinary but it was cooked well. i chose the alcoholic dessert where you take a single shot inspired by absinthe with a chaser of rich, dark chocate. it was an explosion of flavor. the wide selection of mood healing tea is also worth noting! i got to try four different types. the lifeservers were really great too! i came out feeling refreshed.

not just a café, not just a restaurant — but a mood-healing sanctuary. that perfectly sums upvangogh is bipolar which is located in the ever popular foodie destination, maginhawa.

i've been wanting to visit this place for years and finally had the chance to do so last weekend.vangogh is bipolar is owned by artist jetro rafael, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and uses culinary adventure as a form of healing.

we arrived at the place at exactly 12nn for our reservation. you'd need to take off your shoes before entering the place, and upon entrance, we were greeted by all sorts of weird, quirky and whimsical objects. even the feel of the place was like falling onto the rabbit hole.

we were greeted by lawrence, who was our attendant for the day. he was very cheerful and friendly and felt like he could be my baby brother. you'd instantly warm up to him. haha! he gave us a black guide book and a checklist for our food preferences (where you have a choice for the heat level of your food, if you're a vegetarian, pescetarian or carnivore, and you can list down any food allergies), as well as their ala carte menu. we opted for the experience set meal for p999/head. it comes with soup, appetizer, drinks, mains and dessert. not bad, eh?

now back to the black guide book, this is where all the magic starts. ✨ inside the black guide book are different self-healing rituals you can do. first, choose your own teapot and make your own mood-healing tea based on your current mood. they have a mood meter for your reference on what tea leaves to choose from. the process of making my own tea is a relaxation in itself, bakit pag sa bahay at nag-steep ako ng lipton tea bag hindi ganito? lol, jk. 😂

i'm not going to list down all the mood-healing activities so as not to spoil those who haven't been to vgib yet. but i'd like to highlight the activities that i enjoyed — the dark room, where you can write down your deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets. the garden, where you can sit down, breathe, think and relax. oh, and it has a swing! ♥️

now let's go to the food! their menu is always shifting and mostly depends on the mood of the owner.

✨ soup — virginia woolf tears
it's a veggie-based hearty and slow-cooked broth using just natural ingredients. perfect to soothe and comfort your weary-stressed soul. yas! they had me at "comfort your weary-stressed soul". charot! but kidding aside, what i loved about this soup — aside from its unique name — is that it's uncomplicated (unlike your relationship status, charot again!) 😂 it's very flavorful with just cabbages and cashews as its main ingredients.

✨ appetizer — axl rose's organic egg shot
this one was personally prepared by lawrence for us. it's made of organic egg submerged in hot water for 5 minutes, then the egg white is separated from the yolk. the yolk is then put on a shot glass, sprinkled with organic sea salt with wild honey mustard, and jägermeister. organic egg is a known stress buster especially when eaten raw, and jägermeister is a type of herbal liqueur which includes 56 herbs, fruits, roots and spices.

before downing the egg shot, lawrence told us to never take a shot without saying "cheers!" in a different language. the boyfie and i toasted to "kampai!" and downed it! damn, bruh! this one is for the adventurous soul! i'm an adventurous foodie anyway so it was no biggie for me, but i gotta admit i was a bit weirded out. in a good way, of course. 😂

✨ drink: courtney love's potion
— my courtney love's potion of the day was fresh coconut water with a slice of dalandan, topped with mint and edible flower. it was served in a tall glass and the drink was just too pretty!

✨ mains: personalized happy or calm dish
— consists of lamb chop with cordillera black mountain rice, and different sorts of veggies and fruits, all in one huge plate. this dish was super filling, i loved how perfectly cooked the black rice was! it wasn't grainy and goes down smoothly. and the lamb chop was 💣 — the meat was tender and very flavorful. plus, i liked that they included fruits and veggies in the dish, it was a nice combination of salty and sweet.

✨ dessert: mel gibson's darkest sin
— for dessert, lawrence gave us a choice between wholesome and sinful. we initially chose sinful for the bf and wholesome for me so that we can try both. but he suggested that for first timers, sinful dessert is recommended. who am i to argue? sinful it is!

this sinful dessert is a shot which is mainly absinthe liqueur with wild honey and homemade melted dark chocolate with walnut as chaser. lawrence prepared this drink in front of us, he poured the absinthe on a glass bowl and lit it on fire to dilute the alcohol volume and sprinkled cayenne pepper which created a "firework-like" effect, it was too entertaining! 😂💯 (fun fact: absinthe is vincentvangogh's favorite drink and he was high on this when he painted his most noted masterpiece, the starry night.)

again, in true vgib fashion, we toasted to "cheers!" in a different language, this time in german — "prost!" i felt the burn of the alcohol from my throat all the way down to my stomach. the melted dark chocolate was indeed the perfect chaser, it washed down the bitter taste of absinthe.

van gogh is bipolar is truly a gem. the experience was one for the books! the saying "good food is good mood" holds true in this mood-healing sanctuary. no wonder first timers are intrigued and regular patrons keep on coming back.

this is a place not meant to be rushed, you need to linger and savor the experience. i instantly felt lighter afterwards. ♥️ i will be back! and for those who still haven't been here, i suggest you reserve a table, pronto! ✨

if you want to try a more different and playful ambiance, tryvangogh is bipolar. loved its unique theme! vgib has lots of story to tell about the restaurant's theme and food.

we had a free dinner for two at vincentvangogh is bipolar last april after winning in a raffle hosted by we want workshops. so, this is a long overdue blog post, bear with me please (hehehe). we want workshops took care of everything, we just needed to set the schedule and show up. "bipolar, apparently, is a description of a person who has a manic depressive illness -- someone who feels very happy at one moment and then suddenly becomes depressed."

me, my girlfriend and her bestfriend went here last july 7th for her birthday and since she wanted to go here for the longest time. i also want to go but sadly i didn't had the time before. so on to the review.

place = 4/5

i really love the ambiance of the place. it's very different and since we went inside barefoot, i really felt at home. i apologize that i've forgotten the lady who assisted us but she was very polite and so were the other people there. try to call just to be sure you have a place since some people tend to stay for awhile just like we did (note: there were nobody yet when we went there so we had the place for ourselves for a few hours). they also have a word of the day for "cheers",

ours were

the only thing that i didn't like was the fridge where you put the shoes, it smelled different.

price= 4/5

some people may say that it's pricey but for me it's totally worth it. some people that you are just paying for the experience but i could say differently. the food tasted fresh and you have like an explanation for the food you are about to eat.

taste=4.5/5

i have forgotten what the names of some of the food that we ate so i just looked it up from other food reviews.

we chose "experience and calm diet" (what do you expect, of course i'd choose meat).

hot tea (holy water if i remembered correctly) = 👍

when we got inside and sat down. we were served a hot tea. it tasted a little like a mango, a little sweet.

soup

the soup was okay. it's like rice porridge with lots of vegetables (cabbage i think), since i don't really like vegetables, i had a little trouble enjoying it.

axl rose’s egg shot

the appetizer is an egg yolk mixed with tamarind sauce/drink, i didn't like it that much since i don't like tamarind but it's still good.

courtney love's potion = 👍    

it's our drink and it's great. it had some fruits in it but it still tasted great. as per jetro, it would be better to drink using the glass instead of the straw as they have a paper straw and it might affect the taste of the drink.

main dish = 👍

since the main dish varies depending on what is fresh and jetro as well. i didn't find the name so i will just describe it as much as i can.

it was a chicken breast (i think) with black mountain rice with different kinds of fruits and vegetables on the side. the chicken was cooked well and it was delicious. the black mountain rice was great too and i was joking that i'd want more of the rice. the fruits were fresh as well. i at least tried all of them even though i didn't like some. the vegetables i had to give to my girlfriend.

mel gibson's darkest sin + yogurt = 👍

for our dessert, it was a shot of absinthe flambeed with sugar i think then served with dark chocolate. i took the shot and ate the chocolate. i think i might have drank it the wrong way as i didn't tasted the absinthe that much.

her other dessert was the yogurt with dark chocolate. she said she liked it too.
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all in all,vangogh is bipolar is a great place to stay at and definitely worth the visit.

tried it here waaay back october 2015 for a school project and interviewed the owner. hmm, i must say.....i will never ever forget this place

we went here after school. i live in pasay so yup, we braved the traffic and rushed to maginhawa and prayed that it would still be open by the time we find it. we kinda had trouble finding it since it was sort of hidden. it was my first time in the maginhawa area then so you could imagine how lost i felt.

all these aside, my experience invangogh is bipolar was a m a z i n g in all aspects: the service, the vibe of the place, the food, the cleanliness, etc.

my friend and i got:
- sweet marbled potatoes for our hot appetizer
- a dish that consisted of salad, black rice and chicken w/ sauce on the side for his main
- linguine pasta w/ salmon strips for my main
- some ice candy for his dessert
- some ice cream (ginger, i think??) with dried mangoes on top for my dessert

and everything was plated attractively & pleasingly. but what's really interesting is that the owner mentioned something like having different dishes depending on the cook's mood?? it's that cool.

the place was decorated in a way that each side/part of it had a different feel (you should really go there to see it for yourself) i also loved the bathroom. it was so clean, relaxing...and just wow

they also had a "make your own tea" section which is a super plus because duh, tea is life.

the owner we interviewed was very warm and welcoming. he told us about howvangogh is bipolar came to be and we were just amazed because it wasn't just buolt for fame or whatever reason there is for people to put up restaurants...but to heal and to comfort those who need it

if given the chance, i would definitely go back to vgib

i've written a blog about it - not a food review, but basically to just share my experience when i tried vgib. i know that it's been a while since the last time i've visited, and i'm sure that there were already a lot of changes and improvements. nevertheless, i am still waiting for the opportunity to be back in the resto for another great experience! prost!check my wordpress blog at jerichoswalls :vangogh is bipolar – more than just a place to dine.

the place: small but homie, relaxing, and unique. there's a lot of things to look at and read. it's the first restaurant we visited where there's specific guidebook to maximize the place.

the food: our main course is the best ive ever had. it is evident that every detail and everything in that plate was carefully selected. the rice is magnificent! the chicken is amazing. that edible flower (i forgot) is really something! the homemade bananachips (best of its kind) i just love everything about their food!


the dessert, i order their sinful one, is really beyond what i paid for. not just the taste but i love how they have this ritual and a little background talk from their friendly staff/member/family.

we were given a chance to see the owner's room! there's this weird feeling where u just want to say thank you to the owner for this wonderful place.


i lovevangogh is bipolar. i will visit again. i will recommend!

with courage and passion, we went to maginhawa street for the first time just for us to eat a lot and try different food chains/shops. at first, we planned to go at least three stores. one of our plan was to go to nook cafe to try their signature beverage. but unfortunately, we couldn't due to unavailability of space/tables. so, my friend and i walked and looked for other restaurants that we could dine in.

we didn't know where wasvangogh is bipolar until my friend discovered a vacant lot and she was too curious to get in.

it was magical. we didn't know that the place we came through was vgib site. we were too happy that we almost celebrated outside.

we thought that the place was abandon until we discovered an old cabinet. on that cabinet there is a written phrases and we saw the signage "van gogh is bipolar." we were too amazed.

we came in without shoes. the owner said that we need to take it off. and orange the cat will be the one to take care of our shoes. as we came in, we saw a weird place. it was creepy at first because we need to do some rituals like tasting virgin coconut oil and baking soda and wearing hats.

amusement. that was the first thing we felt. after doing some rituals, the waitress/staff let us choose our food. the menu was written on the mirror, t'was weird because i only saw that kind of writings in horror movies. like you'll use lipstick or red marker. creepy.

going back, the food was blast. all of their specialties were organic and healthy. i ordered mashed potato and citrus juice which are bomb! my friend ordered fresh slice of fruits and apple cider juice. it was a little bit pricey but worth it.

the staff and chefs are accomodating and friendly yet somehow creepy (just my thought).

i also talked with one of the owner. she said that the cafe is really intended for people who suffer from stress or depression. because, also them experienced that case. the owner is bipolar.

i've learned a lot of things in this restaurant. i also suffered from depression before when i was a high school student. and i think this restaurant will not only provide food but also a way to relax and escape from darkness.

if you're looking for something different, organic, and healthy chow, or warm customer service, go findvangogh. thank you google map by the way 😀