Upon hearing the name, I was expecting some sort of Wall Street themed-restaurant with grey interiors and lots of LCD monitors showing Bloomberg or something. The Stock Market isn't anything like that at all. Owned by Del Monte Philippines, this pineapple-themed restaurant doubles as a deli and marketplace as well.

For starters we ordered a bowl of Cream of Porcini Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil (P260). We requested one order split into two bowls (to which the server gladly obliged, plus points for service!) since we planned on sampling a lot of other dishes. The half-order we had was just right, but I thought the taste bore a likeness to Campbell's Mushroom Soup (of course this one was better but there was definitely a similarity). After that we had the Stock Market Fresh Harvest Salad with Pineapple Vinaigrette (P240, pictured here). The salad was served on half a pineapple shell, it was comprised of lettuce leaves, grape and banana slices, and walnuts. It was sooo good. The sweet and sour pineapple vinaigrette was delicious. I normally have a hard time finishing lettuce leaves because they're so tasteless but the pineapple vinaigrette was so flavorful I had no problem eating away down to the bottom of the pineapple shell where there were only lettuce leaves left.

For the main course, we ordered steak since The Stock Market claims to use their very own exclusive Australian pineapple-fed cows -- Grilled Angus Rib-Eye Steak with Bordelaise Sauce and Gratinated Potato (P1,495). We had it done medium well and it came out exactly as we requested. The meat was tender and juicy, but I preferred the A1 Steak Sauce on our table as compared to the wine-based sauce it was served with. We also had the Cornmeal-Crusted Salmon with Horseradish Hollandaise and Rice Casserole (P490). It was divine, the cornmeal crust was very tasty and the rich sauce complemented the salmon perfectly.

For dessert, we settled for the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream (P160). This is by far the best flourless chocolate cake I've ever tasted. Most are too sticky-sweet and would drive me to drink gulps and gulps of water to clear my throat. This one was just lovely, and we had no problem finishing the whole order.

Aside from the wonderful food, The Stock Market is such a photogenic place because of its equally wonderful bright pineapple-themed interiors. We went with my sister who's very sensitive to scents since she's a couple of months on the family way, and the place agreed with her. There were no disturbing odors (well, except for the rest room area which she couldn't take), and the whole place was immaculately clean.

The Stock Market is on the pricey side but it's well worth trying out.

Click HERE for more pics.