If you ever feel like unleashing your inner James Bond, head off to Sky Range – a P200-million, first-of-its-kind indoor shooting range at Solaire Resort & Casino in Parañaque City. Have your fill of a wide array of guns and ammunition, but don’t expect to get a martini, though, neither shaken nor stirred.
“We cannot allow intoxicated guests to shoot, that is why we don’t serve alcoholic drinks,” said Gerry de Belen, president and chief operating officer of Sky Range.
You can, however, load up on Sky Range Cafe’s “macho” dishes and single origin Brazilian coffee, something that would bring great joy to purists who nix coffee blends.
“Mr. Razon (Solaire owner Enrique Razon Jr.) wanted our cafe to serve food that is not available in other restaurants of the hotel. We have what I’d call a ‘macho’ menu – packed with carbohydrates and protein – heavy enough to fight hunger and light enough so you don’t feel lethargic while shooting,” de Belen said.
“We also gave a tactical twist to the names of our dishes,” he added.
For starters, the cafe offers Combat Arroz Caldo (Hainanese chicken rice porridge with spring onions and quail eggs), which is classified as a soup but is actually a meal in itself; Special Air Service Salpicao Nachos (topped with beef salpicao and salsa); and one of their bestsellers, Ruffled Fat Buckshots (onion rings and chicharong bulaklak with tartar and vinegar dip).
Guests have four sandwiches to choose from: Locked and Loaded Grilled Cheese served on homemade oatmeal bread and with truffle fries on the side; Roast Beef Revolver in mustard horseradish sauce on baguette; Double Action Chorizo Burger with vegetables and onion rings; and Long Trigger Adobo Sliders on pan de sal with kesong puti.
For guests who want something heavier to eat, Sky Range Cafe offers Chick in the Chamber (home-style buttermilk fried chicken with potato wedges); Speed Loader Lechon Kawali (deep-fried pork belly with liver sauce and garlic rice); Russian Roast Beef Roulette (roast beef with mushroom sauce); and Barbecue Blast Spareribs with java rice.
The cafe’s Barrel Pasta Primavera – penne pasta tossed in vegetables and flavorful light cream sauce – pays homage to the AF2011-A1 by Arsenal Firearms, a double barrel semi-automatic pistol, which made its first appearance in the James Bond film Spectre in 2015. In the movie, the character of Mr. Hinx, played by Dave Bautista, fires at Bond’s plane, leaving two holes in the metal skin.
The 2011 release of the AF2011-A1 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the legendary Colt 1911. It has been called a “masterpiece of the Italian gun industry” – a beautiful weapon that comes with a beautiful price tag of P800000.00 should you want to take one home. The double barrel pistols at Sky Range, however, are not the most expensive versions of Arsenal’s AF2011-A1. Arsenal released two (and only two) pieces of gold-plated, intricately-engaved double barrel pistols, fetching for P25 million each.
While Sky Range has an exclusive membership program, it allows hotel or casino guests to avail of the shooting range after paying a day pass rate of P10,000. It offers a pistol package for P5500.00 (covers pistol rental, two target papers, and 25 pieces of ammunition) and a rifle package for P6,600 (covers rifle rental, two target papers, and 20 pieces of ammunition).
“A lot of foreigners come here, and women too, usually to while the time away while their husbands or boyfriends play at the casino,” de Belen said.
“And after blowing off steam at the firing range, our guests get their gastronomic fix at our cafe. I think even James Bond would have felt right at home here,” he added.
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Photos by Nadezhda Iskra Herrera
