viva italia!

i was watching martha stewart one night and she mentioned barilla, which is supposed to be the best pasta brand the in the whole world. i never thought i would find it here. i stopped by santis the other day and lo and behold i found them. i was like a kid in a candy store. i was so amazed that i got some pasta and a bottle of sauce.


oopsy the price tag is still there...so now you know how much it costs

the pasta tastes good, i can't describe it but it seems flavorful, i don't know if it's just psychological but it tastes better. the sauce didn't disappoint me either. i believe it was the perfect italian blend it wasn't sour at all -- or did i tweaked it? i forgot but as far as i can remember it doesn't have the strong flavor your get when you buy pre-made sauces.




for pasta lovers barilla is a must.

penny brown smackers

do you know who penny brown is? well don't know either. i just read anton's blog and i knew i just have to have them. i love ice cream sandwiches and what could be better than freshly baked cookies and f.i.c? so i made sure i got some smackers after work. i chose two cookies - oatmeal and white chocolate i actually wanted 2 oatmeal cookies since i thought they were the better choice but the white choco chips are just screaming at me. i chose raspberry for my ice cream. so what's the verdict? i still like tivoli's eskimo roll (am i right?) i forgot the name but there's an ice cream sandwich back then wherein the cookie has this light brown color. maybe because the cookies are soft...penny brown's weren't. actually the oatmeal cookie was crunchy so the ice cream sandwich wasn't that great. after tasting a "freshly made" ice cream sandwich i now know that the frozen ones are better. maybe because the cookies get soft and yet the ice cream is still in its solid form. but i'm not totally discouraging everyone to try it because they're still good. so you might wanna check them out at glorietta's food choices.

i still have long overdue posts but i hope i find the time to write about them. till next time.

bad bad foodie

oh well i haven't updated my blog yet and my mouth has been watering because of the food blogs i read. check out lori's you'll get the links of wysgal and blairmitch in there as well. so what have i been up to? it seems that i haven't had 'foodtrips' yet just 'expensive' meals which have totally consumed my foodtrip budget. but anyway, as of writing i am still craving for jap food and i'm not talking about a craving that can be satisfied by teriyaki boy...i'm talking about a trip to red kimono or the elusive omakase or even sumo sam will suffice but i actually wanna try out omakase recent trip to that place got a bit messed up. after seeing a blog on cyma i wanna come back again because i can't forget the oh so tender osso bucco waaaah. and what else? japchae yes i have a craving for jap chae. the kaya experience was not that pleasant, i was not pleased with my food - spent around 300 bucks for glass noodles with carrots and onions and a squid omelette tsk tsk. i am tempted to just buy from the canteen tomorrow i just have to go through the pains of heating it up because i am pretty sure it's not hot but i know it will satisfy my craving definitely.

arya - asian part 2

within just a week i had to come to gh twice because of my friend's phone thing. anyway, of course foodies as we are we wanted to try another resto. given the fact that we did not enjoy our first asian food outing. on the same strip as penang is another asian resto named arya .

arya, serves particularly persian cuisine, well i think. but basically their dishes come from that side of asia. so we browsed through the menu and our waiter was not that helpful i might say but thankfully we made pretty good choices.

first one is moussaka, i believe that this is a greek dish but they have it there, maybe this is the persian version.the flavor or the tomato flavor to be more specific is quite strong and we didn't like the large pieces of pepper. i love spicy food but not big pieces of pepper.



next one is, a beef kebab. i'm not really sure if kebab is the name of this dish since it was ground beef. i'm used to kebabs being chunks of meat. anyway, the ground beef version is good and i was told that the chunky version is great. there's a special way of eating it as we were advised, but basically you ought to put the mashed tomatoes and grilled onions on your pita together with the meat and put on the sauce. the manager/supervisor was really helpful with this dish.



last but not the least, is the ox tongue cooked in a tomato curry sauce. it was served with biryani rice. the curry in the sauce was so mild that i recommend it for non curry lovers because it's a good start to accustom your palate. but the best part is the soft lengua. gheez it simply melts in your mouth. i oh so love this dish.


the actual dish it at the left corner of the pic hehe

overall, my dining experience in arya is something that i'll come back for. it was one of the best meals i've ever had in manila.

here are more pics from a different arya outing.



strawberry shake


chicken and beef kebab...i think


ox brain



more info on click the city

up the hill - asian part 1

i know that it's been quite a while since i've posted here and i've had a couple of food adventures that i really want to share but didn't have the time to do so. so here's the first installment.

if there's anything i am adventurous for...that could only be food. so i love trying out new dishes and cuisines, but i have to say that asian food is simply the best. with all the spices and sauces - the food this side of the world are truly palatable.

so one glorious day, as i accompany my friend in greenhills we already started thinking about where we're gonna eat. and without a doubt we said the same thing, "penang hill!" as it turns out we've both been itching to try out that place.

unfortunately, with my food restrictions we didn't go too fancy with our orders. and we basically ordered typical asian dishes which you can get at other restos. we got hainanese chicken, which i actually haven't tried could you believe that.



so what's the verdict? aside from the 3 sauces that comes with it, it's your typical white chicken which you can get at most chinese restos (north park would be my choice). but of course we ordered other stuff too. we got roti cannai which is basically a flat bread with a curry dipping sauce. this was such a disappointment, i would have to say that it doesn't come close to banana leaf's. the roti in penang seems to be not well cooked or maybe it was just the dough and the dipping sauce is so so. another dish we tried is a type of stir-fried noodles. i forgot the name of the dish but it's the one with tofu. well another so so dish i might say, lacks flavor and the vitality of other asian stir fried noodles i have tried.



though my experience in penang hill is not that spectacular, i will give this resto another chance if i end up having it as another option. maybe trying out their other dishes
will make come back for more.

the LIST - been there, eaten that!

constant updates on this entry i hope. it's a list of restos/food establishments i have visited. please see comments too. i've removed the usual fast food stuff that we get to see almost anywhere.

CONTINENTAL/AMERICAN

pancake house - ultimate comfort food

soul food - food is ok (no longer in GBELT so go figure)

burgoo - the only american resto i frequently visit

fridays - i don't really think it's worth it

chili's - same with friday's

heaven and eggs - huge servings

chelsea! - pizza is great. will come back to try other stuff.

JAPANESE

teriyaki boy - reliable jap resto

sumo sam - wider selection of sushi

red kimono - i love this place

omakase - jurassic maki is great!

ucc - known for its coffee but i love the seafood salad

kimono ken - yummy alternative to teriyaki boy

tokyo cafe - fusion/modern jap food

bubble tea - yummy affordable drinks

ASIAN

banana leaf - asian fix, i love the roti

penang hill - first try was not really spectacular, second one is good.
depends on what you order i guess

VIETNAMESE

pho hoa - my favorite vietnamese resto...i could have pho anytime

zao vietnamese bistro - move over pho hoa...this is my new love!!! nice place great service...you could not ask for anything more.

hue - so so

THAI

muang thai - ultimate thai food, very affordable too

blue ginger - food is so so, still love muang thai

jatujak - so so better option than oody's if craving for thai food

oody's - thai quick fix when at the mall

INDIAN

queen's indian resto - flavorful indian dishes, a bit pricey though

bollywood - it's ok, less flavorful/spicy but for the buffet price i think it's worth it

new bombay canteen - quick indian fix

CHINESE

mr. choi - it's ok....good chinese food

north park - favorite chinese delivery

le ching - cheap chinese fix in gh the best chilli ever

luk yuen - i love the seafood roll

mongkok - very tender tendon...flavorful noodles

superbowl - my dad's fave

mann hann - better alternative than superbowl

zong - more posh than north park

healthy shabu shabu - healthy and definitely worth it

causeway - my mom's fave, love the hakaw

duck duck - yummy duck dishes! too bad it's gone now

gloria maris - a tad pricey chinese resto but you can never go wrong

ITALIAN

a venetto - affordable pizza and pasta

amici - more authentic italian food

bellini's - my fave italian resto..paper thin pizzas and the seafood cartoccio

pasto - you could not go wrong

piadina - i thank maki for introducing me to this place love the chili oil!

cafe bola - so not worth it

cibo - definitely better than cafe bola

green tomato - if you want a dose of yummy pasta here's a place to go to

grappa's - great food, excellent service!

MEDITERRANEAN

cyma - my fave!

cafe mediterranean - so so

SPANISH

paloma - should have listened to popoy hehe

PERSIAN

arya - i love this resto too

persia grill - the one at the back of paseo center owned by an ex-pbb housemate, food is ok for its price

mr. kabab - oks lng cheap eh

PASTRIES/DESSERTS/BAKED GOODS

sonja's cupcakes - wasn't really amazed

krispy kremes - the freshly made ones are the best!

conti's - i love it...my parents love it because desserts are not too sweet

gelatone - superb strawberry gelato!

bizu - patisserie

banapple - love the banoffee and pasta jacintha

FILIPINO/FUSION

sentro - filipino food served in a fancy way (definitely worth it)

cascada - i love the maki

cucina victoria - izokay

recipes - pede na

kitchen - interesting food...not so good service

marina - my fam's favorite pinoy resto

portico

BUFFET

dad's - so not worth it!

neilsen's - you'd rather go to circles because of the variety of choices but the food is good too especially because they have unique food items

circles

DELIVERY

buddy's - my favorite pansit

amber's - i love the pichi pichi

ueshima coffee co.

what's ueshima coffee co.? it's popularly known as UCC. i was really wondering what's the buzz about this coffee shop. people say that this coffee shop/resto serve good food as well. they serve unique and expensive coffee blends which i haven't tried. but i promise myself that soon i will. anyway when i went there i had to try the famous seafood salad. i read it in one of the newspaper articles and i just had to try.

this was just a half serving. you can have the salad split into two if you need to share it.





the smoothies collection was also tempting so instead of having hot drinks we opted for these. choco banana and orea smoothies.





the salad was superb...it has tempura, fried scallops, crabsticks and ebikko, it was really a seafood feast. we also had this burger with curry something. i must admit it didn't go well with the salad but the humongous patty was really tender. but of course i ought to try their coffee soon. the recommended ones are the royal european coffee (170+) best with coffee sugar (as my friend always reminds me) and the jamaican blue mountain (there are two variants the cheap and more expensive one).

it was a great meal i didn't regret burning a hole in my pocket. every foodie ought to try this place especially the seafood salad...superb!

additional food items at ucc.


fruit parfait


banana toasts - to die for! perfect breakfast meal with a cup of coffee


royal european coffee my perfect cup though i still have to try the jamaican blue mountain...don't forget your coffee sugar and milk

ucc
paseo center
rockwell
timog
sm the block

a red kimono and cascading water

a couple of blogs ago i said that i had a change of heart regarding japanese food. as such, when i saw the red kimono on TV my heart just simply leaped...that's an exaggeration. but i had to call my fellow foodie to try the place. actually this is a make or break for the credibility of a particular tv show. we've tried some of their featured restos and we weren't impressed. so after a couple of weeks we eventually found the time to go there.all i can say is the meal was great except for the sake which i'm not gonna try out again.

we had california crunch which is california maki coated with batter and deep fried. we also had crunchy ebi maki which was just ebi maki rolled on crispy japanese bread crumbs. the sizzling tofu was also great (being tofu fanatics) and the mixed kamameshi was also great. and to top it off we had ice cream tempura which was basically fried ice cream. the meal was superb and it was worth it.




crunchy ebi maki



speaking of makis. i had dinner the other night in cascada and thanks to my friend who ordered deep fried maki i did not miss out on one of the best makis ever. unlike the one i had in red kimono this one was served without the usual soy sauce and wasabi but just drizzled with a mango and balsamic sauce if i remembered it right. anyway too bad i forgot to take pictures. the place is quite pricey, not sure if it's considered fine dining. but the food was great so i guess it was worth it.

heavenly steak at La Madeleine

nothing can top this...



one of the best meals i've ever had. bife de chorizo served with fresh salad made up of lettuce, prosciutto, cheese, carrot strips with red wine vinaigrette and a glass of red wine. sounds classy? it sure is, but it was definitely not expensive. all i could remember was that the steak costs around 9 argentine peso...roughly 180 philippine pesos so the entire dinner probably cost less than 500 PHP.

there's a place in buenos aires called puerto madero and it's a strip of red brick buildings housing the finest restos in buenos aires. starved with only having eaten empanadas for lunch (yes it's supposed to be a complete meal in argentina) my officemates and i headed to this popular spot in town. we didn't know which resto to go to so we just picked out la madeleine at random. armed with a bit of spanish i made sure that they will serve us a well done steak, i was a bit wary since having it well done might jeopardize the tenderness of the beef but i don't know how to say medium well in spanish. we anxiously waited for our steak while munching on some bread and butter. i was a bit worried since only a few people were dining at the place but it was only around 6-7 and dinner time usually starts at 10. finally it came, and we just couldn't believe that it was well done and yet was so tender. i could not explain it but it seems that the beef melts in your mouth. the meat is all brown (well cooked) but it was still tender. it was probably because of the way they cooked it, the grill marks somehow made it crunchy but the inside was still tender so the instense heat probably locked up all the juices. it was really divine.

you might say that it goes the same for all the restos in buenos aires, after all, they are known for their beef. but nothing came close to the steak at la madeleine. we've eaten in a lot of restos in buenos aires but nothing was comparable to la madeleine's steak. i might not be able to come back to buenos aires but the memory of that bife chorizo will always linger.

btw, i went there 2 years ago but i just saw the picture recently so i decided to share it to everyone who might stumble upon my humble blog.

chinois cuisine: ubiquitous as it can be

chinois is chinese in french and you can find chinese food almost everywhere. but lately, a lot of chinese restos have been sprawling around the metro. i realized that i had to write something about it in line with my recent chinese food experience. when i was young, the only chinese resto i knew was Maxim's...it's my dad's favorite - beef wanton noodles forever!

then i heard of this resto in greenhills called Le Ching famous for its shark's fin and rice toppings of chicken and mushroom and pork spareribs. but what makes this resto one of my favorites is their garlicky chili garlic oil. ignore the ambience, i find it similar to the typical hole in the wall dimsum houses i see in pictures and movies. this place is a must especially when you're in greenhills starved by shopping.

next one is North Park. i've heard about it from a college friend she said it serves the best yang chow (fried rice) but she said it's in banawe (my dad will not go as far as that). anyway, i then found out that there's a couple of branches in the makati area. my first love from this resto is not their yang chow which i find better when you have it delivered (tip!) but their humongous chicken feet. i believe that they have the best chicken feet among the chinese restos i've tried.

next one is Super Bowl of China and Big Buddha(Greenbelt Name). nothing special with this resto but they serve good food at pretty reasonable prices plus you can see them almost everywhere (the major shopping areas i mean). this has become my dad's favorite. kung baga walang panama ang Maxim's hehe. i love eating here especially when i crave for chinese food since i'm pretty sure that this is the only place nearby which serves decent chinese cuisine.

this one is my mom's favorite chinese resto...superceding Super Bowl which she adored as well.it's Causeway, i've heard so much about this resto that i've been telling my mom about it and when she finally got to eat there i was so envious. they say it's the same resto which serves the best dimsum in Hongkong. all i can say is...all praises to their yummy hakao (shrimp dumplings) this is the best hakaw i've ever tasted super big chunks of shrimp wrapped and steamed perfectly.

and the newest addition to my list is Luk Yuen, prices are affordable and the food is good as well.



digging into my hakao while it's still hot

but my favorite would be the seafood roll wrapped with nori. because of this i know that i will be a regular patron of this resto. but really you need to take my word for it you oughta try.

it's the one on upper right

well anyway here's the list of restos and the dishes i recommend.

Le Ching - shark's fin and the rice toppings
Northpark - chicken feet, salted garlic squid, salted fish fried rice
Superbowl of China - i like the birthday noodles and dimsum
Big Buddha - steamed fish with garlic
Causeway - hakaw/hakao!!!, fish with ginger and tausi (something like that)
Mann Hann - tofu/bean curd that's sauteed with something i forgot but it was yummy
Luk Yuen - seafood roll and suckling pig yumyum.

More food tips in my upcoming blogs.

going japanese

i hate japanese food. number one reason is, i love my food piping hot and most japanese food are savory but cold. second, is that they serve a variety of raw fish/seafoods. third, i puked when i ate a very inviting sushi with a humongous crabstick on top. since then, i vowed not to eat anything japanese except for tempura. and then one time my friend convinced me to eat at teriyaki boy...it was a fairly new japanese restaurant back then. i was convinced primarily because of the tofu steak...i'm such a tofu fanatic. then she asked me to try out the california maki i knew that it might end my teriyaki boy experience in an instant, however it proved me otherwise. the maki was different because it has japanese mayo...making it creamy (i love mayo) and the ebikko provides a different texture, making my california maki experience worthwhile. since then, i have been a fan of teriyaki boy's california maki...i repeat it should be teriyaki boy's i don't care if it is a bit pricey compared to other's. but lately i have been surrounded by japanese food enthusiasts that eating maki from any resto has become normal. i am even suprised to find myself craving for a maki. but now, i still have another feat to conquer and that is eating sashimi, only then will i be able to say that i am a complete convert. next time i eat out i'll try taking pictures to put into this blog. well till next time.