basilio's at rizal

there's a new resto in rizal drive alongside the more famous barcino and paul calvin's deli. due to our food addiction we decided to have lunch there yesterday.

the place is called basilio's. there's no nearby parking space but the resto offers free valet. the resto boasts of gourmet comfort food. we got some freebie bread, unlike sakai's foccacia, we got some small cupcake looking breads. dunno what they're called.

the bread was dry, was expecting they were soft like dinner rolls but it was dense and tough. anyway, let's just see the entrees.

we got the 50 clove chicken which was a bestseller as claimed by the wait staff. you get a half chicken with an achara type side dish of carrots and cabbage and a tomato based rice.

the chicken was moist and served with a very buttery gravy which is yummy. jv said she tasted the garlic but i said i didn't. probably because we tried various parts of the chicken. she ate the breast part while i tried the leg part. maybe the chicken was stuffed with the garlic so the flavors only seeped through the breast part. also, if you try eating the chicken, side dish and rice in one bite, you'll discover that it takes like litsong manok. anyway, it was just an observation.

m tried the ribs (not sure if it said baby back on the menu). it was a slab of ribs but it didn't have that much meat which was probably the reason why it was a huge serving. it was slathered with a tomato based bbq sauce. it has this smoky flavor with a hint of sweetness and tartness. i find the flavors perfect for the filipino palate because the sour and sweet flavors complemented each other and i like the smoky flavor. however, it would have been perfect if it was more meaty and tender. we had to request for a steak knife just to cut through the ribs. the mashed potatoes was ok it wasn't the creamy mashed potato that most people love but it complemented the strong flavored ribs.

also got the seafood pasta. i thought the flavor was ok. it didn't have that fishy taste which was probably taken away by the white wine. they used fresh grated parmesan (i think it is parmesan) which somehow overpowered the chopped seafood. and yes, i want my seafoods whole too.

overall, it was okay. none of the dishes we tried really stood out. given that these food items can be found in other restos it does not make you go all out of your way to just dine there.


basilio's
forbeswood heights
rizal drive, the fort

hooters in manila

heard about the real hooters being in manila last year. i didn't realize it's about to open already. the initial announcement said it was going to be in the fort but the latest news says it's gonna be at sm moa. the opening will be on april 28. it's gonna be at the san miguel bay strip area.

click here for more details

can't wait to try the hot wings this time since i haven't tried it and garlic fries!!!!!! to die for i tell you. totally screwed up my diet.hmmmm...can't seem to find it in the menu. i hope they serve that here.

don henrico's ~ don enrico's

it bothers me when people say don henrico's...it's supposed to be articulated as enrico's. h is silent in spanish =). sorry for the spanish lesson segue.

anyway, it's another pizza and pasta place. don henrico's has been here for years. but they never really expanded to the point that it has become ubiquitous. g is a don hen fanatic and when we found ourselves hungry the other day, i had no choice but eat there.

we got chicken buffalo, which is g's fave. you can get either wings or other chicken pieces and since they were out of wings we settled for some leg pieces.



the sauce is something hard to describe, it has strong flavors of sweet, salty and a hint of tartness to complement each other. the chicken was overly cooked but the ranch dressing was a perfect match to the strong flavored chicken pieces.

we also got pesto spaghetti. the pesto was not that strong but it was flavorful enough and it was not soaking with olive oil which was a good thing. not impressive still. this is the reason why i don't order pesto whenever i dine out. i make a mean pistou (pesto sans pine nuts) at home especially when i find some fresh organic basil at weekend markets and so i tend to get disappointed whenever a resto fails to serve me some great pesto pasta. anyway, that's just me.




don henrico's hasn't really impressed me ever since. the old interiors of the sta. lucia branch will not boost your appetite either...it really was a good thing that we were just hungry that time. just like my previous post, there are other pizza and pasta places all over the metro that could give you more options with better value for your money.


don henricos
sta. lucia brickroad
sm moa
tomas morato

capricciosa in greenbelt

h was craving for italian and i didn't want to make that galileo trip because of the not so great comment of j on the place. just thought i would probably waste a hefty amount of money.

so we just settled for capricciosa which i've read about in several posts. got the capricciosa pizza which is basically an everything on it pizza. i found it weird when i was asked whether i want the traditional or thin crust. huh? isn't pizza supposed to be thin. my verdict? nothing special. the pizza appears to not come together. then i realized what was wrong. i think that the crust/dough was already precooked. they just put the toppings and bake it again. it doesn't have that chewy feel you get from pizza which is freshly made.


we also got the seafood spaghetti. i like the flavors, the ripe and not sour tomato and the garlic which complement the seafoods. only thing that struck me was the pasta which is bordering sogginess. expected the pasta to be al dente, if it was, the dish would have been perfect.


the prices of capricciosa are pretty steep considering you have better alternatives. there are nearby pizza and pasta places that you might want to consider before trying this place out.


capriciossa
greenbelt 3

tracking your blogreads

i've recently discovered bloglines and i just wanna share it with you. bloglines helps you keep track of all your online reads that have rss feeds. you can even categorize them for easier reading. now you just have to login once and you will be able to browse through your favorite blogs.

japonica just across the street

thanks to midge i finally found an excuse to try japonica. the foodie r agreed to try the place since it's nearby and we could evade the scorching sun. like what midge has mentioned, japonica has alot of lunch bentos to choose from.

when we got there, there were a lot of japanese men dining, which is supposed to be a sign for good japanese food. we were given the menu and i was confused with the various offerings they have. the price range is pretty ok with 235PHP at the minimum for a bento meal.

i got the ladies' bento. supposed to be the smallest meal among the choices hehe. here's what i got.

usual free miso soup (it's ok, kikufuji is way much better)

ebi furai, chicken balls, tamago and some cold noodle salad of some sort

the ebi was small and a bit dry, seems to be overcooked. the chicken balls were bland. the tamago was dense and not soft to the palate and didn't have that sweet taste. the cold spaghetti noodles was just off.

you also get a full serving of california maki. what bothered me was the ebikko. i wasn't able to see the round eggs just like in teriyaki boy's. they seem to have created a paste out of the ebikko so that they'll have to use less. in addition to these, the ladies' bento comes with a couple of watermelon slices which i forgot to take a picture of.

r's tempura udon (her bento came with the maki and some stir friend salmon belly)

the iced teas are blended with ice so you get a refreshing slush for just 65PHP.

it was a filling meal but i cannot say it was satisfying. the food didn't tingle my taste buds, i am not sure if the ala carte or the other lunch meals are much better. it would probably take a long time before i could come back to give it another chance.

if you guys want a cheap but really great bento meal, i suggest okuya at glorietta's food choices. they have 2 bento boxes, my favorite box costs 150PHP (last time i ate there) free miso, rice, sukiyaki, mixed tempura and tuna sashimi and they all come in substantive amounts with great taste and texture.

japonica
2nd flr liberty bldg.
valero cor. hv dela costa

mcdonald's deluxe burgers

i was craving for a sandwich or burger so i went to mcdo. i saw the new deluxe cheeseburgers. i thought the only difference is the lettuce. but it's much better than what i expected. the lettuce is just the usual iceberg lettuce not the curly one similar to the pic but there's no more pickles and ketchup. it's slathered with my favorite condiment - creamy mayo! i love it. this is a much better version of the mcdo cheeseburger which i adored so much way back in college. try it!

posh chinois cuisine

i was with my dad and we found ourselves in the libis area during lunch time. wanted to try ajisen and it was nowhere to be found (can you guys confirm if they closed already. is it supposed to be beside starbucks?). so had to get into eastwood and dine at shanghai bistro because my dad loves chinese food.

this was my first time and i didn't expect its interiors to be that oppulent. i kept on thinking about shanghai bistro in paseo center and it doesn't look that way as far as i can remember.anyway, we got ourselves seated. there's some free food items on the table peanuts/some carrot and radish achara type dish.

we got the staples. beef and wonton noodles and yang chow.those are are for my dad hehe. and i got some crispy garlic chicken.

the noodles and yang chow were not that unique but you'll notice the quality and amount of ingredients in the dishes. the chicken was no near to being garlicky but i like the anise flavor so i have no complaints. the chicken is well cooked, juicy in the inside and yet has perfect crispy skin.

it was a pleasant dining experience, great ambiance and decent food.if you wanna get the value out of your money then opt for the more ubiquitous chinese restos. but if you want a more upscalechinese dining then you ought to try shanghai bistro.

shanghai bistro

eastwood, libis

paseo center, makati

choosing chosun

i was out with some friends when we realized it was way beyond lunch time. i had my eyes on chosun which is a korean resto so we opted for it.

i was telling my friends about korea garden in jupiter which i ought to try one of these days. i told them you'll get free appetizers then suddenly the waitress arrived and gave us some. yey! this was the first time i tasted kimchi =). we had some nice tasting rice tea for free too.

top (l-r): it's like soybean strips but had a fishy taste, fish cake perhaps?;kimchi
bottom (l-r): eggs, black mushrooms

rice tea

we got the sang gyup sal. kept on reading/hearing about this dish and didn't have an idea on what it was. it's korean bbq...thin pork slices similar to bacon but much thicker. it's served on a sizzling plate not the traditional cook it on your own, with a platter of fresh curly lettuce and some soybean paste. we loved this dish. the pork was cooked with a bit of butter to make it more tasty and the whole wrapping thing was just fun to do.

kalbi jiim (beef stew) the only beef stew i've tried is from the fastfood chain kimchi. comparing the two, chosun was not a disappointment. for its price it ought to taste good. the spices are a bit strong but could be perfectly paired with steamed rice. i enjoyed this dish for one thing - litid (tendon). i love tendons and this dish had loads.




beef tenderloin rice is supposed to be the bestseller but i found nothing spectacular about it. it's just beef with several colored peppers, onions and some zucchini.

it was a pleasurable meal. i'm glad we tried it out. it's gonna be one of my favorite restos from now on. will try my favorite jap chae next time.



chosun
sm moa
sm the block

seafood at the bay

the dampa culture has sprung all over the metro especially in the bayside of metro manila. you have the original dampa in baclaran, there's another one in paranaque, the third is along macapagal and the most recent one is at baystrip in sm mall of asia.

last friday night, we wanted to eat out and simply thought of the baystrip. the famous restos i know are trinity and aling tonya. in the macapagal area, we usually opt for trinity until recently when i tried out another resto as recommended by a colleague. it turned out not bad.

so this time i only saw aling tonya and opted for it. verdict? hmmmm. among the dampa restos i have tried i know i can cook the dishes much better (humility aside) but that accounts for the quality of ingredients being used because these types of restos simply use cheap ingredients. but this one in particular is surprisingly bordering inedible tasting (if there's such a term). so here's a rundown of what we got.

buttered garlic shrimps - it's okay. the normal way on how restos cook it. very few garlic and some uber tasty margarine. saturated fats galore!

sizzling tanique steak - i asked how they cook the fish and they said it has a sauce. not! there was just veggies and lots of oil in it. where's the sauce?

chilli crabs - where's that bottle of ufc catsup? all gone. this is how the crabs tasted like. some veggies and spices but with loads of ufc catsup. thank goodness the crabs were meaty and
fatty.

was i pleased? i think not. but because we were all famished we didn't really have enough time to savor the food and complain about it. i think that the best place to eat dampa style would be at the macapagal area (if you are choosing between the two which are close to each other). the seafood prices in macapagal are way cheaper and you can get more value for your money.



dampa restos
macapagal blvd.
baystrip in moa
paranaque
baclaran
metrowalk
libis

chocolatey chocolat

i’m not a chocolover but there are rare occasions when i do enjoy a shot of anything chocolatey. i’ve read about chocolat in lori's blog. there are two chocolate cakes that i enjoy, one is shoppersville chocolate cake with a yema filling in the middle and polly's cake available in select stores. i wanted to try something else and when i finally got the craving i tried chocolat's caramel cake.



the cake is moist and dense. two of the things i look for in a perfect cake. but the cake is a bit sweet. i love sweet stuff which means it's really sweet. but overall, it's a good cake especially if you drink hot coffee or tea with it. if you don't like sweet stuff that much then you can opt for their plain chocolate cake or other variants aside from caramel which obviously is sweet.


p.s. do not confuse this with xocolat which is more ubiquitous in the metro.


chocolat
sm the block
sm moa
xavierville avenue