giant pizzas

it's not a battle of giant pizzas. i just got the chance to try new gigantic pizzas. the first one is from xtremely xpresso in subic.

huge pizza, with a normal crust similar to 3M hehe but of better quality. the texture is not your typical oily or thick crust. the toppings are generous, lots of mozzarella cheese and meat toppings. the pic is the big ben i think which is the everything on it house special. i actually forgot, it's been so long already. very cheap, the largest one is just around 600-700 PHP, 22" inch in diameter.

next one is niro's 30 inch pizza. the pic is the margherita flavor which is plain tomato sauce and cheese. the pepperoni is my favorite because it's spicy, has a nice kick. this one has a thin and chewy crust and not oily at all, close to an authentic italian pizza. the 30 inch pizzas go for 900 PHP and up.

both are interesting, value for money goes to xtremely xpresso but then you have to travel up north to try it. niro's is the closest italian pizza you can get in the huge pizza category. but i like the niro pizza much better because of the crust and the distinct flavors.

xtremely xpresso
#1 dewey ave. cor. sta. rita st.
sbma, zambales

pizza niro
G/F, ayala dela rosa 1 carpark, dela rosa st. (near perea st.),
(02) 387-7395

paul calvin's

wanted to have a quiet and intimate lunch with my mckinley friends and paul calvin's came to mind. i was already contemplating on what to get but when we got there, they have a lunch buffet for 250 PHP. what a steal! they have 6 dishes, soup, salad, desserts and the omelette and pasta station and you can add 60 PHP for unlimited buko and gulaman for drinks. here's the spread.







i tried all of the dishes, honestly, nothing popped out but they were decent. i liked the battered fish the most...maybe because it was fresh out of the fryer.



my friend said the roasted chicken was good, but i, on the other hand thinks otherwise. maybe i just chose a bad piece.




they said the bulalo soup was also delish, unfortunately i didn't try it.

i liked the pasta. mine was mixed - tomato with cream. the cream was not too rich, it actually just made the strong tomato flavor a little subtle. it was the perfect blend because it was able to cut the tartness of the tomato sauce. a decent pasta though i wish it had more ham or bacon.

for dessert, i tried the panacotta which is a layer of plain panacotta and ube flavored panacotta. not your usual jelly like panacotta - this one is creamy and thick but still good. the jello shooter was so so.

i recommend the place especially the lunch buffet. a good value for money, ...total damage was around 350 PHP including taxes. not bad for lots of food, great service and a very nice ambiance.

paul calvin's deli
forbeswood heights
rizal drive, the fort

dinner with crocs

a long overdue post. krocodile grille is one of the those restos that my team in my previous company and i frequent. they have set meals that could actually feed twice the size for what they were intended for.

good value for money for a decent treat of filipino dishes. here's a couple of food items in their menu.

inihaw platter (300 PHP++) i believe that this is a "sulit" dish. you get a variety of grilled meats and seafoods. my favorites in the plate are the tender and flavorful grilled liempo and the catfish (i love hito).

kare-kare (300 PHP++) nothing fancy. straight forward classic dish not as "peanutty" as the home cooked one but definitely a couple of notches higher than other restos which serve kare kare with an instant mix. the meats are the traditional kare kare meats such as tripe.

lengua (200-300 PHP) a recent discovery, thick tender slices of lengua with gravy and garlic bits on top. i love lengua so i really enjoyed this dish.

baked tahong (200-300 PHP) this is one of their bestsellers. completely covered with a thick sauce, the mussels become flavorful but not completely overpowered by the herbed sauce on top.

perfect place for a get together of a huge crowd. prices are affordable and the servings are hefty. good value for money.

krocodile grille
3rd level greenbelt 3

tis the season for baked goodies

the baker's dozen at the powerplant mall is basically an annual baker's fair which features several baked products from various sellers. this year, it started as early as september. however, i've only found the time to go there just recently.

i had only 2 purpose - the dezato mochi balls and the costa brava caramel cake. however, i failed to get the mochi balls. they did not have a booth at the concourse level when we visited. i was only able to buy the caramel cake.

early in the week i got the chance to sample the caramel cake, however, i deem that it was too bland. i did not find the caramel taste in the icing. but i had to give it another try, maybe there was something wrong with the cake i tried. good thing i gave it another shot. the cake is moist and fluffy. very light. the caramel frosting is just right, not too sweet but you can still savor the caramel essence. perfect!!! now i just have to try estrel's to figure out which one best suits me.

my disappointment of not getting those mochi balls led me to ange's sweet life. i love the sweet surrender (frozen brazo) but the caramel cake was enough for that weekend. i resorted to the mini cupcakes so that my mom could try them out. she's my cupcake tasting buddy. whenever i buy cupcakes we would sit around the table and have a piece of each flavor. anyway, the mini cupcakes are good because it cuts back the calories.

unfortunately, the mini cupcakes disappointed me a lot. i could still remember the moist and fluffy satine (red velvet) i used to have. but now, the cupcakes were no near that. all of them appears to be dry. i never would have expected that the quality would change considering they were pricey.i dunno if the batch i got was simply bad or the mini cupcakes have a different quality than the regular sized ones but then that defeats the purpose of selling the mini cupcakes if they do not replicate the original taste and texture of the normal ones.

similarly, the much talked about cheesecake cookies didn't have that oomph. i was staring at my mom while munching on them, and i said what's special about these? they're like puto of some sort. really a miss on this one. oh well the caramel cake was the saving grace of my baker's dozen visit.

i ought to try other famous pastries this coming holiday season like karen young's goodies, the famous mango tortes and the list could go on but i am sure i will restrain myself for a sugar overload this upcoming holiday season.


baker's dozen
concourse level
powerplant mall
fri-sun

pho hoa

haven't blogged about one of my favorite restaurants. though i've said that zao has already beaten pho hoa especially on the fresh spring roll category, the ubiquity of the latter still makes it as one of my favorite places.

just had lunch here today and decided to take some pics.

a bowl of seafood pho. this is my initial favorite. but i have come to love the very light but flavorful meatball pho as well the one with tendons.



would not be complete without some beansprouts, lemon and thai basil. add some chopped chili too...for me i prefer using the siracha and hoisin that makes the broth perfect!



this is my first time to try out the stir fried curry noodle dish. i've gotten tired of my vermicelli bowl with grilled chicken diet. the dish was flavorful, lots of spices and ample ingredients. huge serving, i wasn't able to finish mine and i am a heavy eater. this one could be split into two and you could try other dishes or a side dish like fresh or fried spring rolls. love it!




pho hoa
sm north
trinoma
megamall
paseo center

fantastic sausages

our tagaytay trip didn't have a specific game plan. went there ahead of everyone else but had to wait for them still. by the time they arrived, they weren't hungry because they just had breakfast while we were famished.

p suggested a "light" but filling meal at a sausage place he doesn't know where. he was able to try it out before as a take out. so we had to go back and forth aguinaldo highway to look for it. the only clue was the shell gas station. and when we were about to eat somewhere else, we spotted the place. small place right before the shell gas station and how could have we missed the huge sausage outside???



they have a house special called bamse...it looks like a jumbo hotdog. i got the surf and turf meal which originally has the sausage and bun with mashed potato and a southwest salad. i had my mashed potato replaced with fries instead. here it is.



ordered onion ketchup on the side for an extra kick as suggested by p. at an extra cost it made my fries much better. the bamse is perfect. it looks like hotdog but the flavor is different and the skin is perfect. dunno how i should put it but it gives you the perfect bite. it's firm and tender....gives you that perfect "snap."



the southwest west coast  salad is creamy crabstick salad. kaya pala surf and turf...hehe. it was good. i like the mayo...creamy, i wonder what brand they used and the peas and carrots provided extra texture. as i've said, the original meal is served with mashed potato. from what i've learned the bamse is usually eaten with everything on it. so the mashed potato and southwest west coast salad were piled on top of the sausage sandwich.

they offer other sausages like kielbasa and hungarian which my other friends tried and they said they were equally good. the prices are affordable. the surf and turf meal costs PHP180 i think. so if you find yourself in tagaytay and wanted to get a quick fix but doesn't want the usual pinoy fare you might wanna try this out.


toby and tony's fanstastic sausages
aguinaldo hi-way, tagaytay
right before the shell station