keeping it cool at red mango

tired with all the window shopping i decided to take a break. the red mango at greenbelt 3 has a very nice location. you can sit outside on comfy couches overlooking greenbelt, it was a perfect afternoon with the cool breeze that was relaxing for a tiresome shopper like me.

fancy curvy white bowls and small stainless steel flat spoons are probably the trademarks of this froyo chain. i was looking forward to a nice bowl of froyo with my favorite strawberries...until my jaw dropped at the counter when i heard that they don't have strawberries. so i verified, you don't have strawberries now or you really don't have strawberries? they don't have strawberries!!! how can that be possible???

i found myself clueless because strawberry is the first thing that comes to my mind on about almost everything. so i opted for grapes because earlier that day i was craving for grapes to match my cheeses and nuts at sofitel but there was none. i asked them what would be perfect to pair with grapes and they said blueberries...eh??? canned blueberries is all they have and i really think it was not a perfect match. so i just decided to just get the fresh looking watermelon. the toppings were fresh and the froyo has a smooth texture. there's enough tartness in the froyo but somehow i find it too light. it wasn't as creamy as the ones i've had in other places. i reckon that for those who don't like yogurt that much, this would be the perfect froyo. smooth and very light - less creamy and less tart. but for me, i honestly don't like how light it was. i would rather choose the more tart but heavier/creamier californiaberry. well i still have one more froyo place to check so watch out on what my verdict is on that one.

red mango

greenbelt 3

trinoma

eastwood

kanin club

i can probably say that this is the best meal i've had back in manila. always wanted to eat at kanin club but it's way down south, good thing they opened a branch at the ayala technohub...how convenient! here's the stuff we got.

sinigang na sinangag or sinangag na sinigang, this dish really confuses me, i can't remember which is which. basically fried rice which is based on sinigang a filipino sour soup dish. there are pork belly slices underneath the tower of crispy kangkong. i loved this dish!!!!

crispy dinuguan, crispy pork pieces cooked in blood stew. another sure winner! perfect with plain rice, yes you need plain rice to appreciate this more.

binukadkad na tilapia, a not so unique dish. you can find a similar dish in other restos and i think others to this better. a very straight forward way of preparing tilapia butterflied and then deep fried so you can't go wrong with this as well if you want a fried fish dish.

the meal was great, had them with good friends so nothing can go better than that. i cannot list down the prices coz i didn't pay for it ;). but they are definitely affordable, i don't think a dish went beyond PHP300. good and affordable filipino food with a twist.

kanin club

ayala technohub, qc

westgate mall

sta. rosa

agave mexican cantina

before everything else, i would like to greet everyone a belated happy new year =). here's to an amazing and abundant year ahead of us.

i was on holidays in manila for two weeks and boy it felt good to be back. well it's good that i can gear away from all my household chores and happy that someone else is doing my laundry and ironing ;). as soon as i landed i had myself a palabok-chicken joy meal, i had to pass on jolly spaghetti this time around. a couple of hours later, i started ticking off my must try list.

first stop was agave. read a lot of good reviews and since i have been craving for mexican food this was the perfect choice. the nearest to me was at the sky garden at sm north edsa. here are the items we got.

queso fundido (PHP 300++) supposed to be a mexican version of a spinach artichoke dip. this one has melted cheese, chorizo, spinach and artichoke with grilled bread, fried flour tortilla and corn chips. i was pretty disappointed with this. the artichoke was chewy, the cheese doesn't have the silky melted texture i was thinking similar to chilli's skillet queso. if you check out the online menu the platter has blue corn chips which i didn't get. i liked the grilled flavor of the bread but somehow something was off the oil didn't look that appealing considering it just looks like plain vegetable oil doused over the bread...think minola basted on your bread...aaack!

do you still remember miggy's? they serve good chimichagas which is my mom's favorite. however, it was far from agave's chimichanga (PHP300++). agave's version is rolled and it was not plain meat inside, loads of rice if you ask me. it was mexican rice with chicken pieces and that was it. i didn't even notice the cheese. though i liked the crisp tortilla and the salsa and sour cream on top. i really wish it had more chicken inside. if you remember miggy's their chimichangas are stuffed with cheese, corn and chicken as plain as that. you'd really be stuffed with all the protein. and not being a rice lover this added to my displeasure.

not only was i disappointed with the dishes, which probably were just misses but the service was uber slow. and this was around a time that only 3-4 tables were occupied. the meal wasn't that bad but i really expected more. maybe my orders were just misses. anyway, i would still try it again but maybe at a different branch.

agave mexican cantina

sky garden sm north