Maple

January 2, 2014

This was a really nice way to start the year -- a new resto to try + a dinner/mini-reunion with Unilever colleagues, both former and current

Have long been hearing about Maple and seeing it in friends' IG posts, and have always considered it a posh breakfast place kaya I never really made an effort to try it out on my own :p

they have a branch na pala in Shang Mall, and since most of us were from the North area, this was where we opted to meet up

pretty homey--Maple in Shangrila Mall, East Wing

I really liked the vibe of the resto plus it was kid-friendly too! they had a portion allotted for toys and bookshelves for kid guests

since we were there ahead, we had some safe starters muna, while waiting for the rest

Chili Fries (Php 225) and New England Clam Chowder (Php 250)

everyone else enjoyed the fries--I like my fries just plain fried and salted so it was too much for me; the clam chowder was tasty too and was good enough for sharing

Yanpi recommended the Tapa, but we opted to have other dishes

Fish and Chips (Php 480) and Chilean Mussels (Php 375)

both dishes were okay naman pero when we saw the Tapa they ordered we couldn't help but drool over it and ended up ordering one too

Prime Rib Tapa (Php 520)

four of us actually ended up sharing this dish; and we didn't even get to finish everything. it was really good and had thin portions of fat kaya I liked it more; some parts though were quite gnawy lang and the fried rice that came with it was just too oily for me

Sumptuous Salmon Torte (Php 2200)

the name pretty much said it all. it truly a full meal on its own: Salmon fillet + rice + onions and spinach all in a pastry puff as huge as a standard chopping board = sarap :)

considering everything that we ate, there was barely room for anything else; kaya we ended up just ordering one dessert plate for all of us

Red Hot Choco Lava Cake (Php 280)

sure would love to take my family for meal here some time soon!

last customers out!

Maple

G/F East Wing

Shangrila Mall
https://www.facebook.com/MapleRestaurantPH

Clucky's

November 2, 2013


as shared in my other posts, whenever Jeff and I would want to try new food, we'd usually check out SM North Edsa Annex area particularly where Save More used to be

and usually we'd find ourselves a newly-opened resto naman in fairness

this time, our newest food discovery was Clucky's

Clucky's is attempting to compete with the likes of BonChon, Chicken Charlie with its Korean fried chicken

our choices:

1) Parmesan fries (Php 49) [also comes in a bigger size at Php 85]
2) Bulgogi meal with 12 oz drink (Php 149)
3) Kimchi meal with 12 oz drink (Php 149
4) Wings Solo (Php 125) solo

I liked their rice topping meals a lot. they had quite big servings and Jeff and I were able to share pa. yung parmesan fries nothing too extraordinary. the dip I really didn't get the taste so much.

not too happy about the chicken though - at first glance it seemed very artificial particularly yung skin breading. when I ate it, the whole thing practically came off na parang kinabit lang sya when it was fried! taste wise so-so lang din

I think if I were to return here though I would go back for the rice toppings lang. hehe


Clucky's
SM North Edsa, G/F Annex

Weekend Eats (Round 4)

we go north to south with two more food finds for the weekend

October 25

Pino Resto Bar

yes, this was a long time coming. we've gone here numerous times only to end up across the street at Don Day or other nearby restos.

I guess we were just lucky last Friday night. haha. while a lot of cars were parked outside, the resto wasn't as packed as it usually was

cool artpieces

while I've had my share of Kare-Kare na the past week, I still wanted to taste one of their specialities which was the Kare-Kareng Bagnet (Php 265). Jeff naman went for the Ginataang Bopis (Php 185). we also got a pitcher of their iced tea (Php 125)

sobrang sarap parehas haha. I actually wanted to get an extra rice pa dahil ang dami ng serving nung bopis. medyo na-guilty lang ako sa bagnet but it was just so good I could not stop having some more.

next time will be sure to try the binagoongang bagnet naman + their desserts na rin. 'til then I can't wait!


October 26

Ritchie's Diner

sa pauli-ulit naming dumaan sa Aguirre Avenue sa BF, we'd often see Ritchie's diner but never really considered eating there

for one, we weren't too sure what there offering was and we didn't really bother checking it out rin naman.

that night though we just wanted to try something new. Period.

we actually were planning to try Borgo Cafe or the Knuckle Sandwich Station kaya we parked in that side. but we got intrigued since a lot of people were eating at Ritchie's and so we crossed the street to check out the place

the place had a cool vibe. good attempt at an American diner. but not quite yet. haha.  even their servers were dressed up for the part. I did like their choice of music though. 80's.

while American diner ang concept they did serve Pinoy breakfast

being the burger fanatic that I am, I played it safe with the Ritchie's burger which came with a plate of fries. I got a bit worried with the description highlighting how cheezy it was though. but might as well give it a shot.

I was relieved to play it safe, dahil the burger was really good. I loooooved the melted cheese! medyo gnaw-y lang for me ang burger kaya I had to use a knife to cut through it. but undoubtedly it was pure beef naman daw sabi ni Jeff. I think we a little more tenderizing then it would have been great.

Jeff had the beef tapa. which was good naman though a bit on the sweet side, but not something I'd go back for.

this is a good alternative to Gourmet Charbroiled burgers as a snack place :)


Pino Resto Bar
39 Malingap St.
Teacher Village - East, Quezon City

Ritchie's Diner303 Aguirre AvenueBF Homes Paranaque City

Going Japanese

lately Jeff and I have find ourselves wanting to try more Japanese restos. here's to share two of our recent food finds specifically in Mall of Asia

October 17

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

we would often pass by this resto but we would not end up eating here since they didn't seem to get a lot of customers. ergo food may not be good. haha.

one time though the other restos we'd usually go to were quite packed + the ones that did have space were not within budget haha. sooo we had might as well try Oki Oki

the place had good ambiance and they also had quite good offerings in their menu

we ordered dishes which we'd normally have in other Japanese restos:

Crazy Maki (Php 285)

the Crazy Maki was made of crabmeat and shrimpmeat roe. we were debating at first if we should choose this maki, kasi for less price the other maki dishes came in 8s, while the Crazy Maki only had 6 pieces. yun pala crazy huge naman ang size ng Crazy Maki nila so it was pretty sulit. 

Gyoza Ramen (Php 215) | Chicken Teriyaki (Php 200)

Jeff had the gyoza ramen which we requested to be served separately and I ordered the Oki Oki Chicken Teriyaki

I mistakenly ordered the a la carte version pala of the Chicken so I had no rice. but considering the size of the Crazy Maki I figured there was no need to have a separate order na. I liked how the chicken skin was fried. it reminded me of the time we were in Japan and my Tito introduced us to a skewer stall by the bus station. the sauce was good too but medyo nalansahan ako sa chicken

I didn't find the gyoza ramen that good though. the soup was a bit Maggi-ish for me (parang Tokyo Tokyo ramen) and the gyoza was not bad but not great either

I would probably come back for the maki and to try the other dishes too--top of my list to try would be the bento sets naman (our adjacent table had this and looked quite good. hehe)

October 20

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

this was another resto na ilang beses din naming dinaan-daanan before trying it. haha. we were pretty conscious about spending so we were pretty careful about choosing which resto to go to.

we had an unplanned trip to MOA after checking out the Off Price show at WTC. since we were there na rin we decided to have an early dinner or 'ban-go-han' as they say in Japanese.

coming in pa lang, I instantly liked the place. it was a fresh, modern take on Japanese style

nothing casual about the place

glad we were given complimentary tea. not a lot of Japanese restos do so. kaya this was a good surprise

browsing through the menu we came to know that Watami pala is a Japanese chain brought in by the Bistro Group.

they sure had a lot of interesting dishes in the menu. but since we weren't that hungry, we each got stone pot dishes

Beef and Kimchee Rice in Stone Pot & Pork Rice with Egg Yolk in Stone Pot (Php 295 each)

Jeff had the Beef and Kimchee and I had the Pork Rice. sayang I gave in to the server's offer to mix it up agad, so I missed taking a better photo of mine. haha

I would have to say this was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. at first glance parang ang onti nung serving. but as you go through the bowl it never seems to run out! haha. the stone pot was quite effective too in keeping the food warm which helped improve the dining experience.

I didn't have much of Jeff's as I wasn't too fond of kimchee, but he did take lots of spoonfuls of mine! it was really good kasi. while it was cooked with pork, the rice was very flavorful and it actually had hints of shrimp taste

we scrimped a bit on ordering this time, so this means there's a lot more we can try when we come back :)

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

G/F North Wing

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

2nd Level, Bayside Veranda

Entertainment Mall

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Manila Field Trip

October 5, 2013

Jeff and I had another random trip which we just decided on the same morning we went.

the game plan was: Divisoria --> Binondo --> Quiapo

we were pretty used to with the place but it felt different that time especially having had a recent trip to Singapore.

you couldn't help but wish that Manila was as orderly/clean/organized as Singapore.

any how. from their place, we took the LRT from Roosevelt and went down at D. Jose station.

From D. Jose we had an option to take a jeep or walk. since there was quite a build up of traffic na that time, we decided to walk na lang all the way to Divisoria.

Quite a lot has changed na rin since our last visit last year, so it was a good surprise to end up at the new 999 mall and 168 mall in Divisoria after going in and out of other buildings. Since the Divisoria bit of my entry only concerns clothes/toy shopping, no need for further details on that. :)

Post shopping in Divisoria, we walked all the way to Binondo and straight to Benavidez for lunch.

While on our way, I stopped by the Sta. Cruz church to take a quick snapshot:

I think churches will always be among my favorite photo subjects :)

Benavidez St. had a good number of dining options. In this case though, Jeff was set on having lunch in only one place and nowhere else

Masuki Mami Restaurant

I think this was the third time we've eaten here, but Jeff never seems to get tired of eating here. must be because it had a sentimental value not only to him but his dad rin.

they would often share stories about their times eating here. and especially how the current food server was the same server who has worked here way back when his dad was still his age.

Jeff normally orders the Original Mami Regular (Php 110)
while I ended up ordering the Beef Wonton Mami Special (Php 180) which is for sharing because I never am able to finish the dish on my own

Jeff with manong from ever since

Interestingly enough, when we got home that afternoon, the show Taste Buddies on NewsTV actually featured Binondo restos and one of which was Masuki. There I found more about the mami house's history and their 'kinakabayo' noodles.

With renewed energy from our full tummies, we then headed towards Quiapo, this time for Jeff naman.

I wish Avenida would be closed to traffic again
just like how it was a decade back.

On our way, the church yard still remains full of vendors selling herbal medicines, prayer candles and fortune telling.

Quiapo Church

to get to the other side, we took the underpass which was also full of street vendors all over

and so we reached Jeff's happy place. haha.

cycling apparel and bike shops galore

while that kept him preoccupied, I kept myself amused in a store selling clothes/hats for army/navy/barangay personnel :)

Brgy. Tanod at your service

I also came across these funny/interesting signs

you also get to see bits and pieces of the older days, just like this old Scott burgers fixture

while going to these places can be tiring/stressful and even dangerous at times, I think these are opportunities also for us to learn. sometimes it is also good to get a way from our usual routine and rough it up.

I think I'll be back here sooner than intended. :)

Masuki Mami House
931 Benavidez St. Binondo Manila
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MASUKI-MAMI-RESTAURANTMASUKI-MAMI-HOUSESIOPAOBOY-by-MASUKI/152826091292

Buffalo Wings Showdown

October 2 & 4, 2013

Two Buffalo Wing places in a span of 2 days. haha. I think we're trying out too many new restos lately.

First stop: Flaming Wings

We ordered the following:

- Original 5 Wings (Php 245) + Honey Mustard Dressing 
- Garlic Fries (Php 105)
- Penne with Sausage and Peppers (Php 130)

I liked this better than Wingman, though I don't think the honey mustard worked too well as a sauce.

The garlic fries was heavenly. I really enjoyed how buttery it was though I know how unhealthy it could be.

We could have actually managed without the pasta. but again always good to have something to counter the flavor of the wings.

Next that we tried was Buffalo Wings N' Things

All the while I thought this resto was exactly like the one in BF up until we've gone to Flaming Wings.

These were our choices:

- 1 pound Champion Buffalo Wings (Php 279)

(1/2 New York's finest, 1/2 Garlic Parmesan)

- Bleu Cheese dip (29)

- NY Dirty rice (39)

- Basket of fries (99)

At first, I couldn't decide how it ranks compared to Flaming Wings and Wingman. I guess it had to take a few more bites to arrive at a decision.

After downing a whole piece, I would have to rank this first vs. the other stand alone wing places.

I think it may have to do with the bleu cheese that really goes well with the chicken. Or the fact that here we had 2 varieties of flavor vs. Flaming Wings wherein we only got to try the original sauce?

all those greaaase...

I don't think I can decide on the showdown completely just yet. But so far comparing the original sauces, its Buffalo Wings N' Things for me.

P.S. I got a chance to return to Flaming Wings just recently and I think I'm starting not to like buffalo wings na. May be frequency is not such a good thing? I may need to refrain from having this dish muna. haha.


Flaming Wings
Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Paranaque


Buffalo Wings N' Things
G/F Annex, SM North Edsa, Quezon City

Pepper Lunch Dinner

October 1, 2013

as it was the first pepper steak place we've seen, we've only eaten in Sizzlin' Pepper Steak ever since its branch opened in Glorietta 5.

kaya everytime we'd want to have pepper steak, that has been our go-to place na.

I've seen Pepper Lunch in Greenbelt and in MOA but never considered eating there na since I would not expect anything different from what we get from Sizzlin' Pepper Steak

but lately as we try to eat someplace new each time, we decided to give it a shot

compared to Sizzlin' Pepper Steak, Pepper Lunch had better ambiance as the place was much brighter and had less clutter without the vents

I also felt it was less intimidating to order as options were all laid out in the menu vs Sizzlin' Pepper Steak na parang you were overloaded with information on what meal choices you needed to decide on

these were our choices:

Beef Pepper Rice (Php 198)
Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice (Php 235)
Sesame Chicken Shake-Shake Salad (Php 99)

I would have to say this was the better Pepper Steak option :) for one I think they really made use of Japanese rice and I liked the buttery surprise! I also appreciated the control I had on the meat flavor since they had sauces available in each table.

I also liked their shake-shake salad. it was very practical though Jeff felt otherwise and thinks the packaging was quite lousy.

from that moment on, I knew I had a new go-to-place for pepper steak! just need to convince Jeff lang though. haha.

Pepper Lunch
2/F Seaside Boulevard
Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Angeles Day Trip

August 31, 2013

I wanted to go to Nayong Pilipino. period. haha.

thoughts of our old 'field trip' site came to mind one day and since then I've been nagging Jeff to go to Clark, Pampanga to visit the new one.

so, one Saturday, with nothing planned and with a half-hearted road trip partner on tow, we headed for Clark!

both our families were from Pampanga, but we've not ventured on this side of the province on our own so it was an adventure in itself trying to get there.

sa awa ng Diyos we got to Clark naman with just basic directions we found online.

and thankfully, Clark was funded enough to have generous amounts of signboards to lead us to our destination.

Nayong Pilipino was built on the site of Clark Expo pala. but it was at least close to a decade na since I last came here so it was like coming to a new place altogether. may SM Clark na rin pala.

I learned from other blog sites that the entrance to Nayong Pilipino was only Php 50/head. so I thought all along that if the place turns out to be mala-La Mesa Dam, I wouldn't mind so much. but when we got there they charged us na with Php100/head. (100% increase!) they charged pa Php20 on top of that for parking. so I expected to really get my money's worth!

when we got there, there was hardly any people. not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing :|

I was only able to take a map of Nayong Pilipino from the ticket counter when we were about to leave so we wandered mindlessly all throughout the tour.

our first stop was the Maranao House.

I really digged the architecture and the details/decor of the house. I wonder if there were houses which look like these today.

next to the Maranao house was the entrance to the Orchidarium

it seemed like a new installation or I guess we were really just off tangent if there as a prescribed order on how to go around the whole tour. :|

this was our 2nd landmark pa lang but Jeff was quite bored. he was already creating sarcastic hashtags such as #besttripever or #funweekend to use when he posts photos of us here.

hindi naman halata from his smile diba?

walking further past the Orchidarium, we reached the Land of Legends

first stop was the Aeta Village

not only did they sell Aeta instruments/tools but they were sold by our kababayan Aetas themselves. I ended up buying a small bow and arrow set, while Jeff got a musical instrument for his niece

adjacent to the Aeta Village was the Ifugao Village naman

here they showcased variations in the huts/houses depending on the tribe

glad I got a chance to go up to one of the houses. reminded me a lot of the old hut we had in Pampanga ;)

here's the other row of Ifugao houses and of which featured some cool wooden statues underneath

next stop was the Kalinga Village. beside it was a replica rin of the rice terraces

from the Land of Legends next comes the Land of Heroes naman

it was a compound of house replicas of our national heroes

first stop was Mabini's House

Mabini's house actually featured interesting history about Pampanga and artifacts on its first settlers.

beside this was Rizal's House (top center photo) but we didn't go inside that na

at the middle was the Heroes Plaza

this was probably my next favorite spot after the Maranao House--Aguinaldo's House

here kasi they had a showcase of old-century stuff such as the old rocking horse and a high-wheel bicycle -- pretty neat huh!

here are some more photos of the Heroes Plaza/compound including a tiny replica of the Kalesa

after the Heroes Plaza was the Fountain + Barasoain Church 

since Jeff and I got to go to the real Barasoain church na last year, we didn't really linger around the place na

I particularly liked the Bandstand though (left photo) and it would have been cool if they opened the lagoon for visitors to boat around in

while we were in this area we saw some posters about a Cultural Show that was happening in the early afternoon. however since it was quite hot that day and it didn't seem like there was much to see around -- we didn't see the point of staying until then

just before leaving, we passed by the Outdoor Amphitheater

and statues of Maria Makiling, Malakas + Maganda and Lapu-Lapu

eto na ba ang sinasabi nilang Cultural Paradise?

I think a lot has to be done to really achieve that vision for Nayong Pilipino. I don't think Philippine culture/history can be summed up by just two main attractions i.e. Land of Legends and Land of Heroes or by showcasing heroes homes.

I think we're better than that as a people/nation and I feel ashamed especially since a number of the tourists we were with that day were foreigners pa naman. is that all that we are as Filipinos?

sure didn't think that I got my money's worth. and I feel terrible for the bus load of preschool students who arrived just when we were leaving.


well if there's one thing Clark is known for -- its the Duty Free shops.

with rumbling tummies we set forth towards the shopping area and chanced upon Parkson Duty Free

we didn't really plan on buying anything but we were just keen to look around. it was nothing too special naman, except for the grocery portion. yung clothes pa parang walang original. duty free shop ba talaga ito?

Jeff goofing around

across Parkson naman was Clark Liberty. the space was bigger but the content was nothing better compared to Parkson.

we also came across this rundown Duty Free shop which sold Adidas and Van Heusen stuff. hindi na kami nag-effort to check it out. haha.

since it was close to 3 pm and we've still not had lunch we headed out of Clark and into Angeles in search of Angeles Fried Chicken

all I knew that time was AFC was near Casino Filipino and that didn't work well for Jeff who was more the precise kind of traveler.

sa awa ng Diyos (ulit) and after asking at least a couple of Kapampangans, we got to AFC!!

i first heard about this from a former colleague who shared it was mala-KFC daw.

I expected a more carinderia type of place kaya I was surprised to see how inside the resto had a more "intimate" dining vibe. I expected a more-KFC feel. hehe. 

so... time to taste the 'heavenly' chicken

we got the 3 pcs. set of regular chicken + coleslaw + rice (Php 145) a pitcher of iced tea (Php 99), chopsuey (Php 145) and a cream of mushroom soup (Php 75)

in fairness sa chicken - mala KFC nga. even yung gravy and yung coleslaw. I liked their iced tea too ha. another thing they're known for. pati pala their soup was good, and it didn't taste like it was made from Knorr. haha

however, I don't think its the kind of resto na dadayuhin mo yung place just to eat here. buti na lang I can always go to KFC if I'm craving for that type of chicken :)

over-all I think it was a fun trip naman. it was exciting enough for me to figure out how to get to these places rin kasi. however, other than learning how to get to Clark/AFC there was nothing else that satisfied that thirst for learning/experiencing something new. 

just the same, wonder where will our feet take us next?

Nayong Pilipino at Clark Expo
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga
https://www.facebook.com/nayongpilipinosaclarkexpo

Parkson Duty Free / Clark Liberty
Claro M. Recto Highway
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga
(045) 599 2700

Angeles Fried Chicken
1992 Marlim, Angeles City

(045) 322 4448