Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant

Specialty: Pastries, International, Filipino, Pasta
Location: unit 1c-17 Serendra Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Phone Number: 8562352 to 53
Price Range (Meals): php 135 - 265
Rating: ★★★★

Conti's is one of the relatively affordable places to eat at Serendra. Hence, it will probably be full and would be best if you reserved a seat or arrive early. Their specialty are mainly pastries and cakes but they are also a restaurant and they do serve other things than cake and pastries.

Menu
A little too varied here. Entrees, pastries, pasta, sandwiches... they probably have a little bit of the more popular menu entries.

Frothy Iced Tea
Price: 45 Rating: ★★
Take some regular iced tea, add some shaved ice, put both in a blender and blend away. Not much difference from your regular iced tea. Just get the bottomless iced tea (php 60).











Chicken Roulade + Saffron Mushroom Risotto
Price: php 145 + 25 Rating: ★★★
I was craving for a bit of chicken and I had my eyes set on the first item on the Entree section but alas, it was not available. So I settled on another one of their most popular dishes (or so the waiter says). And with that, the chicken roulade was chosen. Roulade of chicken with spinach, cheese and caramelized onion served with either garlic rice or with saffron mushroom risotto (additional php 25). Do NOT get the saffron mushroom risotto. You are better off with their garlic rice. The saffron mushroom risotto was as boring as rice with star margarine. That was truly a sorry excuse for a risotto. But given the price of the rice, it was (I hope I'm right), forgivable. The veggies on the side wasn't too smashing either. But, as if to redeem itself, the chicken was definitely scrumptious. The spinach was embedded into slices of chicken meat and it was topped with a mouth-watering sauce. I'm a bit confused on how to rate this one. The meat was good while the risotto, abysmal. It wasn't that filling either. 3 stars. Get the garlic rice when you order this one.

Parmesan Fish Fillet with Parsley Sauce
Price: 195 Rating: ★★★★
Fish fillet served with buttered vegetables and garlic rice. The fish was the melt-in-your-mouth kind. Very delicious and soft. The parsley sauce was great on fish. The side dish, however, was about the same as on the chicken roulade. Not bad; Not good either. Plain buttered vegetables. Having tasted the risotto, I was half expecting this to be better than the risotto. I wasn't disappointed. At least this garlic rice tasted like garlic, although a bit on the oily side. The rice cup was shinier than a Florsheim after emptying the cup. Muchos grasa senor.




Linguine in Pesto
Price: 135 Rating: ★★★★
After having eaten the chicken roulade, I was stilling feeling a bit empty. So I opted for some pasta. It looked interesting enough and sure enough, I had my fill after having that dish. Famous rich green basil sauce served with linguine. You also have an option of having it served with seafood (additional 180).








Mango Bravo
Price: 85 Rating: ★★★★★
The place is called Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant. Pastry did come first there, so it seems imperative that we eat some form of pastry. Mango Bravo is the cake pictured in front of the menu so we opted for that one. It was HUGE! 4 layers of cake. 2 of which are embedded with mango bits and 1 layer with dark chocolate tasting stuff. I couldn't figure out what that last layer was. It was devoured before I got to it. Delicious!

Conclusion:
The place is indeed a pastry shop first then a restaurant, second. There are LAN ports underneath the tables but I didn't ask if they were functional. Good for the geek heads out there. It could seat around 35 people comfortably but if you want to take a group there, better call before hand. The place is usually crowded since it's one of the few affordable places at Serendra. The others are just plain overpriced. The ones where you think the food should taste great because it's so damn expensive. Going back to the topic, the food is good but it seems that at Conti's, rice was an afterthought. Putting a lot of attention to the viand and almost none to the rice. An option of plain rice would have been nice if they don't pay much attention to it anyway.

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 2)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php 160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

(This is part 2 of the special 2 part review of Bigby's Cafe. Part 1 here.)

Round 5 : tapa bai!
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
This is a variation of the classic Pinoy Beef Tapa. Beef tenderlion tips sizzling in spicy sauce and vegetables. Also served with rice. The beef was not melt-in-the-mouth soft, but the usual tapa variation, tender but with a sort of firmness to it. The sweet, salty and spicy blend of the sauce mixed well with the meat. The veggies for the added crunch and color. Also served with a generous cup of rice.


Round 6 : Asian Ostrich Skewers
Price : Php210
Rating : ★★★★
This gets a star just for originality. If you feel adventurous, go try something new in the poultry section. Ostrich. This little number has ostrich meat laced with herbs and spices on a kebob stick, drizzled in peanut sauce, raw mango strips on a bed of java rice.
The marinade of the meat is a bit spicy to my liking, but you can still taste the actual flavor of the ostrich. For the many who will be guessing it will taste like chicken, but surprisingly, ostrich is a dark meat variety, and to my taste buds, I think the closest flavor it is either pork/beef tenderloin.


Round 7 : Chicken Samurai
Price : Php179
Rating : ★★
Let's go back to the regular selection of poultry, the Chicken Samurai. Grilled Chicken smothered in Teriyaki sauce over a bed of sauteed greens. The chicken was tasty already on it's own but the sauce overpowered the whole chicken flavor. Leaving me to eat something like a Teriyaki sauce samurai, not the chicken. I didn't need the extra sauce served on the side.


Round 8 : Mango Chantilley Crepe
Price : Php XXX (to be determined later)
Rating : ★★★★
I am not much of a dessert fan but I'm sure is a crepe fan. Their mango crepe is served not your usual way but mango slices on the outside, ice cream flavor of your choice from the selection on the inside (we chose mango) and a pool of caramel sauce of the side. The mangoes were sweet and it seems to match well with the mango ice cream, which resulted into a fixture of creamy and citrus flavors with caramel sauce spooned generously to your likeness. It was a damn shame I was having a coughing fit that day.


Round 9: The Birthday Surprise
Price : Free
Rating : ★★★★★
Like all the themed restaurants with the curious knick-knacks, waiters in creative costumes and whatnots, everybody has their own birthday gimmick. Here at Bigby's I was the victim of the birthday surprise since I treated a bunch of people for my birthday dinner, and up to now, I still don't know who secretly told the restaurant to get a group of enthusiastic waiters to sing me a Bigby's birthday jingle served together with this brownie ala mode cake. When they shouted at the doorway towards where we're seated, I was crawling under the table, literally. Nevertheless, it is an equally wonderful and embarrassing surprise.

Conclusion
A good place to go for good eats with great people. Compared to manila restaurants offering the same stint, its prices are relatively cheaper. So do swing by if you happen to be visiting Ayala Center Cebu, and, like their menu said, take a food trip.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Chaikofi

Specialty: Coffee, tea and sandwiches
Locations: Sunset Avenue, Mall of Asia; Robinsons Place; Robinsons Galleria; The Block Level 4, SM North EDSA
Telephone: 8912559
Rating: ★★★★

This place certainly knows how to specialize. No qualms about not trying to satisfy everyone's preferences. This cafe knows what it serves and does a good job of doing it. They are certainly all about coffee, tea, sandwiches and a bit of pasta. It calls itself a "concept cafe" according to its website. No arguments from me. It's certainly different.

The Menu
Consisting mostly of sweet, cold coffee and refreshing iced tea complimented by sandwiches and few pasta dishes. Very little on the menu but each one is definitely worth checking out. I have a feeling that this place doesn't like conformity and before I forget to mention it, they also serve wine for those special occasions. Just ask at the counter.

Jungle Bungle
Price: php 125
Rating: ★★★
Coco flakes, milk tea and vanilla ice cream with whipped cream on top. Contrary to what I expected, this drink was also light on the stomach. Chocolate is usually heavy but this drink is mostly milk tea even if it does have that chocolate flavor. The mouth of the glass is coated with coconut and was a nice surprise since I was expecting chocolate.

Raspberry Green Tea
Price: php 125
Rating: ★★★★
Cold, sweet, refreshing and light with just the right amount of whipped cream. The cream is just right and doesn't have that heavy cream flavor. The light sweet raspberry flavor was stronger than the green tea and tastes a bit artificial. The tip of each glass on the menu is coated with something different depending on the item. So don't forget to lick the mouth of the glass. Perfect for the lick and sip manuever that is advertised on their posters.






Chaikofi Melt
Price: php 145
Rating: ★★★★
This is their star sandwich. So special that it bears the name of the store. Lettuce, ham, tomatoes, onions and a nice big helping of mozzarella cheese sandwiched between buns with green bits (I have no idea what they are. Tell me if you do). It also has a nice helping of potato chips on the side. The sandwich melts in my mouth so nicely and blends the flavors of the veggies and the ham into a single unit. It definitely merits the name Chaikofi Melt. One caveat though, no matter how amazingly flavorful it is, it's still a sandwich and it's still too expensive so minus 1 star.

Conclusion
Great for groups of 2 to 4. Nice and cozy place to just hang around or to read a book or magazine (they have a few lying around). I would recommend this place to have afternoon snacks or maybe even breakfast. I wouldn't recommend it if you want dinner though. There just isn't enough in the menu to satisfy varied tastes for a group.

Mey Lin

Cuisine: Chinese
Location: Ground Floor, Sunset Avenue (North Wing), Mall Of Asia; Adriatico; Boracay Regency; Megamall
Telephone: 0917-5232000
Service Charge: None
Opening Times: 10am - 9pm (Mall Hours)
Menu Price Range:

• Noodles: php 70 - 150
• Meat/Seafood: php 160 - 300

Rating: ★★★★

Hand-pulled noodles. This is what this place boasts about. They even have a chef dedicated to making their noodles. Like most Chinese Restaurants, this place caters to more of a group of diners than two people on a date. That said, they made no fuss about giving us the seat that we wanted. Nice. Plus points for excellent service.

The Menu
Their hand-pulled noodles are on a page before everything else. This is what they are particularly proud of. Other categories are the Meat and Seafood category. Didn't try any of those. We are here for their claimed authenticity and damn, I'm going to try it.

Iced Tea
Price:
Rating: ★★
Off to a bad start. Instant iced tea variety.

House Tea
Price: Free
Rating: ★★★
Not your regular house tea. The tea bag is cloth woven and bigger than the usual paper tea bags. The pot could use more water (and thereby needs to be a bit bigger or the bag needs to be smaller) since the tea has a rather strong taste.


Fried Dumplings:
Price:
Rating: ★★★★
Steamed dumplings that were then fried. Excellent consistency and texture. Eight pieces are more than enough to exite your appetite. Great Appetizer all in all.






Ansio Beef Noodle Soup
Price: php 90 (snack) 150 (meal)
Rating: ★★★★
Noodles were definitely out of the ordinary. But, as expected, I haven't tasted hand pulled noodles before so I couldn't make any comparison. But as far as noodles are concerned, this one is definitely better than any i've known.
The snack size was definitely small for me since the noodles were scarce. Either the noodles are too expensive or they just don't have enough to go around since there was only one person doing the pulling. I didn't pick the meal size since the bowl was *huge*. There were only 2 cubes of beef on this dish but they were really soft and flavorful, so no complaints there.



Seafood Noodle Soup
Price: php 100 (snack) 140 (meal)
Rating: ★★★★
Seafood-y goodness. Clean, clear broth with a crab stick, fish fillet, squid, fish tofu and seaweeds. That's a lot of ingredients right there. very economical.

Conclusion
The place could hold around 40 people comfortably. Maybe more. It's more suited to group dining than date dining. You will occasionally get to watch the noodles being pulled (pulling is not the only activity in noodle making). It's a great place to spend the time while waiting for the rains to subside. Hot noodles while waiting out the rain is priceless.

Cafe Bola

Cuisine: filipino food
Location: 2/f Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati
Tel #: 757-BOLA
Service charge: 10%
Opening times: 11am - 10pm
Menu Price range (meals): php 100 - 235
Rating: ★★★★★


This place is definitely one of my favorites. I don't think I've eaten anything there that I didn't like. Warm, quiet, cozy atmosphere with an in-your-face filipino taste. The architecture is very contemporary and somewhat edgy but it's accentuated with black and white still photos of old filipino films, all of which i haven't heard of before nor plan to hear about anytime soon. The place is cozy enough for two. They even have candle lit tables outside. It's definitely more comfy inside and could seat a small group of people. It's not best to be boisterous in this place as I can imagine that would tend to echo.

The Menu
Filipino dishes and pasta are the dominant items on this cafe's menu. There are few dessert items as well. Today I will be sampling thier lemon grass tea (both hot and cold) as well as their specials Adobo Flakes + Kesong Puti and Sirloin Tapa + Egg.

Lemon Grass Tea (Hot)
Price: php 44
Rating: ★★★★
Smells really really nice. The steam seems to carry the lemon grass scent straight to your olfactory nerves and give you a taste sampler before you even put the cup to your lips. The taste is exquisite. The only caveat is that you only have one cup. That's it. Unlike most hot tea from other places, you don't get a pot. You get a measly cup. An amazing tea cup nonetheless.

Lemon Grass Tea (Cold)
Price: php 50
Rating: ★★★
Unlike the hot lemon grass tea, the scent is muted on this cold refresher. The taste is almost the same, albeit cold. Personally, I think I like the Bola Iced Tea better

Adobo Flakes + Kesong Puti
Price: 154 and worth every peso
Rating: ★★★★★
My mouth is watering as I imagine every spoonful (it's not a pretty sight). Rice topped with adobo flakes and a chunk of white cheese which is most probably made from goat's milk. The smell is absolutely delightful. The flakes are light, crispy and flavorful. The cheese balances out the flavor. The rice is nice and steamy. Perfect.



Sirloin Tapa on Rice + Egg
Price: 176 and worth every peso
Rating: ★★★★★
Rice topped with thin slices of juicy mouth-watering beef topped with a sunny-side up egg done filipino style. Although the egg was quite oily, the dish more than makes up for itself because of the flavor of the beef. Delicious. Besides, fried eggs are supposed to be a bit oily. If I had more space in my stomach, I'd order another one. Another perfect score for Bola.

All in all, I would keep coming back to this place because it's one of my most favorite places to eat. Ever. I just wish they had more comfy seats.

Miscellaneous
Oh yeah, me and my girl celebrated our one year anniversary here. So hooray for us! :D. I am also introducing a new author here going by the name of wastefulspace. She will be Eat My Choice's ambassador in Cebu. Yep. 5 Posts and we are already expanding!

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 1)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

Bigby's is one of the known restaurants in Cebu City. If you aren't one of the backpacker types that brave to venture the run-downed places or the pongko-ponko offerings in the streets, then this is the right place for you.

Think of it as Burgoo or T.G.I Friday's in Manila (but, cheaper). The ambiance is casual, fun, and very quirky. The walls are emblazoned with a bunch of traveler's memorabilia, ranging from souvenir plates, buttons, pins, mardi gras masks and a pair of skis. Couches are available for a cozy date or for a small group of family or friends and the usual tables and chairs for large parties.

If you glance up on the ceiling, you'll see the crazy spiral lamps and other little surprises which you can check out when you get there yourself.

Bigby's offers a wide range of foodstuffs ranging from appetizers to desserts. So there's really something for everyone.

Now on with the food trip! :D
Round 1 : Appetizer Sampler
Price : Php2XX (to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★
I was expecting a hungry crowd over so I knew they will be famished once they arrived, so I had a 2 sampler plates ordered (1 plate is good for 4-5 people) w/ all their popular appetizers: Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Wings, Flavored Fries and the Cheese and Garlic Quesadilla. Honey Mustard Dip and Salsa are also served for the extra kick of flavor. The Chicken Fingers were crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. But as all chicken fingers served in these sort of establishments, they are a bit bland so the honey mustard is the perfect combination to add a sweet and tangy taste to it. The Flavored Fries are the usual julienned slices of potatoes powdered with barbeque seasoning, best eaten hot or it will be a soggy, oily, mess. The Cheese and Garlic Quesadillas are little bite sized tortillas with a cheese and garlic spread, to be topped generously in salsa so the cheese won't be tiring your tastebuds for the yummy food ahead of you. But for me, the Buffalo wings are the winner of this platter. Smothered in a sweet chili concoction but still having the satisfying crunch on each bite. the flavor sears into the meat, so you know it's marinated well.

Round 2 : Belly Sizzlers
Price : Php185
Rating : ★★★
Here's Bigby's variation of Cebu's pork belly. Served on a sizzling plate drenched in special barbeque sauce with buttered veggies on the side. It comes with a generous cup of rice.
If you love the fat, then you gotta love the dish. Each portion of meat has a generous amount of fat which methinks gives this dish it's very succulent flavor. I'm not a 'fat' person myself, but the meat parts are really very tasty.

Round 3 : Deep Sea Pasta
Price : Php160-180(to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★★
Soon to be a regular on my menu is this shrimp pasta dish. Generous crab fat and baby shrimps on topped on a bed of sizzling spaghetti with some green onions as garnish. The sauce is not the usual tomato or cream, but a wonderful blend of spices that reminds you of the sea. the pasta is served al dente but expect the bottom pasta parts to be a bit chewy if it's gonna be seated on the hot plate for quite sometime.


Round 3 : Chix Ahoy
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★★★
Also one of Bigby's favorites is the Chix Ahoy. If you're crazy about chicken and gravy, then this dish is for you. A fillet of boneless chicken fried and smothered in gravy and potato wedges on the side. It may sound like the average chicken and gravy, but once you tasted it, the zing of the garlic flavor will surely get you to ask for another cup of rice.

Round 4 : Passion Fish
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★
Breaded blue marlin (look ma, no bones!) deep fried served with garlic dip and rice. I am very particular with the methods of cooking fish and I don't like it when I get a fishy aftertaste.
Anyway, this number definitely doesn't have the aftertaste. In fact, it was so crunchy and juicy that I say, it could definitely pass for chicken. (Mmm, taste like chicken).

Stay tuned for the next food trip!

This is part one of a special two-part review of Bigby's Cafe.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Tokyo Café

Specialty: Western food cooked Japanese style
Location: Ground floor (main mall), south wing, Mall Of Asia
Service charge: none
Rating: ★★★

Tokyo Café serves western food cooked Japanese style. I don't particularly see how western food cooked Japanese style would appeal to Asian people (except the Japanese). We like our western food, western style and our Eastern food, Eastern. I would figure that only Japanese people that miss Japan like this particular style of cooking. I could be wrong though, given the number of people dining there.

The Menu
The menu consists mostly of burgers and crepes typical of those found in western themed restaurants in Tokyo. Most of the diners order the pasta or the burger patties. A few have chosen tempura.

As for me, I have decided on ordering one, usually expensive Japanese dish and one oddly named, Japanese carbonara. I haven't tasted Japanese carbonara before nor have I seen one in japan and I've been on a few trips there already.

Iced Lemon Tea
Price: php 60
Rating: ★★★
The iced lemon tea was similar to those served in Tokyo with the sugar syrup separated from the tea. You get to decide how much sugar you put in there. Its not so sweet without the sugar and it actually tastes like hot lemon tea, only its cold.

Hot Green Tea
Price: php 90
Rating: ★★★
The hot tea is served in fine delicate china. It's a little out of place since the place is more casual than formal. The green tea has a crisp clean green tea taste.





Unaju
Price: php 243
Rating: ★★
Grilled Japanese eel. Out of season, it's usually quite expensive. it's been a while since I've eaten one and I'm curious about the appearance of this very Japanese dish in a western themed place so I decided to take it. In the end, the taste wasn't so special and there were a few places where there was still bone on the fish. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't special either. I don't recommend it unless you have a real craving for this dish like I did at the time. Too expensive and too plain.






Japanese Carbonara
Price: php 175
Rating: ★★★★
Curious dish, this one. Its different from what we pinoys are used to. Carbonara with a hint of soy sauce. There is absolutely no presence of bacon or any other meat products in this dish. Finally, it's topped with nori or Japanese seaweed. The taste is OK despite being different but the oil does tend to settle at the bottom making the last few noodles more oily than the previous mouthfuls.

Conclusion
An odd place. The place could possibly hold around 30 - 35 people and seating easier if you come in small groups. A good place if you want to try something new or if you want to know what it's like to be in western restaurant in Tokyo. A good place to reminisce and tell stories if you've already been there. The ambiance is occasionally shattered by oddly spoken, wrongly pronounced Japanese phrases though. It's quite annoying if you hear spoken Japanese regularly. It's not really their fault if they weren't taught by a Japanese teacher, but they could try to remove the heavy gay accent when speaking the language (there are quite a few of them in there, and they are by far, the loudest). As for the food, good enough but not spectacular. I might try another dish sometime, but they better fix that accent before that time comes.

Zhu

Specialty: Chinese food
Location: 103 Tecoma bldg. 5th ave. corner 32nd street, Fort Bonifacio, Global City, Taguig
Service Charge: none
Rating: ★★★★

Zhu exudes a clear Chinese setting. Save for the screaming purplish pink chairs and the huge Mcdonald's logo just in front of the restaurant itself. Sometimes it pays to stay a few blocks away from the fast food chains lest you be mistaken for one.

The Menu
Zhu serves Chinese food similar to those found in Super Bowl of China and Big Buddha. In addition to the usual, it also serves food which aren't usually found in restaurant menus. Food which are, amazingly enough, what we would usually call "street food". Yep. The kind which are sold in side-street grills and unlicensed, non-taxable, pure money-making food carts. Lets have a look at what they have

• pig blood
• pig shoulders
• chicken gizzard with sesame oil (served with style)
• isaw
• pig intestine
• pig ears

Basically street food served on an expensive plate. They even have fish skin with vinegar as a free appetizer. But that's as local as it goes. The menu contains the usual Chinese food suspects as we can see in the chef's recommended order section.

Iced Tea
Price: php 45
Rating: ★★
The usual generic instant iced tea. Nothing revolutionary.

House Tea
Price: free
Rating: ★★★★
This is where things start getting interesting. Their tea is no usual tea. It looks like water but taste like flowers because thats just what they are. Flowers. Chrysanthemum tea. Definitely not as boring as it sounds.



Chicken Teriyaki Rice Topping
Price: php 160
Rating: ★★★★
Oddly enough, the chicken teriyaki rice topping is not rice topped with anything. When I asked why, they also didn't know. Apparently, they don't know what rice topping means (I was later informed that rice topping dishes served in China were also served liked this). Thats not to say that the food didn't taste well. It did. Meaty bits of chicken served with teriyaki sauce completes the sweet, protein side of the dish. The leafy vegetables, two slices of designer cut carrots and a combination of different mushrooms balances out the sweetness of the dish. A good combination indeed. The veggie side tastes much like traditional Chinese chopsuey with the secret sauce that i could never really figure out. All in all, a good balanced flavor for a balanced meal.


Beef Brisket and Wanton Noodle Soup
Price: php 140
Rating: ★★★★
The soup tasted like usual Chinese noodle soup and at served at just the right temperature. Except for the beef, there is no beef flavor on the soup itself. There are two big chunks of tender beef though. The beef is so soft that it's not really chopstick-friendly anymore. Grab a chunk and the beef strips just slide off. In any case, soft beef is always better than tough beef. The wanton is the usual wanton you find anywhere. Nothing special. As for the noodles, its thinner than the usual canton noodles you find at fast food joints.

Conclusion
Although it's definitely similar to most Chinese restaurants, they offer a lot of things that deviate from the usual. Aside from the screaming purplish pink seats to the street food menu, they also offer hot pot meals where you get to cook your own food and they give you raw food. No wonder they have no service charge. There is little to service if you avail of their hot pot meals. The hot pot meal is a good choice if you intend to converse a little while longer before you actually get to eat. Its a nice opportunity to tell or hear stories while you wait for the pot to simmer.