Eats My Choice

Cyma Estiatorio

2008-02-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Cyma Estiatorio
Location : Trinoma, Quezon City
Cuisine : Greek / Mediterranean
Menu Price Range : Php 100.00 - Php 800.00
Service Charge: 10%
Rating : A

It's very difficult to find good Mediterranean food here in the Philippines. Somehow, this cuisine has somehow been pigeon-holed into stalls or side-street eateries that offer nothing more than a bastardized version of the Gyro. There are, of course, casual dining establishments like Cafe Mediterranean, but these places are few and far between.

You can imagine my disbelief then when I was told there was a great Mediterranean restaurant that offered authentic Greek cuisine in a fine dining setting. I've managed to catch a glimpse of their branch at Greenbelt 3 once in a while, but often found it packed with people. Several acquaintances have also praised the establishment, claiming that their authentic Greek cuisine is nothing less than Olympian.

Fortunately, there definitely is something to all the hype. Cyma has a very charming and classic simplicity to it, echoing the cuisine contained within. The interior resembles a Greek taverna complete with simulated period lamps and furnishings, but with a modern twist. Cyma goes to great lengths to assure a great dining experience from the friendly staff to the authentic cuisine. Of course, great Mediterranean cuisine doesn't come cheap, but, in this case, it's well-worth your money.

Pikilia Mezedes Combination
Price: Php 420.00
Rating: A -

Fans of dips and spreads will find this sampler a treat. You get to sample all of their available dips, the Tzatziki (cucumber, garlic and Greek yoghurt), Melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant, garlic, tomatoes lemon and evoo (short for extra virgin olive oil)), Htipiti (creamed feta cheese, roasted peppers and evoo), Taramosalata (greek caviar, salted fish roe) and the more familiar Hummous (chickpea, tahini and garlic).

Each dip had its unique taste and texture. The Tzatziki reminded me of the Filipino dish called Ensalada which has similar ingredients minus the overpowering onion flavor. The Htipiti had a mildly spicy aftertaste while the Tzatziki and Taramosalata were somewhat tart. Served with warm pita bread, this appetizer is best when eating with a large group (four or more). I personally felt the serving of the pita bread was inadequate - a good portion of the dips remained even after we finished our bread. Additional pita bread can be ordered, however, for Php. 40.00.

Roka Salata
Price: Php 295.00 (solo), Php 390 (to share), Php 580.00 (family)
Rating: A

This monster of a salad was composed of fresh roka (arugula), lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts and parmesan tossed in traditional Greek vinaigrette. The explosion of various flavors all in one salad was simply amazing - the sweetness of the candied walnuts, the sourness of the vinaigrette, the salty taste of the cheese, and the peppery-mustard flavor of arugula - all in very generous servings. I thought the waiter had mistaken that I asked for family, but I confirmed that this really was their "to share" size. I highly recommend this salad.

Baby Clams Angel Hair
CYMA Original
Price: Php. 260.00 (solo), Php. 390.00 (to share), Php. 520.00 (family)
Rating: B

Another light dish, this pasta had a hefty serving of pacific baby clams over pasta bathed in wine, lemon, garlic evoo, parsley and parmesan cheese. The very light sauce complimented the taste of the clams. As an option, you may squeeze lemon onto it to add more flavor. Anyone who is used to strong flavors in their pasta might find this dish quite plain-tasting. Again, their very generous "to share" serving may well serve up to four people.

Paidakia Lamb Chops
Price: Php 550.00
Rating: B -

Recommended by the server, this Cyma specialty of char-grilled lamb ribs was served with pepper stuffed with rice (or you can change it to Greek roasted potatoes) and a slice of lemon. In addition, they served a warm washing bowl since the dish is meant to be eaten using your hands. Though the lamb is tender, some had tendons that make them harder for the meat to be bitten and chewed. The rice inside the bell pepper was boiled with tomatoes and spices and tasted sweet. It was on separate plate that had a lot of oil which makes a person think twice about finishing the siding.

Pistachio Pagoto (Ice Cream)
Other Available Flavors: Cyma's Cheese cake Sorbet and Mint Chocolate Dip
Price: Php 145.00
Rating: C

The ice cream was a refreshing dessert to finish your Mediterranean meal. Served with a sprinkle of various nuts, it complimented the light but tasty ice cream. I was informed it was only a scoop, but it was a big scoop that may be shared by two. Still, for a scoop of ice cream, it was pretty expensive.

CONCLUSION:

Food: Cyma epitomizes authentic Greek cuisine by serving foods fresh and light. Though we might have ordered too much for four people, we didn't feel bloated afterwards. Unlike most cuisines that cover their ingredients with too much sauce or breading, the natural flavor of the food shines in every dish, simply complimented by lemon, cheese or extra virgin olive oil.

Ambiance: Like the cuisine, the place was simple yet elegant. Most tables had comfy chairs and there were a few couches tucked up in the restaurant's corner. The place was predominantly in calming white and blue. Though most its branches of are notably full with patrons, this new branch was comparatively silent and cozy. Visiting the establishment also during lunchtime might be a reason for the difference.

Value: Cyma is a place to eat with friends and groups. Though close to the Php. 500.00 range, their bigger servings are good enough to feed three people or more. Their appetizers and salads were a very good value. The drink and the desserts were a bit pricey.

Service: The servers were very knowledgeable with the food and were quick to make suggestions from their popular and original dishes. The service was excellent. Upon learning it was my companion's birthday, they surprised us with a complimentary, candle-lit vanilla ice cream and sang to the celebrant. They even shouted their signature "Opa!" (an exclamatory Greek word for jubilation / celebration) as the celebrant blew out her candle.

Overall: If you are tired of other cuisines and want to try something different and healthy, Greek cuisine at Cyma is definitely a must try. With their unique dishes and huge servings, it is an ideal place to eat out with friends. Greek food names should not discourage you from trying them out with the help of friendly servers. Reconsider ordering desserts though, for they are a bit pricey.

Big Apple Pizza Co.

2008-02-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Big Apple Pizza Co.
Location : Allegro Center, Pasong Tamo Ext. , Makati City
Cuisine : Italian
Tel #: +63 (2) 757-888
Menu Price Range : Php 64.00 - Php 168.00 (Php 512.00 to Php 784.00 for whole pizzas)
Service Charge: none
Rating : C+

Recently, the number of New York-style pizzerias has been on the rise in Metro Manila. From the old favorite, Yellow Cab Pizza, to the more recent Brooklyn Pizza, these establishments thrive on delivering mammoth, hand-tossed pizzas to an eager public. Big Apple Pizza Co. is poised to be yet another contender, offering not only New York-style pizzas, but also salads, pastas, fried chicken, and even Strombolis to their clientèle.

Unlike Yellow Cab and Brooklyn, however, Big Apple Pizza Co. has an attractive and spacious dining area where patrons can enjoy their cuisine. The tables and chairs are stylish although somewhat hard and uncomfortable. There are also additional tables and chairs located just outside their store, allowing customers to smoke while dining.

Orders are taken at the counter, but, once they're made, they're delivered to you promptly by their courteous staff. Pizzas only come in one size: a gigantic 20-inch thin-crust New York pizza. The slices are so big, in fact, that you might want to ask them to divide it into more slices, eat it with a fork and knife, or simply fold it in half as the large surface area makes it a bit unwieldy to eat traditionally.

Mexican Taco Pizza
Price: Php 89.00/ Php 712.00 (whole)
Rating: B-

A very large slice of pizza layered with tomato sauce then smothered with beef, tomato salsa, shredded lettuce and finally topped with cheddar cheese. This pizza was actually quite unique and creative, combining some of the best elements of Italian and Mexican cuisine. The lettuce was crunchy and the ground beef and salsa went well together, providing a tasty and filling meal in itself.

The pizza dough wasn't very crunchy, however, due to the fact that the dish was simply reheated instead of made from scratch. I was told that in order for them to make one, I would have to order at least half a pizza - in other words, four large slices.

Another word of warning: the Mexican Taco Pizza was quite messy to eat. If you cut it with a knife and fork, it would just fall apart and if you tried to lift the slice, the toppings would fall off. It didn't help either that it was served on a piece of cardboard rather than a plate.

Grilled Chicken Ceasar
Price: Php 168.00
Rating: C-

This dish is comprised of several slices of grilled chicken strips on a bed of lettuce garnished with some tomato slices and peppered with parmesan cheese. A stick of garlic bread was included as well as a small plastic cup containing their Caesar dressing.

The salad was plentiful, but lacked variety, it was basically just lettuce and two slices of tomatoes with some grilled chicken slices on top. There were no onions, mushrooms, peppers, olives, radishes, or even red cabbage included, making the salad taste a bit monotonous. The grilled chicken wasn't very flavorful either, tasting dry and reheated. In contrast, the home-made dressing was full of flavor, but a bit too salty.

Stromboli (Beef & Mushroom)
Price: Php 125.00
Rating: B+

A burrito-sized dough stuffed with either Bacon, Chicken, and Mushroom, Sausage and Pepperoni, or Beef and Mushroom. It is also served with a cup of Pomodoro Sauce on the side as a dip.

During my visit, I decided on the Beef and Mushroom, and found it quite flavorful. The warm dough blended well with the mozzarella cheese and the beef and mushroom stuffing. The Pomodoro Sauce also provided a zesty flavor and made this dish quite appetizing.

Unfortunately, this dish was obviously reheated as well and, if they don't have it on the warmer, they weren't willing to make another one for you from scratch. It was also served on a paper plate that made it feel more like the pre-packaged, toaster oven fare you take home from the supermarket.

CONCLUSION

Food: Despite the very big servings, most of their cuisine is made earlier in the day, which may be alright if you're going to eat lunch, but isn't quite as good when you're having dinner. The food is left on display in a large warmer then heated in the oven once an order is made. If you visit their establishment during dinner time and the menu item isn't on the warmer, your pretty much out of luck as they won't make one just for you.

They're willing to make one from scratch if you buy an entire pizza or at least half a pizza, but for everything else, which includes all of the pizza slices and the Strombolli, it's either on the warmer or you won't get it, period. Combined with some miscommunication with the kitchen, this can be really frustrating as the cashier may claim that a slice is available only to later tell you that it isn't. During our stay, we witnessed a patron storm out in exasperation after waiting fifteen minutes for a pizza slice that never materialized.

Ambiance: Everything had a classic pizzeria look down to the murals on the wall to the wooden chairs and tables. A glass window behind the counter allowed you a glimpse the cooks at work as they hand-tossed the pizza dough and put it in the oven. The establishment was also very spacious and brightly lit with extra chairs and tables available right outside.

The air conditioning was a bit cold, but this could be due to the fact that we were the only people dining. We also noticed some lights turned off, probably to save on electricity as the establishment was rather vacant at the time of our visit.

Value: The servings were plentiful considering their prices. Compared to Yellow Cab or even Brooklyn, you will get comparatively more food, but the practice of simply reheating most of their food degrades their value quite a bit. Also, some of the other dishes are quite expensive considering what they offer (the Grilled Chicken Salad, for instance.)

Service: The staff was courteous and the service was very fast - after all they only needed to reheat their dishes. They didn't seem that knowledgeable when it came to the menu, however, and often made miscues as to the availability of certain items.

Delivery is also available with a minimum delivery value of Php 250.00. They don't charge for this service and are quite prompt with their deliveries on average. If you're looking for a whole New York-style pizza, Big Apple is a good choice, as they will make the pizza from scratch and deliver it to you promptly.

Overall: Despite their spacious and stylish interiors, Big Apple Pizza Co. falls somewhere in between a fast food establishment and a casual diner. Their prices are reasonable and the portions generous, but the food is mostly reheated. Some dishes also feel pre-packaged and pre-made - giving you the impression that you could've gotten the same item at the frozen food section of the supermarket.

If you're with a big group, Big Apple is a good option as they provide fresh, hand-tossed pizzas at a very reasonable price, but if you're alone or with a date, expect to dine on reheated fare that's been in a warmer for god knows how long.

Secret Recipe

2008-02-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

Secret Recipe
Location : 5th Avenue corner 32nd Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Tel #: +63 (2) 856-2953
Cuisine : Fusion
Menu Price Range : Php 120.00 - Php 430.00
Service Charge: 10%
Rating : B+

At first glance, Secret Recipe appears to be just another cafe riding on the coattails of Starbucks and Seattle's Best. After all, the branding, stylish interiors, and even the friendly staff are hallmarks of these franchises. Where Secret Recipe deviates from this formula, however, is that, rather than concentrating on their teas and coffees, the focus of this Malaysian-based lifestyle cafe chain is their menu - especially their desserts.

In fact, you will soon learn that Secret Recipe has several award-winning dishes under their belt ranging from their Irish Lamb Stew to their Marble Cheesecake. With branches in several countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and China, you begin to wonder if perhaps the secret recipes of Secret Recipe has been somehow lost in translation. Fortunately, as I would soon learn, this is definitely not the case.

Although there are some similarities between Secret Recipe and other franchise cafes, its interior was actually quite spacious and brightly lit. Their furnishings were minimalistic but elegant with aluminum and plastic chairs contrasting with the iron-wrought chandeliers. The artwork of their cuisine on the wall reminded me quite a bit of UCC Cafe, but, fortunately, the menu isn't nearly as exorbitant.

Grilled Mushroom Chicken
Price: Php 190.00
Rating: C

Consisting of a chicken breast smothered in a mushroom gravy, this dish was accompanied by a healthy side salad and seasoned rice. First of all, serving the salad with the chicken breast was a bad idea. The thousand island dressing mixed with the gravy, resulting in a combination that wasn't very appetizing.

The chicken breast was also quite bony and sinewy, making it somewhat bothersome to eat. The rice, however, was a good match for the gravy. Portions were pretty generous and quite filling.

Lasagne (Chicken)
Price: Php 135.00 (choice of beef or chicken)
Rating: B+

A meaty and filling lasagna smothered with a rich marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a very healthy amount of ground chicken. This dish was baked and served in a deep dish. I enjoyed this dish far more than the Grilled Mushroom Chicken. It was served pipping hot, but once it cooled down, it made for a very hearty meal. Although the taste of the chicken was faint, the large serving size and reasonable price garnered it a B+.

Green Apple Kasturi
Price: Php 110.00
Rating: A-

I admit being hesitant about this drink initially. I'm not really that much of a fan of green apples and, when it was first served, it appeared a bit coagulated.

Fortunately, it tastes a lot better than it looks. The tart green apple flavor is quite refreshing and the taste is actually very addictive. It tastes a bit like Italian soda, but is a bit more exotic. I'd recommend that you try this refreshment at least once.

Marble Cheesecake
Price: Php 110.00 (slice) Php 1,200.00 (whole)
Rating: A-

I can understand how this cheesecake managed to win accolades. It is the quintessential cheesecake: simple, tasty, and silky smooth. It wasn't too sweet or tart like some of the lesser cheesecakes on the market, achieving a great balance and astounding flavor. The crunchy oat nut base compliments the creamy cheesecake tremendously, making this dessert devilishly addictive.

Chocolate Mud Cake
Price: Php 110.00 (slice) Php 1,200.00 (whole)
Rating: A

First of all, let me state for the record that I'm not a fan of chocolate cakes. I find most of them sickeningly sweet, but, despite this, I found myself enjoying this award-winning concoction. Filled with semi-sweet chocolate fudge, it was creamy, silky and smooth without being overly sweet. In many ways, it was similar to a chocolate mousse in texture, but, all in all, it's an amazing dessert that you simply have to experience.

CONCLUSION

Food: The dishes were a bit of a mixed bag. Some were good while others were somewhat below par. Food portions were generous, but I really didn't like mixing the salad dressing and the main dish on the same plate. Secret Recipe is known for its desserts, however, and this is where it truly shines. The cakes were very scrumptious and addictive although the slices were fairly petite.

Ambiance: Secret Recipe does a good job of emulating the trendy cafe, giving the impression of class while at the same time remaining simple and classic. The establishment was very spacious and comfortable although it could've used more couches as the plastic and aluminum chairs weren't very comfortable. Surprisingly, there was no outdoor area and smoking isn't permitted in the premises.

Value: Some dishes were very affordable while others were quite pricey. The salads and some of the Italian pastas were a very good value (from Php 100.00 to Php 135.00) while other dishes such as the Singapore Laksa and Fish and Chips were expensive (around Php 300.00 and above.) Teas and coffees were affordable, but juices and smoothies can be a bit steep. Their desserts were excellent, but also quite expensive considering the portions.

Service: Overall, their service was excellent. The servers were very friendly and quite knowledgeable - eager to make suggestions as to which dish we should sample. We were served our food promptly and without any hassles.

Overall: Whether you're out on a date or on an outing with friends, Secret Recipe provides a comfortable and relatively affordable dining experience. A wide assortment of food, drinks, and desserts adorn their menu with dishes that range from traditional salads and pastas to spicy soups and laksa.

Secret Recipe allows you to sample dishes from a variety of cultures as well as signature desserts that are simply mouth-watering. All in all, it is a haven for adventurous diners willing to sample the different flavors of the orient and beyond.

Cantinetta

2008-01-31T02:01:00.000-08:00

Cantinetta
Location : Block 9, Rockwell Center , Makati City
Cuisine : Italian
Menu Price Range : Php 250.00 - Php 1,900.00
Service Charge: 10%
Rating : A-

Nestled amongst the various upscale eateries just outside the Powerplant Mall at Rockwell, Cantinetta is hard to miss. The towering structure surrounded with glass walls is simply immense, giving you a sense of the grandeur and opulence that resides within. It's not that Cantinetta is necessarily sprawling, but the glass walls and the high ceiling create the illusion of a vast space that is simply enchanting.

Once inside, you get a sense that you are feasting in a posh greenhouse. Great pains were made to make the establishment as stylish and elegant as possible, from the lush greenery just outside the glass walls to the rustic stone that stood in the back to the majestic chandeliers that hovered above. Lighting was dramatic and soothing at the same time, providing a great backdrop for a romantic banquet.

Their menu was equally extravagant, filled with an almost-unending list of original and authentic Italian dishes that ranged from the regular pastas and pizzas to the more exotic Italian steaks and authentic desserts. The staff was dressed appropriately in finery, making it almost appear as if you were dining in a five-star hotel rather than a restaurant.

A quick glance at the bar quickly confirmed the fact that they carried a vast assortment of wines and I even caught a glimpse of a food cart with a leg of parma ham and a block of cheese. It definitely had all the accouterments of a fine dining restaurant you could ask for and more.

Breads and Spreads
Price: Complimentary
Rating: B

Good staples of a fine dining establishment are the complimentary breads and spreads. In this case, they consisted of various sliced Italian breads and a choice of either liverwurst spread or diced tomatoes in olive oil.

The Italian bread slices were toasted well and served in a bread basket while the liverwurst and diced tomatoes were served in miniature saucers. I was expecting butter or margarine to be served with the two spreads and a greater variety of breads, but overall, the fare was sufficient.

Cesare (Caesar's Salad)
Price: Php 250.00
Rating: B

The Caesar Salad was served with fresh, crispy greens, and the bacon bits and parmesan cheese were flavorful without being overpowering. The caesar dressing was a bit light for my taste, but the croutons had a very strong taste - perhaps indicative of being soaked in vinegar and olive oil.

This was unusual as it conflicted with the rest of the dish. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it was a bit overpowering and distracted from the rest of the ingredients. The serving size was adequate, being able to serve one or two at the most.

Prosciutto Crudo Pizza
Price: Php 420.00
Rating: B+

An authentic Italian pizza, the Prosciutto Crudo consisted entirely of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parma ham. The parma ham was delectable and the mozzarella cheese was wonderful. The crust was also crisp and cooked to perfection.

The problem I had with this dish, however, was the tomato sauce which was a bit too salty and overwhelmed the dish a bit. Perhaps they were a bit too overzealous with this ingredient. Otherwise, the pizza was heavenly. The pizza was quite big, about the size the of large-sized pizza and could feed two to three people.

Lasagna all Bolongnese
Price: Php 380.00
Rating: A

Perhaps one of the best lasagna I've tasted in a while, this dish consisted of home-made pasta layers filled with a tender and meaty bolongnese sauce. Unlike the pizza, the tomatoes weren't overpowering, blending well with the rest of the dish. The ground beef was hearty and tender and prepared well, without the fatty or hard bits that often plague this dish when it's produced in lesser establishments. Smothered in bachamel sauce, it was an absolute delight.

Cannelloni Ricotta e Spinaci
Price: Php 420.00
Rating: A

I was curious how this dish would rate when compared to Amici's. Aside from the Ricotta cheese, it was basically identical to my favorite dish at Amici except for the fact that the cannelloni pasta was crisp rather than soggy, giving it a better texture. The spinach was also less dry and the bechamel sauce provided with it was a tad bit more generous.

The Ricotta cheese, however, was very faint and didn't make as much of an impact. All in all, it's a slightly better dish than the one at Amici's at a little less than three times the price.

Gelato
Price: Php 190.00 for two scoops
Rating: B

I really enjoyed their version of this dessert but, despite several testimonials, I don't believe it's better than Amici's. It's creamier and definitely sweeter and you can tell that home-made ingredients were used, but I'd give Amici a slight lead in taste. Also, they only had a few varieties to choose from: Cappuccino, Chocolate, Pistachio, and Vanilla. This limited selection and the fact that the price is actually quite high, drops the score for this desert to about a B.

Also, you are required to purchase a minimum of two scoops of gelato. Of course, the two scoops could consist of different flavors, but the portions are quite large and two scoops is definitely too much for one person to consume.

Zabaglione
Price: Php 230.00
Rating: C+

This dessert intrigued me mostly because I've never heard of it before. Also, its ingredients were exotic: whipped egg yolk with marsala wine. We felt adventurous and decided to try this dessert despite the exorbitant price, and found ourselves puzzled by the strange taste.

The Zabaglione had a similar taste to eggnog except for a much stronger liqueur flavor. It also had a very thick consistency that required a spoon to consume. Personally, I felt the liqueur taste was a bit overwhelming although I felt it might be better when combined with a pastry dish of some kind to help disperse the strong taste.

CONCLUSION

Food: Most of the ingredients used in their cuisine is top-notch and home-made, creating an authentic taste that is a simply delightful. A great deal of effort was made in the presentation down to the cutlery that accompanied each dish. All in all, Cantinetta's cuisine exuded class and elegance akin to that of the best fine dining restaurants.

Ambiance: This is where Cantinetta truly excels. Their venue appears almost palatial, with wonderful chandeliers, lush greenery, and fabulous glass windows that blended the indoors with the outdoors. The high ceilings also contributed to a feeling of opulence that cannot be achieved in cramped quarters.

It seems no expense was spared in creating a kind of urban oasis in the heart of the city, and it shows the kind of elegance and style that most eateries often overlook. The lighting is also very dramatic especially at night, creating a beautiful atmosphere for those wishing to impress a date.

Value: Of course, all this elegance comes at a price. Most of Cantinetta's dishes are quite exorbitant, with their most expensive steaks tethering on the Php 2,000.00 range. On average, however, you can expect to pay about Php 300.00 to Php 600.00 per person - not including the service charge. If you're planning to take a significant other to this place, be sure that he or she is pretty darn significant because the dent in your budget definitely will be.

Service: As you can expect from this kind of establishment, the service is top-notch. Food was delivered very promptly, and the servers were very responsive and exceedingly friendly. The owner of Cantinetta was also at hand and was personally involved in the operations - definitely a big plus. All in all, they made sure your stay was as memorable as that hole in your pocket that was once your wallet.

Overall: Cantinetta is definitely a refreshing sojourn into Italian cuisine that has all the bells and whistles of a fine dining establishment and more.

Unfortunately, this also includes the high prices. If you're in the mood for authentic Italian cuisine and price is no object, Cantinetta is definitely a very good choice, but for the rest of us, budgetary constraints might force us to look elsewhere.

Jammin' Jamaica

2008-01-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

Jammin' Jamaica
Location : Mall of Asia, Pasay City
Cuisine : Jamaican
Menu Price Range : Php 40.00 - Php 150.00
Service Charge: none
Rating : C+

Having been a fan of the spicy portable treat known as the Jamaican Patty, I found this establishment intriguing in that it offered not only Jamaican Patties, but also a wide range of Jamaican dishes and treats that included burgers, sandwiches, and even pastas and pies.

Upon entering this establishment, the bright hues and colorful paintings and furnishings were instantly evident. The place was a bit cramped, but strangely quaint, feeling more like a friendly hovel rather than an eatery. There were even interesting pieces of art hanging on the wall artistically depicting peppers and spices. In the background, you could hear a medley performed by Raggae legend Bob Marley.

Once I approached the counter, however, I was greeted by a product display complete with empty product boxes and food warmers barely concealing a fully-stocked modern kitchen. It was a bit of a disappointment to break the ambiance, but considering the diminutive size of their store, it might have been a necessary concession.

Although it was plainly obvious that their cooking techniques weren't exactly traditional, I was curious to see how their fare would taste. Never having been to Jamaica myself and with my limited knowledge of authentic Jamaican cuisine, however, it was difficult to find a point of comparison.

Wicked Beef Jamaican Patty
Price: Php 38.00
Rating: B-

Filled with a good amount of ground beef, this is probably the spiciest of the lot. Unfortunately, the spice was a bit lacking for my taste, but, luckily, they had condiments on hand to help enhance the flavor.

Quality-wise their Jamaican Patty is about average. The shell was nice and flaky and the patty served hot, but it just didn't stand out for me in any way. The other patties such as Spicy Tomato, Cheeze 'n' Beef, and Beefy Mushroom didn't sound all that remarkable either. Still, for Php 38.00, it's a pretty good sized snack.

Jerk Chicken Pizza
Price: Php 135.00
Rating: C

The chicken was a bit dry and the red and green peppers that adorned this dish didn't really stand out. It was a bit spicy, but just that. You couldn't taste the tomato sauce and the cheese didn't really stand out either.

I believe the culprit, in this case, is the crust. Being unusually thick, the crust felt and tasted more like bread than a pizza crust, masking the flavor of the chicken and the peppers. In fact, it was more like eating a sandwich than a pizza. In addition, the serving size was also a bit small, being just sufficient for one - or two at the most.

Mashed Potatoes
Price: Php 50.00
Rating: C+

When I saw this on the menu, I was interested to see how mashed potatoes could be prepared in such a way that it would be Jamaican. Unfortunately, nothing distinguished this side dish from any other mashed potatoes you might get pretty much anywhere. The gravy, although copious, wasn't spicy like I would've imagined.

True, there was a good amount of mashed potatoes and it was creamy enough, but it just wasn't remarkable in any way worth noting. Php 50.00 is also a bit pricey, all things considered.

CONCLUSION

Food: I might have been picking the wrong dishes, but I found nothing really outstanding on their menu. Aside from the Jamaican Patties themselves, none of their other menu items tasted exotic at all. They simply felt like the standard food fare spiced up a bit and given some Jamaican-sounding name. Although there wasn't anything necessarily bad with their food, there wasn't anything to rave about either, making the food fairly generic.

Ambiance: Although promising at first, the view of the kitchen area completely ruined the ambiance of the establishment. The location was also very cramped and felt more like a walk-in/order-out place rather than a place to dine. Most people, in fact, did just that, which was a shame since there aren't a lot of places that gives you a nice Raggae environment to dine in.

Value: Jammin' Jamaica is relatively inexpensive as far as restaurants go, but it's overshadowed by the fact that other Jamaican Patty stands sell pretty much the same items for less. I also didn't see much of a difference between the patties sold at stands and the ones found in this eatery. They have a greater variety of food, but none of these items felt authentic at all.

Service: Service was quick and the staff was friendly. There seemed to be a bit too many people working in such a small establishment, but, overall, the experience was positive and the servers welcoming and accommodating.

Overall: I wouldn't go out of my way to eat at Jammin' Jamaica, but it's a viable eatery if you're on a budget. The store is a bit cramped and anything above a dozen patrons will probably start to feel claustrophobic, but a small group of friends will probably find it snug.

The menu feels fairly generic, and it feels as if they were simply slapped together and tweaked slightly to fit a theme. Perhaps one day I will return to this eatery to sample their other dishes, and perhaps it will open my eyes to something extraordinary. But, quite frankly, I'm not holding my breath, mahn.

Amici

2008-01-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Amici
Location : Corner Arnais and C. Roses Ave, Makati City
Cuisine : Italian
Menu Price Range : Php 150.00 - Php 250.00
Service Charge: none
Rating : A

I admit having a long-time love affair with the amazing Italian eatery known simply as Amici. Formerly called Amici Di Don Bosco, Amici used to resemble a school cafeteria more than a restaurant: amateurish designs, budget aluminum chairs and scant decor lined the eatery's interior. To make matters worse, you had to order food in three different stations: one for pasta, another for pizza, and yet another for soups and panini (Italian sandwiches.) Yet, despite its humble operation, it served affordable, incredibly delicious authentic Italian dishes with impeccable service.

But, just last year, the reins of management were handed over to a commercial group: a fact that raises certain doubts. After all, with a commercial company at the helm focused on profits, it could only mean that prices would skyrocket while food quality and service would deteriorate, right? Fortunately, this was not the case here. The trappings of the shift of management were visible, but remained mostly positive.

The most obvious change can be seen in the establishment's interior. The cafeteria aluminum chairs were replaced by stylish, wooden ones, and the shoddy designs were replaced by trendier accouterments.

Even the logo underwent a face lift, going from a somewhat stiff and formal look to a sharper and friendlier appearance. Examining the interior of Amici, it is now more reminiscent of a high-end food court rather than a school cafeteria. There are, however, still visible signs of the transition including empty menu boards and brand-new fixtures that are hardly used.

The biggest improvement, however, were the store hours which were expanded to Mondays through Sundays 7:00 AM until 9:00 PM. Another great improvement was the networking of the POS (Point of Sale) system. Now, you only needed to approach one counter to make your entire order and have it all delivered to you. Amici now also offers a delivery service, although the minimum amount of Php 400.00 is somewhat steep.

All these changes were done without making Amici appear pretentious or overbearing - it was still the corner bistro where you could have a nice lunch or dinner with friends. The big question now was whether this transition impacted their cuisine.

Cannelloni Agli Spinaci
Price: Php 165.00
Rating: A

For me, this is, bar none, the best pasta dish on Amici's menu. It consists of light cannelloni pasta stuffed with delicate spinach baked with tomato sauce and mixed cheese then smothered in bechamel sauce. It's truly delightful and fluffy flavor stays with you. Although the serving isn't quite as generous, it's still a astonishingly delicious meal.

My only complaint with this dish was that I felt they didn't put enough bechamel sauce on it which made it somewhat dry. Despite this, it retained the flavor that I've come to know and love.

Pasta Montanara
Price: Php 165.00
Rating: B

Home-made spinach fusilli (corkscrew-shaped pasta) with Italian sausage, cheese sauce, pepperoni, and salami, Pasta Montanara is a hearty concoction that's sure to whet your appetite and satisfy your cravings.

On the whole, however, I think this dish declined somewhat since the transition of management. The pepperoni and salami seem sparser and the colorful fusilli pasta turned monochromatic green. The pasta wasn't exactly consistent either - some bits tasted a tad undercooked.

Despite these minor criticisms, this dish is still a very good value and remains a delightful symphony of flavors that won't leave you wanting... except for maybe one of Amici's famous deserts.

Al Quattro Formaggi (Four Cheese) Pizza
Price: Php 250.00 (Php 260.00 Take Out)
Rating: A

If you have never tasted authentic Italian wood-fired thin crust pizza, you're in for a treat with this dish! The crust on this pizza is nothing short of divine: soft, crisp and flaky - something that can only be achieved with an authentic Italian oven. The cheeses are strong but not overpowering, providing a kaleidescope of savory flavors.

Easily able to feed two to three people, you can't go wrong with this pizza. For its price and authentic taste, it's an incredible value. This is one pizza that shouldn't be missed.

Gelato
Price: Php 45.00 (scoop)/Php 400.00 (1 kilo pack) Rating: A

Nothing compares to a silky smooth Italian gelato, and no one I know does a better job at making them than Amici. Creamy and light, it's a far cry from the usual ice cream that bombard you with artificial flavors and sweeteners. It's a dessert to be savored, and, at Php 45.00 a scoop, it should be.

Although the price can be disheartening when compared to other, more inexpensive options, there's no substituting for taste - and I guarantee that this is one desert you will be craving for. Some flavors are better than others, but my favorites are the Mint with Chocolate Chips, Nocciola (hazelnut), Vanilla with Nuts, and Cioccolato (special house chocolate.)

CONCLUSION

Food: Amici continues to use genuine Italian ingredients in their dishes and it shows. The taste is authentic and the flavors, unforgettable. Many of their dishes are unique to Amici and can't be found in most Italian or pseudo-Italian eateries, and the portions are quite generous. No doubt, this is one of the best places to go if you're craving for authentic Italian pastas or pizza.

Ambiance: Ever since management changed hands, the ambiance has improved tremendously. It may not be the best place to take your significant other on a romantic sojourn, but the interiors have improved to the level of a fine casual dining establishment. The eating area was also expanded to include a small outdoor area for smokers or people who just want to enjoy the night air.

One concern that I did have during my visit was the noise level. They had some Josh Groban vocals playing in the background, but it was easily drowned out by the din of the establishment's patrons.

Value: At an average of Php 165.00 a dish, Amici seems to be a bit on the expensive side, but taking into account that there is no Service Charge and the quality of the food, it remains a very good value. Other eateries that offer the same quality cuisine easily charge twice what Amici does for the same menu items.

Service: Although the first dish was served quickly, the rest were somewhat delayed. The servers were very friendly and accommodating despite the packed house, however. One thing that concerned us was that we didn't recognize any of the staff.

When we spoke with one of the people we did recognize, however, he explained that most of the new staff were OJT's. Taking this into account and the sheer quantity of the patrons, it's not unusual that service would take a slight hit. Despite these slight hitches, however, I was satisfied with their service and the friendliness of their staff.

Overall: Amici is one of the rare eateries that you must truly experience to fully appreciate. No other Italian restaurant in the Philippines to my knowledge compares to it in terms of quality and value. True, the ambiance could still stand some improvement, but if you're looking for authentic Italian food that won't burn a hole in your pocket, you can't get much better than Amici. Bravissimo!

Carver's Tender Roast

2008-01-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

Carver's Tender Roast
Location : Mall Of Asia, Pasay City
Cuisine : International/Filipino
Menu Price Range : Php 99.00 - Php 169.00
Service Charge: none
Rating : D+

Found huddled amongst the various eateries found in Mall of Asia, Carver's Tender Roast is unique in its offering: fine dining European items such as roast beef and chicken offered in affordable meals inclusive of drinks and sidings. There were three tiers of prices: Php 99.00 for a rice topping meal complete with ice tea, Php 139.00 for a main course, sidings, and an ice tea, and the Php 169.00 feast that included two main courses, sidings and an ice tea.

For their offerings, Carver's was an amazing value especially when you take into account that the establishment did not even impose a service charge. The only question would be if the quality of the food and service would stack up. Unfortunately, this is where this promising eatery began to unravel.

Their interiors were bright, but surprisingly bare. There was a big mural near the entrance, but once you went into the main dining area, the only fixtures you could find were some plants hanging on the wall. There were no paintings or even mock furnishings and the tables and chairs were equally plain, giving the impression that the establishment was more of a cafeteria than a restaurant.

The first indication of that there were problems with their operation, however, emerged when we we sat down to have wait for our meal. The seats and tables were in disarray and the washing station was physically blocked by several seats and tables. To our dismay, we also found a roach scurrying about on their wall - always a bad sign.

Service took a bit longer than expected, but the reason for this was painfully obvious: the entire establishment seemed to operate solely on one server who also doubled as a buss boy. As a result, service was drudgingly slow despite the fact that the place wasn't even close to half its capacity.

Carver's Roast Beef
Price: Php 139.00 (with siding and ice tea)
Rating: C-

Believing this to be their specialty, I had high hopes for this dish. After all, a good roast beef is succulent, tender, and mouth-wateringly delicious. Unfortunately, their roast beef was none of these. It was somewhat stringy and overcooked. The color was a bit too dark, and it was unusually dry. The gravy helped to hide these features a bit, but once you got past the taste of the gravy, there wasn't much flavor underneath.

The java rice that accompanied the meal wasn't bad, although somewhat average in taste, but the fettuccine noodles with white sauce tasted spoiled. When we approached the server about this, he tasted it and said it was just overcooked and that he would be happy to replace it with something else. As such, I've decided to take it out of this review entirely, focusing instead on the roast beef and java rice combination which garnered a grade of C-.

Spicy Garlic Liempo
Price: Php 139.00 (with siding and ice tea)
Rating: B

This dish actually surprised me. At first glance, the liempo bits seemingly drowned in garlic flakes didn't look very appetizing, but I found that the combination was actually quite tasty. The liempo wasn't very fatty and was actually quite tender and juicy (as opposed to the roast beef.) The garlic seems a bit much, but mixed with the java rice, it made for a very hearty meal. The pasta, like the one served with the roast beef, tasted spoiled and was replaced by the server as well. As such, it is not reflected in the review.

Teriyaki Roast Chicken
Price: Php 139.00 (with siding and ice tea)
Rating: D-

Having picked an item from their carver's roast menu (roast beef) and their spicy roast menu (spicy garlic liempo), we decided to go for one of their saucy roast items: the Teriyaki Roast Chicken.

First of all, I have a certain expectation when the word "Teriyaki" is attached to the name of a dish, and that is that Teriyaki marinade or at least Teriyaki sauce was applied to the it. As can plainly be seen in the photograph, there is no indication that Teriyaki marinade or sauce was applied to the chicken at all.

The taste of the dish confirmed this observation. Instead of the sweet, tangy taste of Teriyaki, an overpowering peppery taste pervaded the chicken. It is my suspicion that this dish was simply the spicy roast chicken that had been served to us by mistake. We asked the server if he had perhaps mistakenly given us the spicy roast chicken instead, but he maintained that the dish was indeed the Teriyaki Chicken.

Not surprisingly, the vegetables were somewhat soggy and tasteless as well, garnering the entire dish a very low score.

Mashed Potatoes
Price: Php 39.00 (as additional siding)
Rating: B-

The mashed potatoes were average, but the gravy did a lot to enhance the taste. It wasn't anything special, but as a free side dish or for only Php 39.00 as an additional siding, it's a pretty good value. The serving was heaping (about a large ice cream scoop and a half), so I was actually quite satisfied with this dish.

Pasta With Red Sauce
Price: Php 39.00 (as additional siding)
Rating: F

Although the portion was quite large (as can be seen in the photograph), the taste was unusual to say the least. Instead of using a red marinara sauce, they used some ground beef mixed in with what tasted like lechon sauce. For those unfamiliar with lechon sauce, it has a very sweet liver taste mixed in with peppers and spices. To compound the issue, they added in pig innards as well.

The resulting taste was a conflict of flavors that bordered on the unpalatable. Needless to say, this dish was left half-eaten when we left the establishment.

Brownies
Price: Php 39.00 (as additional siding)
Rating: D

Brownies are pretty straightforward, right? Rich, chocolate, cake slices that have a pretty ubiquitous taste. Perhaps not a gourmet food, but you can depend on its chocolatey taste and fudge-like texture, right?

Not so with Carver's. They've decided to be a bit more creative with their concoction. Unfortunately, the result is more of a chocolate krinkle rather than a brownie. True, it was soft and crumbly and had a rich, egg-like taste, but, to be honest, that's not what most people are looking for in a brownie. The result felt more like leftovers from a Christmas party rather than an after-dinner treat.

CONCLUSION

Food: Carver's is an odd mismatch of flavors. Outwardly, it appears to be European cuisine sprinkled with some popular Filipino dishes, but, upon tasting their fare, the Filipino influence often overpowers the rest of the cuisine. In some cases this was successful (like the Spicy Garlic Liempo) but in others, it failed horribly (the lechon sauce pasta was a complete failure.) All in all, it feels like Filipino food forced into a European setting and often the taste combinations do not work all that well.

There were many concerns with their food as well, many of which appeared to be simply reheated after being roasted at the beginning of the day. Although they advertised a wide range of sidings, most of them were unavailable when we ordered. We also felt that some of the dishes were substituted for others that they didn't have in stock at the time.

Ambiance: Aside from cluttered advertising, their frontage was actually quite promising. The warm, yellow light and the robust colors reminded me of hotel delis that served top-notch food. The counters were clean and very neat with food placed in heaters and behind glass.

Unfortunately, once you got into the dining area proper, this image changed dramatically. The chairs and tables were strewn haphazardly and passage to the sink was blocked by rows of tables and chairs. There were some plants hung on the walls, but otherwise, the dining area was pretty bare, resembling the layout of a school cafeteria.

Roaches were visible on the walls, and in one instance, a small roach even landed on my plate and proceeded to march around the java rice. Insects in an indoor dining area is often a result of poor maintenance and leads one to suspect the cleanliness of the food.

Value: Portions are undoubtedly heaping. The pasta, for a siding, could even be a meal on its own. This is not even including the rice (which was a good size as well) and the main course. For Php 139.00, the meal (main dish, rice, sidings, and an ice tea) is hard to beat price-wise, even by some fast food establishments. They even have a Php 99.00 meal that includes a heaping rice bowl and ice tea!

Service: Service was very slow considering the clientèle present at the time we made our order, but this was mostly because they appeared to be understaffed. They were friendly and listened to our complaints, offering dish replacements when we voiced out our concerns without any arguments.

Overall: For a casual dining establishment, the prices are remarkably low. But, at the same time, I feel this forced management to cost-cut in various areas of the operation, reducing the quality of the food and service dramatically. The food isn't exactly what you'd expect, leaning more towards Filipino food than anything else.

True, the portions are heaping and you do get a lot for your hard-earned peso, but the problems in their store maintenance and food preparation overshadow whatever savings you might accrue.

The Sicilian Express

2008-01-20T00:06:00.000-08:00

The Sicilian Express
Location : Timog Avenue, Quezon City
Cuisine : Italian
Menu Price Range : Php 120.00 - Php 250.00
Service Charge: none
Rating : C-

Nestled in the heart of Timog, The Sicilian Express was flanked by variety of eateries, making it a bit difficult to find. Its colors were standard Italian fare, making its facade somewhat generic and humdrum. The Sicilian Express' interiors were similarly nondescript: with subdued colors and furnishings that are more functional than stylish.

Upon entry, the first thing that caught my eye was a large mural that depicted a whimsical Sicilian mobster theme reminiscent of Lupin or the Blues Brothers. Their menu was similarly themed, but it failed to carry over to the uniform of the staff or the rather unremarkable furnishings, leaving a disjointed environment that felt rushed and uninspired.

The condiments were what you expect from a pizza establishment: the obligatory hot sauce, Parmesan cheese, crushed chili peppers, pepper and salt. Despite the humble trappings, I had high hopes that the modest designs would harbor a great find, but I was sorely disappointed.

Mushroom and Garlic Pizza
Price: Php 205.00 (Regular) Php 295 (Xtra Large)
Rating: C

The toppings were unremarkable and a bit stale to the taste. The cheese didn’t stand out and the sauce was dry and dull. The crust, despite being crunchy, lacked flavor as well – having the same consistency as a budget or microwave pizza. It took a heavy helping of hot sauce, chili peppers, and Parmesan to infuse some flavor into it, but even then, it felt lacking.

To its benefit, the portions were sufficiently large and it was served hot from the oven. The pizza was filling and, for its price, it's a cost-effective meal for a large group who aren't too concerned about the rather bland taste.

Chicken Scampi Pasta
Price: Php 130.00 (Solo) Php 185 (Double)
Rating: C+

The pasta fared a bit better, but was similarly unremarkable. The noodles were prepared adequately, being neither limp nor undercooked, but the sauce left me wanting. As with the pizza, the condiments only helped marginally giving the impression that the pasta sauce was pre-made and simply reheated. The chicken bits were a bit stale and lacking in flavor as well.

Creamy Chicken Soup
Price: Php 60.00
Rating: D

To my disappointment, the soup was served lukewarm and wasn’t as creamy as I’d liked. In fact, it was a somewhat watery and tasted prepackaged or overly reheated - reminiscent, in many ways, of canteen food. For Php 60.00, the serving was also surprisingly small.

CONCLUSION

Food: Rather unremarkable; lacking in flavor. Not necessarily bad, but not great either.

Ambiance: The mural and menu helped somewhat, but this theme failed to pervade the establishment, giving the impression that the place was unfinished or fell short of full conceptualization. This was probably because the establishment touted itself more as a delivery service rather than a casual diner.

Value: The menu prices were reasonable, falling somewhere in between fast food and casual dining. Some items, like the pizza, were relatively inexpensive, but others, like the soups, seem overpriced.

Service: Considering we were the only ones in the establishment, it’s difficult to gauge the level of service. The staff was courteous, falling just short of being friendly and the food was delivered promptly, but as we were the only customers, it’s hard to tell if a packed house would have produced the same results.

Overall: If you’re with a group of friends and are looking for a budget pizza parlor then The Sicilian Express is a reasonable choice. Their menu has most of the items you’d expect, but nothing really stands out. There are no truly original concoctions exclusive to the establishment, but it wouldn’t matter, as everything down to the condiments were fairly generic. The Sicilian Express is a step above fast food, but barely that.

The Chocolate Kiss Cafe

2008-01-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

The Chocolate Kiss Cafe
Location : Ang Bahay ng Alumni, R. Magsaysay Street, UP Diliman, Quezon City
Website: http://www.thechocolatekiss.com
Tel # : +63 (2) 433-3782; +63 (2) 434-7430
Cuisine : Italian, Filipino
Menu Price Range : Php 150.00 - Php 300.00
Service Charge: none
Rating : A-

Anyone who’s ever been to the University of the Philippines has probably dined or at least heard of this place, and with good reason: The Chocolate Kiss Cafe is a great romantic sojourn into fine dining that remains affordable and elegant at the same time: a rare combination.

Despite its humble facade, the interiors beckon to a much more sophisticated clientèle. Upon entry, you are greeted by a classy, glass cake display, exhibiting the tasty pastries that were probably the inspiration for the establishment’s title. A grand piano and various paintings are strewn about the area, adding color to the elegant blacks and brown furnishings and subdued, beige walls.

Chicken Kiev
Price: Php 220.00 (with mashed potatoes) Php 200.00 (without)
Rating: A

A delicious classic that’s been popular for years, the chicken was succulent, the stuffing tasty, and the breading flavorful. The vegetables were surprisingly sparse, but my big complaint was the lack of the traditional mashed potatoes and gravy. Not being a big fan for rice myself, I settled for a helping of garlic bread instead, which was surprisingly good.

Taco Salad
Price: Php 190.00
Rating: B

Although a bit spicy, this concoction was quite hearty, not skimping on any of the ingredients. There were healthy portions of flavorful ground beef, tasty beans, and crisp vegetables. The tortilla chips weren’t soggy (a common problem with this dish) and the concoction as a whole was very scrumptious. It’s a bit pricey, but this meal is still a great value as two people can easily share it, considering the copious servings.

Chix in a Basket
Price: Php 175.00
Rating: A-

A tasty and addicting concoction of breaded, boneless chicken strips with a side of fries presented in a small wicker basket, this dish is a far cry from the fast food fare that often touts a similar title. The breading is crunchy and flavorful while the chicken strips are succulent and juicy. The fries are light, crisp, and light on oil. The tart barbecue sauce was the perfect accompaniment: bold and musky, it featured a mix of complimentary spices that made it a delight.

Devil’s Food Cake
Price: Php 58.00 (slice) Php 580.00 (whole)
Rating: A

Perhaps one of the most sinful deserts on the planet, it starts off with moist chocolate layer cake smothered in generous portions of frothy frosting. This is the most popular desert in The Chocolate Kiss Cafe and with good reason - its sweet frosting and moist cake melts in your mouth and leaves you craving for more.

Kahlua Butter Cake
Price: Php 72.00 (slice) Php 720.00 (whole)
Rating: B

For those craving for a desert that’s more coffee than chocolate and more moist that sweet, The Chocolate Kiss Cafe also offers a Kahlua Cake. Although you can taste the coffeesque flavor of Kahlua fudge filling, it isn’t overpowering and mixes well fluffy butter cake desert. Although it may not as tasty as the Devil’s Food Cake, it’s still a tempting taste sensation.

House Ice Tea
Price: Php 58.00 (Bottomless)
Rating: A

Although most establishments are content in serving generic ice tea drinks drawn from either Nestea or Lipton budget packs, The Chocolate Kiss Cafe actually has their own concoction that sure to satisfy. A small jar of honey and some calamansi (Filipino miniature lemons) are also provided separately, allowing you to mix your ice tea to your taste. Best of all, it’s bottomless!

CONCLUSION

Food: Delicious, hearty food that doesn’t skimp on quality or ingredients, The Chocolate Kiss Cafe offers a variety of flavorful dishes from various cultures.

Ambiance: This is definitely a great place to take a date. The furnishings are elegant with subdued lighting and a great romantic atmosphere. Live music is also available, adding a dash of class and style.

Value: A touch expensive, the menu prices definitely border on the lower end of fine dining. Despite this, it’s still a great value, everything considered. Probably not a place someone on a budget would frequent, but, for that rare special occasion, it’s a fantastic place to dine.

Service: The staff was friendly and accommodating, although the ambiance was disrupted occasionally with the clash of dropped plates. At times, it was hard to get attract the attention of a server, but when they did spot you, they were very helpful and courteous. The people at the cake counter were especially warm and cheery, making for a relaxing stay.

Overall: The Chocolate Kiss Cafe has all the accouterments of a fine dining establishment without the exorbitant prices usually associated with them. The ambiance is warm and relaxing and the staff, helpful and accommodating. It’s a perfect place to have a nice, relaxing night out with your significant other (or prospective significant other). Here’s a place that will impress, without making a permanent impression on your wallet.

Jipan : Japanese Bakery and Coffee Shop

2007-12-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

Jipan: Japanese Bakery and Coffee Shop
Location :Upper Ground Floor A, SM Megamall, Ortigas
Tel # :
Cuisine : Japanese
Menu Price Range : Php 60-280
Service Charge: none
Rating : ★★★

So, I seem to be more hyped writing on-site, as here's another food trip by yours truly.

I was attending some...eherm "business" in Megamall and I was tied until lunch, so now armed with my canon ixy 910is, the green apple quicknotes and my pilot pen. The tard and I went to find someplace to eat that I can review also (to my persuasion).

After some deliberation we ended up in Jipan. A small, Japanese Cafe smacked in some alley at the upper ground floor of Megamall Building A.

It was a small, simple yet cheerful place, to the left of the store is a shelf full of baked goods (Mom buys their bread when she heads to Glorietta) and the right was a scatter of tables and chairs.

The waitress handed out the menus, and we each picked our poison.

FAITO!

Japanese Green Tea
Price : Php 0
Rating : ★★★★

They served us Japanese Green Tea with our meals, and I have to say I was impressed that it was authentic. It had that deep, barley flavor that I love and it was soothing to the throat. This round is definitely a win.

*ding* next round

Katsu Curry (Kare) Rice
Price : Php 240
Rating : ★★★

Served with a side of salad, this meal is pretty cheap for it's quantity. The salad arrived firstly (which is indeed how they should serve soup and appetizers), and it was a simple bowl of cucumbers, shredded cabbage, fresh corn kernels with a dollop of japanese mayo. There wasn't really much to say about it. Just that the corn kernels were crunchy, the cucumbers crisp, and the cabbage fresh. What I'm after is the curry, since I was deeply disappointed in a recent curry trip that I will not disclose where at this particular moment.

The curry dish arrived shortly. It was the usual breaded pork slices (although the batter was quite dark) and beef cutlets with the no-frills potato and carrot sidings layered in a pool of curry sauce on top of a hot plate of rice. This one was definitely better than the curry I last tasted, although there will be better curries elsewhere, this would definitely pass for real Japanese curry since the mix was simple and there were no other elements that disturbed the actual taste and flavor of curry.

Sukiyaki Set Meal
Price : Php 200
Rating : ★★★

All for 200 pesos. I gave it an extra star for the price. Clear beef broth w/ greens, carrots, tofu and slices of beef with lots of cellophane noodles or most commonly known as sotanghon. The soup had the right taste, of sweet that wasn't overpowering with a bit of saltiness to it. The veggies were crisp and the carrots were tender, but the tofu tasted a bit ... eggy (is that even a word?), the amounts of beef was surprisingly generous, but make sure to slurp all the noodles quickly or it will absorb all the soup and you wind up with a lot of fat noodles on your bowl.

The rice that accompanied the dish was soft but not warm enough for my likings.

Another curious thing, this meal is served with miso soup. (I ignored the soup thinking it was for the Katsu Curry Rice, turns out the poor lonely soup was a part of my meal). The soup was good. But the same problem lies with the tofu. Which was (still) eggy-tasting.

The meal is good for one very, VERY hungry person (which didn't fit my description), so I would definitely suggest it good for sharing (for 2). Just add another extra rice (or maybe not) and you're all set.

Considering no VAT and Service Charge, the place is cheap and way more authentic than a lot of Japanese establishments.

Italiannis

2007-11-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

Italiannis

Specialty: Italian
Location: greenbelt, glorietta, alabang, greenhills, libis, tomas morato, gateway, megamall, mall of asia, bonifacio high street, trinoma

Website: http://www.italiannis.com.ph
Telephone No.: 8564094/8563890 (Bonifacio High Street)
Price Range: php 220 - 1800 (whoah! average of php 550)
Rating: ★★★★

Ok. This one doesn't really need much of an introduction. It has branches all across the world and it serves one the most authentic Italian food you can find around. We recently got a 500 php off discount from roovin so we decided to visit this place.

Lets start with the drinks first. Costing php 170 each, each drink merits it's own review.

Watermelon Shake
Price: php 170
Rating: ★★★★

Not much to say about this drink. It's tall, pink and tastes like watermelon. It's also refreshing and light (just like Jenny the waitress said). I'm going to guess that this doesn't have any sugar in it since it doesn't taste that sweet. That's all good. I like my fruit shakes to be made out of actual fruits, hence, taste like blended fruits. Not blended artificial flavors of fruits in ice and tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Grape Shake
Price: php 170
Rating: ★★★★
It's pretty much the same as the watermelon shake except for the fact that this drink is made from grapes (Seedless. Don't worry). Also, it seems like the watermelon shake is more refreshing than this one. Not to say that the drink is bad. It tastes good. It's just too bad that the watermelon tasted better. :p

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Salad
Price: php 560
Rating: ★★★★

A new dish that has been recommended by Jenny (Our waitress. Or is that waitperson to be politically correct?). Romaine lettuce, red lollo rossa, and arugula tossed in a creamy honey dijon dressing, topped with cherry tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese and breaded lemon pepper shrimps. This actually costs more than our pasta and I'm wondering if it's worth it. I don't recognize any of those vegetables I mentioned so I can't say anything sure about the value. The shrimp is tasty and crunchy though. I'm confident enough to say it tastes good (I know this because I ate a lot of it).

Baked Ziti
Price: php 500
Rating: ★★★
Penne pasta tossed with Italian sausage and oozing creamy beef ragout then baked with romano and mozarella cheese. This dish is cheesy, flavorful and filling. Unfortunately, it tastes too much like a generic tomato pasta dish.

Conclusion
Good for romantic dinners for two (Try the Bonifacio High Street branch. Not the one at MoA). For those needing extra pep to those dinners, wine is also available. This place tends to be too expensive for parties unless your company is willing to get a package which would cost anywhere between php 450 - 650 per person. The place is down to earth and the food tastes, smells and looks Italian. The theme is pretty much consistent all through out and the service is excellent. All in all, a solid and well deserved four stars.

Milkyway: It's all about the Halo-halo.

2007-11-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

MilkyWay

Location :Upper Ground Floor, Poweplant Mall, Makati
Tel # :
Cuisine : Filipino
Menu Price Range : Php 85-200
Service Charge: none
Rating : ★★★★

This is my first live post on eatsmychoice, I have now new companions in my food frolics. I have been procrastinating into buying a pen and a steno pad specifically for eatsmychoice entries. So I can report live from the actual site.

Lined along the food avenue of Powerplant's upper ground floor is MilkyWay. It's the usual Sunday family tradition to eat at here after a long (or not-quite-so) afternoon of window/actual shopping. They offer a wide array of Filipino delicacies ranging from snack items to main course. But for today, I'll only be featuring their bestseller on the menu. The halo-halo.

Below is a description of the dessert as a benefit to our international readers (if we have some).

The halo halo is a filipino delicacy. If the Americans have their hot fudge sundae, The chinese have the shaved ice and fruits with mix beans, here we have the halo-halo. From the Filipino word halo which means mix. So halo-halo means mix-mix. Which is what you do to it anyway.
The usual halo-halo can have “fillings” namely but not limited to nor does it contain all of the following: Kaong(sweet sugar palm), preserved coconut strips drenched in syrup, langka(jackfruit), leche flan (similar to egg custard), sweet banana, unflavored or sweetened gulaman, random beans, and ube hilaya.

After all the sweet stuff is patted at the bottom of the tall glass, a nice snowfall of shaved ice is filled to the brim, poured over condensed milk or regular milk and sugar syrup, and if you’re lucky, a scoop or two of ice cream (preferably ube) tops the whole thing with a flourish. (if not, regular ube hilaya or leche flan is on top).

So what makes this halo-halo different from any other halo-halo? Let's just say, I was never a halo-halo fan. n fact, it took me a good number of visits to actually try it, due to my mom and dad's insistent ravings on how good it was. And they never, ever, rave.

Halo-halo
Price : Php 85
Rating : ★★★★★

Their halo-halo had the following foodstuffs: a slice of sweetened banana, coconut strips, beans, leche flan, unsweetened gelatin, and ube hilaya. I liked how they didn't have too much stuff on their halo-halo, how the ice cream was always ube, and how the milk is creamy, but not condensed to be too sweet . Lots of pluses towards my sweet tooth being next to non-existent and my delicate teeth.

I took the long spoon to mix it and surprisingly the ice cream sticked to the shaved ice, which has the consistency and texture of snow. No splatters occurred from the usual pounding of ice cream and glass shards ice, and everything was incorporated in a matter of seconds. I sampled the purple concoction, and the sweetness from the ice cream, hilaya or leche flan was just right and each bite was a surprise of either of the following toppings mention above, or sometimes two if your lucky. The soft powdery ice brings a nice texture to all the flavors.

This one absolutely wins my choice for the best halo-halo in the Metro.

Willer's : Not your everyday sit-down dinner

2007-11-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Willer's Special Lechon

Location :Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City
Tel # :
Cuisine : Filipino
Menu Price Range : Php 100-150
Service Charge: none
Rating : ★★★★

If you're in Cebu and you're one of the braver souls, go venture into the world of street food. Cebu has plenty of those to offer with an ambiance charming as a bus station. If you dare, come dine in the streets where the Jeepneys rush pass and blow smoke in all their glory. Seat in the likes of wooden tables and mismatched stools, next to people in office uniforms eating dinner after a long day's work, or people who are just around the streets in their ratty shirts, shorts and slippers, eating with either their plastic-wrapped or cleanly soaped or not-so-clean hands.

This is the cheerful and yes, very real atmosphere of Willer's Special Lechon. Situated in the corner of Gorordo, Lahug. It may be in uptown but it caters to everybody. Introduced by my officemates who have ventured to Cebu before, I was brought here a year ago with skepticism of my eating-out habits.

Anyway, I was open to any food served to me as long as it is not exotic in my vocabulary, and this wasn't even exotic. This was real food. Real, glorious food.

No menu available since the items are WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), you'd see barbequed pork on sticks, chicken roasting on the winding grill and liempo (spareribs) crackling and spitting in the fire. Even the sign was crude and very, very simple. I was just there for the food, so let's not dwell on the other aspects shall we? :P

Willer's Roast Chicken
Price : Php 120
Rating : ★★★★★

Served hot, chopped, and on a cheerful plate, the chicken had a smell that could liven the senses, as deep inside the center is the core of the flavor, stuffed generously with lemongrass, onions, and all the secret spices and herbs that makes it a Willer's original. The meat was tender, and oh-so-juicy, even the breast part (which I detest for being dry) was soft and easy to chew. The herbs stay intact with the chicken, so you can also get them on your plate to savor the flavors even better. Match this with puso (see next item) with a dip of their pinakurat (see next item) and you'd be in heaven (from the taste and cholesterol) in no time.

Willer's Liempo
Price : Php 100
Rating : ★★★★★

Before you drink your apple-cider vinegar and high-blood pills, better save some more for Willer's Special Liempo. Seasoned spareribs cooked into a crackling crisp of flavors and fat. Please don't mind the dripping oil on the plate, because once you taste the the crispy skin together with the soft meat drenched in yet again, pinakurat or maybe not, you'll be reaching for your next chunk of liempo without realizing it. (and maybe ordering another puso).

Puso
Price : Php 5-10 (will have to verify)
Rating : ★★★

You will only see this in Cebu. So I would suggest you to try it. It's everywhere on the streets, and is the only type of rice served in Willer's. Woven leaves cover the sticky rice and is usually tied up in a bunch. It's not steaming hot, so it'd be best if the food together with it is. People who are new to eating puso would normally peel the wrapper which would give you some curious and amused looks, so search for the thin opening and break it open and eat it like bread. This is a nifty and ingenious way to stuff chicken with one hand and to stuff rice with the other. How can you go wrong with optimized eating? :D

Pinakurat
Price : Free
Rating : ★★★★

Only found in the Visayan province is the Pinakurat. The general dipping sauce for all foodstuffs in Willer's. A vinegar based concoction + all the secret ingredients + chillies. This is the key for stabilizing all the cholesterol induced foods and adding a little bit of extra to the flavor. Best mixed with soy sauce.

It's not everyday you get to experience dining like this, so it's a must-try. Nothing beats eating out in the open albeit dusty air. But if this type of place doesn't suit your fancy, but you're curious about the food, there's always the safer option : GO TAKEOUT :P.

Heaven 'n Eggs

2007-11-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

Heaven 'n Eggs

Specialty: eggs in Filipino, American cooking and a few Japanese dishes.
Location: Market Market, The Fort; Glorietta Makati.
Service Charge: 8SC
Price Range: php 110 - 308
Rating: ★★★

Heaven 'n Eggs is a specialty restaurant that focuses on all things eggs, pancakes and steaks. There really isn't a focus on any particular cuisine as long as it has any of those three. There is a huge section dedicated to breakfast food and other dedicated to steaks. For those looking for a little bit of the Asian taste, they have an Asian Big Plate section. From the Manila spareribs (best seller) to mixed seafood tempura platter (squid, fish, shrimp in tempura batter), there is a little something for everyone. For those looking for the low calorie diet, you may have to settle for their sandwiches, French toast and wraps section.

Pancakes
Price: Free
Rating: ★★
Right off the bat, they provided us with complimentary pancakes even before we ordered. Good way to impress me. Add more food without adding price. OK, the pancakes weren't anything special. But it's definitely added value and you will be spoiled for choice among their syrups.

The Chips and The Fish
Price: php 252
Rating: ★★★★
Soft boneless fish that melts in your mouth, served with tartar, cocktail and lemon butter sauces. Well, at least it was supposed to come with several sauces. Ours just came with tartar sauce. We forgot to ask what happened with the other sauces. It's served with a large helping of fried potatoes and some leafy vegetables. The set was served in a cute picnic basket that makes it all the more adorable. How about the taste then? Exquisite and definitely filling (the fries are partly to blame).

Grilled Pepper Pork Chop
Price: php 218
Rating: ★★★★
Peppered pork chops steak with brandied gravy and garlic rice. Most of the steaks are served with your choice of potato siding (fried potato wedges, house rosemary and garlic potatoes sauteé or rustic mashed potatoes), choice of eggs (sunny side up - over easy, sunny side up - over hard, scrambled, poached, crunchy egg), bowl of rice, sourdough bread slice or pancake sidings. They recommended the mashed potatoes and crunchy eggs (2 of them). Everything about this dish is huge. The steak, the bowl of rice, the mashed potatoes and the 2 eggs. I could barely finish the thing. Actually, I didn't get to finish the potatoes. It comes served with a steak knife stabbed through the pork chop.

Conclusion
This is quite a place. If I had more space in my stomach, I'd probably order some appetizers before the meal or some dessert pancakes after. But as said above, the servings are huge and it's takes quite a bit of patience to finish a single meal. I recommend this place for anytime of the day. The menu is not big on dinners but then again, steaks could very well be served for dinners. They also happen to feature 8 all day breakfast dishes.

Tandoor King

2007-11-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Tandoor King

Specialty: Indian Food
Location: Mall of Asia
Service Charge: None
Price Range: php 115 - ~200
Rating: ★★★

Tandoor King is a restaurant that specialized in Tandoor cooked food. There are possibly other branches for this one. Place them in the comment section so I can update this if necessary. The particular branch in the Mall of Asia is called Tandooria sa MoA.

Chicken Barbecue with Iced Tea
Price: php 115
Rating: ★★★
Huge, soft and juicy grilled chicken served with pickled papayas and sauce. The yellow rice isn't that flavorful. Seemed like normal rice to me. This one could have been good but because of the size of the chicken, the insides are quite undercooked. Looks like they need more time to grill it. Maybe a little pre-cooking would do them good.

Grilled Liempo with Iced Tea
Price: php 125 + additional 35 for bottomless iced tea
Rating: ★★★
Classic grilled liempo served with pickled papaya and sauce. As with the chicken barbecue, the rice serving was huge but not really spectacular. It's a lot though so that's something good about this. Otherwise, nothing really special about the dish.

Halu-Halo
Price: php 95
Rating: ★★★
Again, a classic Filipino dessert. Crushed ice, with colorful gulaman, rice crispies, a few fruits, leche flan and ice cream. Nothing special and downright ordinary. I could get this at a stand in the corner of some subdivision.

Conclusion
Everything about this place is ordinary. Nothing really special nor bold nor unique. Every bit ordinary. The service is great though. Great people with friendly smiles and excellent speed of service. It certainly beats Savory Chicken in that aspect. Definitely affordable. I suggest this place for lunch gatherings of small groups of 4 to 5 people with meager budgets. Not really worthwhile to dine here for special dinners. Birthdays for small children would do nicely here though. Maybe I should try their more exotic tikka dishes next time.

UCC Vienna Cafe

2007-10-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

UCC Vienna Cafe

Specialty: Japanese

Location: Mall of Asia
Telephone No.: 556-0446

Location: 26th St. Forbes Town Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Telephone No: 845-1365, 884-2477

Location: 8757 Paseo De Roxas cor. Sedeno St. Salcedo Village, Makati
Telephone No.: 810-4388, 810-2210

Location: Central Westgate Center, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinglupa
Telephone No.: 771-1549, 771-1550

Location: Rockwell
Telephone No.: 895-4088, 897-3223

Service Charge: 10%
Price Range (Meals): php 199 - 499
Rating: ★★★★

Founded in 1933 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, UCC has taken over all aspects of its coffee business. It has since expanded to several countries and it has several branches in the Philippines alone.

The menu is dominated by Japanese dishes and unlike Tokyo Cafe, this place cooks their dishes the way we expect Japanese dishes to be. They don't have ramen and sushi here though. Instead, they feature the ever so fragrant curry rice, gratin, pasta, pizza, and risotto too.

UCC Blended Coffee
Price: php 109
Rating: ★★★★
We cannot make a review of UCC without tasting its coffee. So do you want to know what it was like? Imagine a coffee with a fragrant aroma, strong flavor bitter and a full body with a smooth wine-like texture. The flavor dramatically softened when I added the cream. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Iced Yin Yan Cha
Price: php 139
Rating: ★★★
For those people not liking strong blends, there is the Yin Yan Cha. Light bodied coffee served with ice and tea. Somehow, the mildly sweet tea flavor overpowers the light bitter coffee taste. Good for those who dislike bitter coffee taste.

Hamburg Curry Rice
Price: php 289
Rating: ★★★★
This is Japanese curry rice done right. I have long tried to find a local Japanese restaurant with an authentic-enough curry rice. This is one of the best I've tried. It smells right. People who have dined in Japanese curry houses know: If the smell doesn't stick to your clothes, it's not smelling right. A huge hamburger patty with curry sauce mixed with cashew nuts, sliced carrots and potatoes, raisins and pickled ginger.

Chicken, Mushroom and Cheese Risotto
Price: php 319
Rating: ★★★★
Risotto rice coated with curry sauce mixed with chicken stripes and mushroom bits topped with sticky mozzarella cheese. This is a heavy dish. Take this only when you are really hungry. There is a strong mushroom and curry flavor although it's a bit oily and there's not enough chicken.

Bacon and Sausage Penne Gratin
Price: php 279
Rating: ★★
Big mistake on my part. This was not the gratin I expected. This looks more like normal noodles rather a casserole dish. Penne noodles, bacon, sausages, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. Eat while still hot. The noodles tend to stick when the cheese cools down. Not bad but a bit too expensive for its ingredients considering the quantity.

Conclusion
Expensive but worth it for some dishes. Great service, soft chairs and excellent dishes. I do not recommend eating here on a regular basis. It is much too expensive! Once in a while would be nice... a very long while. Its nice and quiet since there aren't a lot of people dining. For its apparent lack of customers, you might think they would persuade people to stay. We were almost thrown out when we were taking too long to order and I was taking pictures of the menu. I really need to get a moleskin notebook.

Savory Chicken

2007-10-17T01:24:00.000-07:00

Savory Chicken

Specialty: filipino, chinese
Location: Mall Of Asia
Service Charge: None
Price Range: php 135 - 210
Rating: ★★★

In 1950, two Chinese brothers had the brilliant idea to start a panciteria in Quiapo. They eventually developed a "special" recipe for fried chicken and gravy that became popular with the local Chinese community. Savory Chicken then opened its first branch in Escolta serving Filipino and Chinese dishes. After more than 50 years, the third generation of the Ting family has re-launched the Classic Savory Chicken and that is our feature for today.

Yang Chow Fried Rice
Price: php 120
Rating: ★★★
Traditional Chinese fried rice with shrimp, minced pork, eggs and green peas. Yellow rice mixed with bits of meat, carrots and peas. I reckon it goes well with anything. Not spectacular, but not bad either.

Savory Chicken
Rating: ★★★★
We got a half piece of the supposedly famed Savory Chicken. It is served with gravy and a tiny slice of banana. I really don't know how you are going to share that banana piece but in any case, it's the chicken that is the focus here. The chicken is indeed meaty and juicy. Personally, I don't really see anything special about it. The chicken is flavorful by itself, anyway, but the gravy really does add a lot of flavor to it. The taste of the chicken gets tiring and monotonous after a while. Then again, that happens to most fried chicken anywhere else.

Lo Han Chai
Price: php 120
Rating: ★★
A medley of seasonal vegetables. Perfect for vegetarians. As far as I can tell, it has cabbages, baby corn, mushrooms, peas and carrots. There were other veggies that I wasn't able to identify. Looks a lot like chopsuey but much less appetizing.

Conclusion
Their menu list is a bit sparse for something that serves two cuisines. The technique employed here is specialization. Less dishes but supposedly better than others. Casual dining is the style here. Not really for romantic dates nor for large gatherings but more suited towards casual family dinners. On a side note, a rather unfortunate incident happened when we dined here. The receipt was taking forever to make. Customers got rather upset and frustrated at waiting. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that it will never happen again. It's a rather unpleasant wait between giving your money and getting your receipt.

Zhu: Part 2

2007-10-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

Zhu

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

This an update to Zhu since we covered it before. We had a chance to dine there again so here are more entries you could examine.

Beef Hofan
Price: php 160
Rating: ★★★★
Flat noodles and vegetables cooked with that secret Chinese sauce that I could never figure out. Actually, I couldn't figure out almost all of the ingredients in this dish. It could be made out of unicorns and I wouldn't know. It tastes good, thats for sure.

Crispy Fish Fillet with Salad
Price: php 220
Rating:★★★
The fish is definitely crispy but the taste is a little bland compared to their other, more flavorful offerings. It tastes good with the salad and the accompanying dip. But once you run out of those, you get left with bland crispy fish.

Chicken Fillet Teriyaki
Price: php 198
Rating: ★★★★
Bummer. This one is exactly the same as the Chicken Teriyaki Rice Topping. Well, its still the same 4 stars.

Cafe Adriatico

2007-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Cafe Adriatico

Specialty: Spanish, Filipino
Price Range: php 145 - 395
Service Charge: 10%
Location: Mall Of Asia
Rating: ★★★

This place is all about style. The lighting, furnitures and food are all style. Same goes for the price, unfortunately. Specializing in Filipino dishes that are borne out of our 300 years of Spanish heritage, this place is sure to delight those that have an appetite for rice.

Cafe Adriatico Favorites

Spanish Callo (php 250)
Lengua Estofada (php 275)
Lola P's Embutido (php 235)
Salpicao Rice (php 295)
Haianese Chicken Rice (php 285)
Steak Cafe Adriatico (php 395)
Teriyaki Steak (php 395)

Gising Gising
Price: php 145
Rating: ★★★★
Minced stalk of kangkong, spiced with small chillies and simmered in coconut cream. Yummy. Perfect companion for dishes that are dominated by meat. You could opt to make this dish less spicy. Just say so when you order.

Tapang Baka
Price: php 215
Rating:★★
Marinated sirloin served with rice and a side dish of sliced tomatoes and a sunny-side up egg. This one gets poor marks. The meat is simply too tough. My flimsy geek arms get tired after trying to cut it up into bite sized pieces. It does taste good but I doubt if the taste is enough to redeem this tough meat.

Salpicao Rice
Price: php 295
Rating:★★★★
A winner in my book. Sauteed tenderloin chunks grilled in olive oil and bedded on garlic rice. It's not too oily and it's definitely much better than the Tapang Baka.

Coupe Adriatico
Price: php 105
Rating: ★★★
We rarely feature desserts here but since we decided to have one, I might as well comment on it. Basically, this one is a bunch of sliced bananas and mangoes with some kind of syrup on top of a scoop of caramel ice cream.

Banana Minacolada
Price: php 95
Rating: ★★★
Banana and mint flavored drink. An odd tasting drink. Its like drinking a blended banana flavored mint candy. It's a nice drink after you have already finished eating. Otherwise, it kills the flavor of your chosen dish.

Blue Hawaiian Shake
Price: php 95
Rating: ★★★★
Mildly sweet shake. If the Banana Mintacolada tasted odd, this one looked odd. It's blue. If you have no qualms about eating blue food (or drinking blue drinks), give it a try. It's good.

Conclusion
A bit on the pricey side and their drinks are served by a sister food chain called the Mojito Bay. If you are looking for Spanish-Filipino taste with an ambiance worthy of a romantic date, this is the place. Family gatherings for wealthy people are also good here. They have something for the whole family. Tourists wanting to try good old Filipino food but are scared of street food should be invited here. That is, of course, if they aren't scared of the price. In all likelihood, tourists should be able to afford this.

Davao: Food Trip Part 3: Ahfat Seafoods Plaza

2007-10-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is the last part of a running series on Davao. Here is part one and two.

Ahfat Seafoods Plaza

Specialty: Chinese Seafood
Price Range: php 150 - 250
Location: Davao
Rating: ★★★★

Ahfat Seafoods Plaza is a no-nonsense place that focuses on nothing but the food. The place is not posh but it's clean with deep hues of green for the walls. It has a decidedly Chinese atmosphere to it with several red dragons and red Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. It's Chinese food with Filipino influence.

The Menu
The chef's recommendations were:

Minced Pork with Lettuce (San Soy Bao)
Prawns with Lobster Sauce
Spare Ribs with Taro (Gabi)
Taiwan Pechay with Garlic & Salted Fish
Pompano with Alexander Sauce
Big Scallop Cook(ed) in Two Ways: Sauteed & Fried

Despite the recommendations, we didn't pick any of them. I decided to let my voracious companions choose lest I be castigated for my apparent lack of decision making skills. We were also sporting two guests this time (our unofficial tour guide and her SO). I managed to whip out my camera earlier but nonetheless, much to their dislike, I am still taking too much time and decided to attack some of the food while I was taking photos. I apologize for the hurried and blurred, darkened look. Besides, we have hungry guests to feed and these were the same people who treated us to Taklobo during the first night in Davao.

Hot and Sour Soup
Rating: ★★★★
I was terribly misled when I read this menu entry. I was thinking "hot" as in "not cold" and not "hot" as in "spicy". It was my first time having this kind of soup and it was a nice treat. It was a little too spicy for my taste and I really don't like too much spice in my food but my companions really seemed to have enjoyed it. Anyway, if it's too spicy, take a tip from my Chinese friends: add a bit of black vinegar. It dulls the spice.

Yang Chow Fried Rice
Rating: ★★★★
Of all the rice platters I have ever seen, this one takes the prize for presentation. You won't see a single grain of rice at the time of serving. The rice is enveloped in blanket of thinly fried scrambled eggs.

Shrimp Gambas
Rating: ★★★★★
The serving is huge and the scent is mouth watering. When we entered the place, it was already full of this dish's aroma. After inquiring what it was, it was decided that we must have this dish at our table. Crunchy, spicy and plenty to go around.

Spicy Spare Ribs
Rating: ★★★★
Cholesterol goodness galore. Served just the way I like it: crispy and not too oily. I like my cholesterol to come from the meat. Not the oil. I recommend people with hypertension problems to stay away from this dish and also the Shrimp Gambas. I also recommend getting a veggie dish to go with this one. Since the taste gets monotonous after a while.

Seafood Roll
Rating: ★★★★
A veritable concoction of seafood bits stuffed inside a breaded flour shell. Tastes good with or without a sauce. As with the dish above, I recommend getting veggies to compliment this dish.

Conclusion
Food, more specifically seafood, is at the core of this place. The setting, ambiance and furniture are mere afterthoughts. I wouldn't recommend this for a romantic date. I most certainly advise against marriage proposals at this place although family gatherings would do fine here . Nonetheless, it's still a recommended place if you visit Davao. Ahfat serves excellent Davao cuisine at bargain price.

Credits
I would like to thank our unofficial tour guides, the beautiful Ms. Elvira Uy and her beau, during this amazing trip to Davao. Thank you for showing us where to eat good food. :D

Davao: Food Trip Part 2: Blugré Coffee

2007-10-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

This is part two of a running series on Davao. Part one is here.

Blugré Coffee

Specialty: Coffee and pastries
Price range: php 90-120 for beverages, 40-100 for pastries
Location: Matina town square; Landco Corporate Center, Davao City
Rating: ★★★★
Espresso, latte, mocha, durian, cappuccino. Yep you got that right. Durian along with our usual coffee favorites. Blugré coffee's signature drink is the durian cappuccino. Hot cappucino with the durian fruit bits. It also available in iced form called durian larcepuccino. Aside from the usual espresso, latte, mocha and cappuccino, this place also serves ice-blended coffee drink which they call larcepuccino coffee. They also have larcepuccino cream and Blugré shakers for non-coffee drinkers. This chic cafe is similar to those found in Manila with their concept and designer coffees.

Hazelnut Caramel Mocha
Price: php 110
Rating: ★★★★★
It fills your senses with a delicious blend of hazelnut and caramel syrup, chocolate and coffee. a classic combination that never fails the sweet tooth. The cup comes with an unmistakable scent of hazelnut accompanied by the sweet taste of caramel. As you drink, you encounter the warm froth of mocha followed by a lingering bitter coffee flavor.

Caramel Macchiato
Price: php 1XX
Rating: ★★★
A signature Starbucks beverage found its way to this unique cafe in Davao. Creamy and foamy with a hint of caramel. It is not so different from the more popular creator of this drink but still addicting and good with any pastry.

Choco Oatmeal Bar
Price: php 45?
Rating: ★★★
Oatmeal bar smothered with generous helping of chocolate. This sweet pastry may pass for a granola bar except that it has more calories. This is normally one of my favorite sweet treats. Unfortunately, this one may have been left on the shelf for some time already because the oatmeal is a little hard to chew and the chocolate is no longer gooey.

Dark Chocolate Cake
Price: php 9X
Rating: ★★★★
This dark chocolate treat lived up to its name. The cake is rich and heavy and mildly sweet with a strong heart-attack-inducing, calorie-laden chocolate flavor. Delicious and sinful to the last bite.

Conclusion
Blugré also sells their coffee beans and they grind it free of charge. On one side of the cafe are mugs and souvenir shirts for sale. a place to hang out, catch up on stories or simply read today's news this place is not much different from the usual cafe in terms of ambiance. For the not-so-daring enough to try the durian cappuccino/larcepuccino, this place offers decent coffee and pastries that are a little less expensive than the usual cafes found in Manila. But definitely try the durian cappuccino/larcepuccino for an authentic Blugré experience.

Davao: Food Trip

2007-10-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Davao: Food Trip

Location: Davao

This is part one of a series of specials on Davao restaurants and cafes (ok, one cafe). The first two places are not documented too much since there aren't much pictures because my companions have managed to devour the food before I had a chance to whip out my camera (fiesty, I tell you.). They are, however, recommended to us by people who live in/have been to Davao.

Kuya Ed's

Specialty: None
Price Range: php 99
Location: DCI Bldg, A. Pichon street Davao City
Rating: ★★★

This was our first stop. With the very low price of php 99, you can afford to eat anything you want on their buffet table. No kidding. Well, there is a hidden charge on the drinks which costs around php 35 (php 36 for bottomless iced tea) but even then, it's still reasonably priced. There isn't much to say about the buffet line since the food is pretty much unpredictable. Every time a dish empties out, an entirely different dish replaces it. If you have a limited choice of food for a particular diet, you'll eventually find food that you will be able to eat.

The service, however, is horrendous. There isn't much service to begin with since it's a buffet. You basically have to stand up to get the food yourselves. You do have to grab the waiters' attention in order to get some drinks unless you managed to bring your own and this is where the trouble begins. There aren't enough waiters for every table. I reckon that this is the reason why the food is so cheap. I recommend getting there earlier or later than lunch time to get the most out of your stay. Bring your own tissues/napkins/toothpicks unless you are willing to wait forever.

Taklobo

Specialty: Filipino
Price Range: php 195 - 220
Location: Jack's Ridge, Shrine hills, Matina, Davao City
Rating: ★★★★
Location is key. Jack's Ridge is located on a high piece of land that formed part of the headquarters of the retreating Japanese during World War II. Several caves line the place and it overlooks the city of Davao. As for the food, It's not that spectacular although it's not bad either. They do have the usual Filipino favorites like kare-kare, lechon kawali, spicy pork ribs, sweet and sour lapu-lapu and camaron rebosado. They also have something like "Jack's Fried Chicken" which is deep fried chicken seasoned with spices. Didn't try that though. I have developed a certain dislike for Davao's famed native chicken. It's just too small and too lanky. It's like eating coat hangers.

Pinakbet Special
Price: php 188
Rating: ★★★
A medley of native vegetables stewed in tomatoes and shrimp paste. This one is good. Although it's tiny bowl hardly serves 3-4 persons as indicated in the menu.

Sizzling Squid
Rating: ★★★★
Filipinos have always confused squid with cuttlefish and this one is no different. This may also have something to do with the fact that the local translation pusit does not differentiate from the two. I'm no biologist but I can safely say that this is probably cuttlefish. Despite what I think is a misnomer, this dish has nothing to hide in terms of flavor. Flavor bursts in your mouth after every bite. The fish is not tough but soft and squishy. This is one of those instances where my companions managed to devour the food before a picture was taken. I apologize for the lack of photographic evidence.

Kilawing Tanigue
Rating: ★★★★
Cubes of raw fish pickled with vinegar alongside garlic, onions, ginger and cucumber slices. Nice combo right there. For something served raw, it certainly whets this author's appetite. The lighting was bad but I somehow managed to take a picture while my companions weren't paying too much attention to it.

Sinigang na Isda
Rating: ★★★
Ordinary to say the least. Although I did manage to take a dark blurry picture.

Sisig
Rating: ★★★
Oily and spicy pork spare parts served on a sizzling plate. Flavorful but not at all that special.

Conclusion
It's a great place to visit if you are new in Davao. The view is awesome. You feel like royalty having lunch (or dinner) wherein your table is overlooking your kingdom while being serenaded by guitar playing amigos. The food is not that spectacular though but the location does make up for the mediocre food. They also serve wines (php 700 a pop) for those special occasions. Combine not-so-spectacular food with excellent location and you get yourself and nice solid 4 stars (+1 for the location).

Oishiitei

2007-09-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

Oishiitei

Specialty: Japanese food
Location: 2nd Flr. 103 Tecoma bldg. 5th ave. corner 32nd street, Fort Bonifacio, Global City, Taguig
Phone Number: 8563872, 8563873
Price Range: php 150-380 (non inclusive of 12% vat).
Service Charge: 10%
Rating: ★★★

A little known place beside the Fort strip yields a few gems like zhu and this Japanese Restaurant called Oishiitei. Serving fine Japanese dishes in a distinctly modern japanese atmosphere.

The Menu
This place has got the works when it comes to Japanese cuisine. They got the donburi (rice meals), curry, ramen, soba, udon, seafood, sushi, sashimi, a whole slew of ala carte dishes and of course, dessert. This might be just the place when you are craving for that uniquely Japanese dish that you can't seem to find somewhere else. The menu list is a bit pricey although they do have that lunch menu where you get a trayfull of food. It's still quite expensive for me.

Katsudon Meal
Price: php 230
Rating: ★★★
This is one of the dishes on the lunch menu set meals. Tender breaded pork cutlets cooked with egg placed on top of steamed rice. Served with Miso soup and garnishing veggies (I have no idea when to start eating this). I've got to say that their katsudon is comparable to those actually served in Japan but nothing really spectacular. I miss Japanese sticky rice. I have yet to see a local Japanese restaurant serving sticky rice with their donburi. Our local rice just doesn't stick to chopsticks that much. Otherwise, this would have been excellent.

Tendon & Kitsune Meal
Price: php 230
Rating: ★★★
Crispy tempura on steamed rice. This one was also served with a veggie garnishing, 2 slices of sweetened fish and surprisingly enough, it comes with udon. The tendon was already served with sauce. It was crispy, tender and mildy salty although it was a bit harder to eat with chopsticks.

Salmon Cheese Roll
Price: php 230
Rating: ★★★
Imported salmon and cheese (probably not imported) rolled in sushi rice with an enormous salad leaf. I really don't know how to eat that salad leaf properly.

Conclusion
Their choice range is excellent and their prices a little on the steep end. The place could potentially hold a lot of people and the seats are comfy. This place is great if you plan on dining on that obscure japanese dish that you adore but can't seem to find anywhere else. Be prepared to pay for it though. Prices are not inclusive of 12% VAT and they have a 10% service charge.

Lemon Grass : Vietnamese &Thai Culinary Treasures

2007-09-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Lemon Grass

Location :1/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City
Tel # :
Cuisine : Vietnamese & Thai
Menu Price Range : Php 30+-175+
Service Charge: none
Rating : ★★★★

If you are really getting tired of the usual suckling pig and chicken,
the grill foods and all the native Filipino food in Cebu, here's a good alternative for some healthy (plus some not so healthy) and delicious eating.

Lemon Grass is all about Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. They offer an ample selection of both food genres to give you great dining from both worlds (or countries).

Located at the 1st floor of Ayala Center Cebu's Food Entertainment Center, the restaurant carries warm tones of green and yellow, comfy chairs and smooth wooden tables, and comfy couches and my favorite place, the tall bar chairs with equally tall tables to match.

And now for the most important part, the food. they serve a full course menu offering lots of Thai and Vietnamese delights for you to choose from and to share with a small group or with a date.

Drinks : citrus and herb lemonade
Price : Php130 (a pitcher)
Rating : ★★★★★
I can really say, this is the restaurant's best selling drink, it would be odd to see it not perched on every table occupied in the restaurant. Good for sharing, this is a tall pitcher of freshly squeezed citrus juice mixed with orange, lemon, lime, and cucumber slices drizzled with basil and mint leaves and lots of ice. This is a good drink to pair up with eating because it has a light and refreshing taste, plus the flavor doesn't hang in the mouth to overpower the food you will be eating. You can also request for chopsticks if you like to scoop out the slices.

Starters : Crabstick and Pomelo Salad
Price : Php 1XX
Rating : ★★★★
I am always up for a good salad, and by my definition of a good salad, the greens are crisp, the variety of the garnish complements each other, and it shouldn't be drowned in the usual 1000 island dressing.

This is a nice twist from the usual shrimp and pomelo salad. Instead, they used crabstick. Fresh greens with shredded radishes and carrots at the bottom sweet pomelos circling the veggies, generous strips of crabstick and a dash of nuts and fried onion shavings on top. It comes with a clear, sweet vinegar dressing where a dash or two suffices for a single serving. (This serves well for around 2-3 people)

Noodles: Pad Thai
Price : Php 155
Rating : ★★★★★

This famous noodle dish is one of my personal favorites. Mildly spiced authentic Thai noodles tossed with chicken and shrimp sprinkled with nuts, bean sprouts and herbs on top. A slice of lemon is also included to add a bit of zest on the noodles.

I would suggest to spoon the following for a bite: noodles, a piece of shrimp, some chicken, the bean sprouts the nuts and a little squeeze of lemon which will result to a surprising taste and texture from the crunch from the fresh sprouts, the citrus taste of the lemon, the chicken and shrimp meat, and the various herbs.

Noodles : Vietnamese Seafood Noodle Soup
Price : Php155
Rating : ★★★★
Not a fan of dry noodles? They also have noodles with steaming hot soup. This bowl came from a bowl that can be shared with 2 or 3 people. Slippery, thin noodles with mixed vegetables in a seafood medley in a clear broth soup. The soup was served hot, they way it's supposed to be, the noodles were soft but firm, although the taste of the herbs in the soup can be a bit overpowering.

Poultry: Chicken Pandan
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
One of Thai's most loved and most ordered meal is the pandan chicken. Not only is it familiar to our taste buds, this dish is really very tasty. Marinated chicken pieces wrapped in pandan leaves left to cook in their own oil and juices (the plate had this little pool of chicken juice). served with an exotic tamarind chili sauce, it was a perfect accompaniment to the hot jasmine rice (php30).

Seafood: Shrimp Pancakes
Price : Php175
Rating : ★★★★
Because we wanted to go for a bit of seafood minus the fishy taste, we added this shrimp pancake on our menu, whole shrimp pieces stuffed into a seafood patty and strips of green veggies fried and served with the same sweet tamarind chili sauce. It was hot and each mouthful was a mix of shrimp,squid, and fish and the big pieces of shrimps was an added bonus. Because of the rich seafood flavor, it can be overpowering (like the noodles)

Conclusion
Craving for both Thai/Vietnamese while in Cebu City? This is a good place to dine. Be reminded that the variety for both foods may not be as diverse as an actual Vietnamese or Thai restaurant. But if you enjoy the usual Vietnam and Thai delights, be sure to drop by Lemon Grass.

Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant

2007-08-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-08-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Chaikofi

2007-08-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-20T01:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-08-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Tokyo Café

2007-08-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

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.

Grams Diner

2007-08-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Grams Diner

Specialty: American style diner cuisine
Location: Ground floor, Seaside Boulevard, Mall Of Asia.
Service charge: 10%
Rating: ★★★★

Grams Diner serves American styled food at a decent price. While diners are not normally located beside the sea, this diner has chosen it's location well. Near enough the sea so you could see its beauty while you dine and yet far enough so you wouldn't smell the filth of Philippine waters. But enough of the location. we are here for the food.

The Menu
The breakfast menu is decidedly non-American besides the set breakfast that they have. Somehow, English muffins layered with ham and topped with hollandaise sauce doesn't sound too American to me. They should have added more waffles and coffee in the menu if they want to be called a diner.

We couldn't decide on what to eat, so we settled on the set lunch package. Says so in the menu. "Can't decide? Here's our list of..."

The set lunch comprises of the following:

main dish
a choice between soup or salad
a choice of mashed potatoes, fries, steamed rice or garlic rice
iced tea
a choice between coffee and tea

That's a lot of choices for a list of 4 dishes. We settled for fish fritters with mashed potatoes and camomile tea and the roast beef with hot coffee. That way, I get to try a lot of food.

Iced Tea
The ice tea in itself was not spectacular but what was interesting was the fact that men and women have different glasses. Men have sexy curvy glasses and women have straight no-nonsense glasses. Why? I have no clue. And I didn't bother to ask because they only have 2 waiters to serve a place capable of handling roughly 25 to 30 people.

Cream Soup
The cream soup was... well, soupy. Plain chicken soup. Nothing in it but soup. I didn't bother to post pictures of it here.

Roast Beef
Price: php 235
Rating: ★★★★
The roast beef didn't look roasted at all. looked more like grilled if you ask me. But I'm not a cook. I just eat a lot. It may not look roasted but it was scrumptious indeed. Nice thin slices of red, kill-yourself-softly, meat with a huge dollop of rice. A veritable concoction of cholesterol and carbohydrates. It wasn't oily too.

It was served with sauce, steamed rice a few bits of string beans, some corn kernels and a pathetic slice of carrot. It was a high dose of cholesterol and carbohydrates and I loved it.

They also placed a few bottles of other sauces if you might like them (a very nice addition for those who are spoiled for choice). It included a bottle of A.1. steak sauce, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and oddly enough, Knorr seasoning.

Fish Fritters
Price: php 205
Rating: ★★★★
A set of 5 to 6 pieces of fish fritters with soft tender white meat that melts in your mouth with a delicious coating of batter. The batter was uneven in some places though. they could use a better way to coat the fish. The mashed potatoes were soft and a bit on the creamy side as one would expect a mashed potato to be, even if its a bit on the bland side. The secret sauce could be none other than mayo and ketchup. Although I couldn't say for certain.

As with the roast beef, it was also served with a few pieces of string beans and a few corn kernels. But unlike the roast beef, this had 2 slices of carrots. Talk about healthy living.

Conclusion
All in all, a great dining experience. The food is good, the ambiance and setting is good for a medium sized gathering. They even have a section where you can scribe your moment of celebration on the wall to remember the good times. To finish off, here is their list of reasons why you should dine there. Personally, I think number 8 should be number 1.

First Post

2007-08-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is a blog about food. Anything and everything food. My girlfriend and I spend a lot of time eating out. Not because we have a lot of money to spend but because we love food. Actually, i love food. I just happened to drag her along. This blog aims to be a compendium of sorts. A list of places we have eaten, will eat at again, as well as the list of places to shun for the rest of our natural lives. This will not be a list of healthy places to eat nor will it be a list of the most posh and expensive. Consider it a review of sorts.

Some people blog their lives. Well, we are what we eat and by this god-forsaken cliché, i start this blog.