A Not So Good Dinner

In the mood for Italian, we headed to Eastwood City to try the newly opened Sbarro. We're gonna have take outs from Sbarro because Tapioca is so used to eating at home while watching some movies or TV series. He's more comfortable that way and I think I'm getting use to it.



We dropped by first at Jack's Loft for some desserts. I missed their choco moist cake so I ordered a slice of it and Tapioca had the choco mousse cake to go.

...choco moist cake

Uh-oh, this is not the same choco moist cake that I had before. Just by looking at the pic, some parts were moist and some were not. Worse of all it tasted stale like it's been sitting in the cake shelf for ages. Sadness.

chocolate moussee cheesecake...

Yet, another stale tasting cake. We hardly finished all the cakes. Talk about disappointment and waste of money. I think Jack Loft's better check the quality of the cakes they serve or it will ruin their reputation. If we had this at their restaurant I would probably have them replace or get a refund.


Moving on to our Sbarro take outs...

...stuffed pizza

Tapioca had this one. I tried it but nothing special. In fact, I can't remember how it tasted like let alone the exact name of the pizza.

chicken macaroni salad...

The pasta was cooked right and the light coating of mayo was perfect. Pineapple complimented the dish as well so its not nakakaumay.

...lasagna with meat sauce

A little trivia here. Tapioca prefers red sauces for his pasta while Jellybean prefers white sauces. Obviously this is Tapioca's choice. Whenever I'm at Sbarro I always order the baked ziti with white sauce. Tapioca has been raving about Sbarro's lasagna and he wanted me to try it. Alright, so that's what I did. And I thought it was a big flop. Surprisingly Tapioca agreed. He can't accept the fact that it's not the same lasagna he always had at Sbarro. Same goes with the pizza therefore concluding Sbarro's branch in Eastwood the place to be avoided.

Read more...

Breakfast in Bed

This morning, I woke up in bed and saw this....

...ham and cheese omelet, french toast with strawberry jam and orange juice

Oh la la, talk about the sweetest thing....

Read more...

Sinigang na Baboy

It's cooking time. Tapioca showed me how to make his own version of sinigang, one of my favorite comfort foods of all time. Doesn't really matter if its pork, beef, fish or shrimp. I love them all.


For this post, we used pork. Jellybean helped him out in her own little ways on preparing the ingredients. Tapioca chopped the garlic cloves, onions and lots of tomatoes and Jellybean was in charge of the veggies. We had kangkong and sitaw (string beans).


Once all the ingredients were ready, Tapioca started heating up a big pot with a little bit of oil. Then he sauteed the garlic, onions . . .


. . . and tomatoes.


Once everything turned soft, he added the meat and continued cooking it until the meat sweats.


Then he added the water and the sinigang mix. We used two packs of these instant sinigang mix to make the soup really sour.


We let the water boiled until the meat becomes tender. Then add the veggies and cook it for few more minutes until the veggies are cooked.


Tada....


Tapioca's Sinigang na Baboy


Once again, a meal is never complete without a sweet ending called dessert.

Read more...

Food Trip On A Rainy Day

It's a rare occasion where Tapioca and I got a day off together so I thought of maybe going out to places where we have never been before. But then, the weather was not cooperating so instead we were stuck with our usual routine. Not to ruin the fun of getting a common off, Tapioca showcased to me food places he love that's just near his place.


Since it was raining a lot these days we ordered food on the go and eat them at home. Had our lunch at Danilicious but unforch I forgot to take pictures. Then dinner time came, I made sure not to forget to take pictures. But then lighting is bad at home so pardon my pics.


Being the Chinese dude that he is, he just knows where to get a good fix of Chinese food. New City is just a block away. Once we placed our orders, Tapioca and I hanged out near the open kitchen and watched in amazement how fast the chef prepared and cooked the food.

...chami

Thick egg noodles, the type use in lomi made into pancit. I'm not really sure about this one. Probably my expectation was high. Was not able to finish the whole thing.

hototai soup...

I love this soup! It's a complete meal as it is with meat, vegetables and squid balls. This was very flavorful. They also added one whole egg in it.

...the soup was piping hot so it cooked the egg yolk like this

shanghai fried rice...

I don't eat fried rice that much especially when it's too dry for my palate. This one is a bit dry but I was able to eat it though.

...pata tim

One of the very popular chinese dish. Braised pork leg (pata). We order just the regular so serving size is small. The meat was very soft and it falls off the bones.

chop suey...

Mixed veggies and meat cooked in a starch-thicken sauce. This tasted like the hototai minus the soup. Still good. Tapioca loves this.


For dessert, we headed to Banapple along Katipunan Road. I heard they had great cakes and pie selection so when Tapioca mentioned we're going to get cakes from Banapple, I got so excited like a kid. He sure lives around where there are good places to eat.




I had the blueberry cheese cake and he had the warm shoofly pecan pie

The cheese cake was good although I had better cheese cake before. Tapioca said the pecan pie was really good.


How I wish we can always spend our day offs together but then again I need to spend some time with my family as well.

Read more...

Red Mango and the Froyo War

Before Red Mango and every froyo stores in Manila came, there was Better Than Ice Cream (BTIC). Well, froyo or frozen yogurt has been around the country for decades and it's just amusing how all of a sudden new froyo places are mushrooming all over the metro. What's all the hype?


Okay, ice cream fan here but when I heard about all the health benefits of froyo, I even considered of being a convert.But then again, to taste is to believe. Each and everyone has their own preferred froyo places. And as for me, I must try yet one of the most covetted froyo from Red Mango.


Yes, Red Mango has finally landed in Manila. Now I wonder when will Pinkberry will join the war? For those who didn't know Pinkberry is also owned by Starbucks and is making waves of froyo followers in the states. As for Red Mango it's a Korean owned company.


Luckily, Mark who's also hooked with Red Mango, happily dragged me to Eastwood. Red Mango's store in Eastwood is small but still a lot of people are patronizing the place. It was kinda hard to take pictures in a small place with lots of people.


We ordered a medium size of plain yogurt with two toppings and it costs almost a hundred bucks. Hmmm, makes me think this froyo should better be good for its price or else. Here are the choices for the toppings on your froyo...

...fresh fruits, take your pick

assortment of crushed cereals, chocolate, nuts, etc...

Mark's pick...

...mango and peach slices

Jellybean's pick, inspired from cheesecake obsession lately...

...blueberry and crushed grahams

Verdict: It was pretty good. The soft frozen yogurt may taste ice cream at first because of the creaminess but the tangy aftertaste tells you that you are still eating yogurt. Now, the toppings sure feels like I'm eating cheesecake only healthier. Me like it but I will be forever in love with ice cream. LOL. I think I need to try the others too just to know if there's any difference. What do ya think? Have you tried any froyo places yet?

Read more...

Agave Mexican Cantina and The Unplanned Movie

I can't believe this. Every time me and Tapioca wanna watch a movie together we always ended up with a movie which isn't planned. We wanted to watch Star Trek but it's no longer showing in Eastwood because of the new movies. We decided to watch the movie Up (though we would really want to watch this in 3D) but they've only got the worse seats. Our only choice then was The Time Traveler's Wife.

I was expecting to watch movies like these with my girlfriends but amazingly Tapioca agreed to watch it with me. While he was buying our tickets I bought us a large bucket of fries to share from NYFD. They've got a new flavor which I haven't tried before.

...bacon onion tomato, something new to me so I gave it a try

Uh-oh. Did not like it. I don't know but it's a mayo base dip with hints of onion and bacon. I should have just stuck with ketchup instead.




Tapioca returned with our tickets and we're just in time for the last full show. Those who didn't know it's base from a book of the same title starring Eric Bana as Henry, the time traveler and Rachel McAdams as Clare, the time traveler's wife. It's a sci-fi/love story where the main character travels in time randomly and he never knows when he will disappear only to reappear at a different time without any clothes on. Because of that he learned how to steal just so he can get some coverings for himself. Then he fell for a girl though he knows it's going to be difficult because of his constant unpredictable time travel. It's complicated I know but as all love stories out there goes, the message is still love conquers all.


The film was quite long and I got really hungry. Tapioca was in the mood for some Mexican food so we went to Agave Mexican Cantina


After my bad experience at a Mexican resto in Boracay, I was not sure of what to order. So to be on the safe side I ordered this another braces-friendly dish . . .

Filete de Pescado...

Pan-seared cream dory topped with Salsa Fresca. Served with lime-cilantro rice. The fish was perfectly cooked and it's soft and juicy. I'm not really sure about the fresca salsa though. Kinda bland to me. I mean cream dory fish is bland so I think it should be complimented with salsa that is full of flavors. And then the lime-cilantro rice is so-so. Yeah there are hints of butter and cilantro but my palate wasn't approving so I wasn't able to finish it.

...Steak Enchilada

This is what Tapioca had. I wasn't able to try it and he never really raved about it so I guess it's not that bad but not that good. Just okay. He had San Mig Lights and I had the following...

House Margarita...

Mango Mojito...

...Pirates Cooler

Out of the three cocktails, the one that stood out was the pirates cooler. Aside from the strong kick after taking your first sip, the flavors that lingers in my mouth were the cranberry juice and the melon liquer. I mean I haven't tried any cocktails with melon liqeur and it was really good. Though I may say cocktails here are expensive. Oh well, the place is located in Eastwood so what do you expect.


After all the booze and cocktails and talks, we realized it's morning already and Agave was calling for last order. At 4am we went to McCafe to get some coffee. He had expresso double shots and I had cappuccino. Lookey, lookey here....

...nicey, effort debah?

Read more...

The French Baker - My Bit of Paris!

Before meeting up with Bam for some business opportunities(?), I got so hungry and my feet led me to one of my fave casual dining with its new look in Megamall. I think I've been craving for pasta lately so I didn't think twice on what to order.


I found a nice spot to eat alone and while surveying the new look of French Baker, I noticed this LCD screen. . .




I was really curious so I took a closer look. . .





Okay, so it showed all the orders being process. All the items ordered by the customers are shown on the screen with the exact time when the order was placed. Then the top portion which were in yellow are orders being cook and will be served in next. As you can see the queue was pretty long and it took some time until I see my order turned yellow on the screen.


The long wait could have been bearable if I had somebody to chat with but nevertheless my order came anyway without me noticing....

...creamy seafood pasta

Paired with this...

lemon iced tea...

The past dish could have been perfect if they have freshly ground pepper... but they didn't have any. Still, it's a great meal as always and never did I get tired of going to Frech Baker, my bit of Paris!

Read more...

Cafe Bola

It took us some time to get a place where we can eat after the Lady Gaga concert. Good thing Cafe Bola is just around Araneta Coliseum and the crowd was almost gone. We had our very late dinner at quarter to twelve midnight. Got so little time to eat and chat cos the resto will be closing soon and we were sleepy as well.


We just ordered some pasta dishes and a dessert we can share.


Vanjee's choice ...

...penne in garlic-olive oil + tuna + summer vegetables

A healthy option and it's really good. Downside, serving size was small and not worth the price. Vanjee can do this dish and probably much much better tasting.

Jellybean's choice ...

...penne + baby crab fat + fish roe + asparagus

Originally, they use spaghetti for this dish but I opted for penne. Again, serving size is small. I could get a better deal with Tsoko Nut for the same dish and at half the price. The only thing I liked about this dish was the asparagus. They were chopped really small so I can enjoy its crunchiness without worrying about my braces.

...the bola flan

Yet another disappointment. Vanjee chose this one cause she was craving for some leche flan. But then, there's something wrong with the consistency of the flan. Personally, I didn't like it and let Vanj finished the whole thing.


This was a not so good first impression at Cafe Bola considering that we were really tired and hungry and we simply picked those with (!) and (♥) on the menu because they said these were must try! and good for the ♥. Oh well. Now I'm having second thoughts if this place deserve a second chance.

Read more...

Cocktail Night at Mag:net Cafe

RX 93.1 turned a year older and we were excited to party. Last year I won 2 tickets for their party in White Ave. This time they're not giving away any tickets. You just have to bring your self and party all you want.


Turned out Hephaestion wasn't in the mood to party hard so instead we went to our usual bar in Bonifacio High Street called Magnet Cafe. It's actually our place for cocktails and indie music.


Entrance fee will get you free drinks of your choice. That night our options were San Mig light and rum Coke. Oh well, it's cocktail night so we chose the latter.

...Jim Beam with coke? Not sure if they really use Jim Beam here. Its probably just the glass.

Check out their bar....

coolness...

We always hang out here and watched bartenders as they prepare our cocktails


And came the 2nd cocktails for the night...

...daiquiri and weng weng

I wanted to get a mojito but they didn't have mint leaves so I opted for daiquiri. Hephaestion on the other hand wanted to get drunk and chose a long drink - weng weng.


And our pulutan....

sizzling squid...

This was a bad choice. Squids were actually soft yet gummy. Not good for my braces. So we got my fave pulutan at the mo... hotdogs. They don't have hotdogs here but they got sizzling sausage. That will be fine for me. Sorry, forgot to take the photo of the sausage though.


Then came our 3rd cocktails. Jellybean chose appletini and Hephaestion? Another round of weng weng yay! He's loving it!!!!

...appletini for jellybean

And for the finale.... beer below zero. Been seeing lots of establishments selling these beers. We told the bartender to serve us each a bottle of freezing San Mig light. We kinda like to think it as slushie beer. Cool, huh? But when we got our beers its really reaally cold but no ice like those in slushies. Talk about disappointment. But anyway, we still enjoyed the beer cos its really really cold that no bubles forming up after you take your first drink. Will surely be on the look out for more of these beer below zero and try the slushies one. Come with us?

Read more...