Lunch Buffet at Good Earth Roasts

Good Earth Roasts (GER) is one of those places in Rockwell that sort of stood the test of time perhaps because of its no-frills neighborhood drinking spot atmosphere. You will see regulars both from the Ateneo Professional Schools as well as the yuppies working in the area downing bottles and bottles of ... Red Horse (so shala!) after a long day at work or school.

We, as in my MBA friends and I, were one of those regulars a few semesters ago, thus we were once upon a time called GER GER gang. The name eventually morphed into ranGERs for some unknown reason (my guess is that the former was a bit vulgar hahaha). We would meet (read: get wasted) at GER every Wednesday and poke fun at whatever or more often whoever.

I don't drink... at least not a lot...lately :p but I always get excited going to GER because I love their peking duck! Last Saturday, I was with Lady and Mike for a lunch meeting (for something really really exciting :p). I ordered the usual duck rice, but Lady had the lunch buffet which was I think pretty reasonable at PHP 250. They had soup, fried rice, 1 pork dish, 1 chicken dish, 1 fish dish and 1 vegetable dish. Lady was able to make the trip to the buffet table three times! Super sulit! Hehehe

Buffet Spread

Priceless Menu

090909 - Unforgettable Dinner at Som's

We have been dining at Som's for quite sometime now because it's one of those reasonably-priced joints that is 1: very near Rockwell without having to go through the horrendous Makati Ave traffic and 2: still open after class.

Som's is supposedly an authentic Thai, alfresco type of place with a turu turo atmosphere. Monobloc tables and chairs with market style colorful umbrellas are neatly arranged on the street gutter. The view is the fence and flaura that line Rockwell and on the opposite end are the giant cribs in Bel-Air.

Occassionally, a giant rodent shows up and entertains patrons by jumping up and down to get to the other side of the fence (I kid you not!). Failing to see that spectacle, a flying roach or roaches would sometimes hover above your head if you're lucky. Don't get the wrong ideas though. Diners here are not your usual tsinelas crowd...more like flip flops siguro :p

So we went there last Wednesday (9-9-9 or September 9, 2009), hungry and tired. We didn't order the usual because we wanted rice, lots and lots of rice. I got the spicy chicken and basil, SKP got boiled chicken or something like that (which looked really boring to me I didn't bother taking a pic), then we got tofu in tamarind sauce and kangkong.

Here are some food shots that I took:

Kangkong

Tofu in Tamarind Sauce

Spicy Chicken with Basil

It was one of the best meals we've had at Som's by far and we got ourselves really really stuffed. So stuffed in fact that we were literally dragging each other back to the car. And this is where the fun part begins...

As SKP was closing his door, we hear a funny clanking sound. He opens his door again, closes it again, and we hear the same funny sound. And then I saw something sparkling, like diamonds at the backseat. I told SKP to turn on the light and I saw glass splinters!

It took me a very long while to process it... in fact I did not.. it was SKP who realized that WE WERE ROBBED! Yes, we are now officially one of the thousands of victims of the Basag-Kotse gang. Turns out, while we were enjoying our Som's fare, someone else was having his own grand time ransacking SKP's car. The thief got SKP's bag (a Jack Spade which is his favorite) with passport, documents and 3 cellphones and he also got my x60 laptop :(

Me with my beloved x60 huhuhu

Barangay people from Bel-air came to scour the place and filed a blotter and they accompanied us to Precinct 9 for the Police Report.

It was all pretty depressing. So if you want to eat at Som's be sure you park your car where you can actually reach for the door otherwise, I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle or the depression :(

Dinner at Cafe Bola

There are only three chow places I like in Greenbelt: Cyma, Cafe Breton and Cafe Bola. We found a cheaper alternative for our Cyma craving at Shawarma Snack Center in Ermita so we opted to go to Cafe Bola. Everythin on Cafe Bola's menu screams comfort but like in Red Mango, I always order for the same thing: Spicy Tuyo Fillet + Scrambled Eggs + Wansoy Salsa. This heaven on a plate can be had for less than 200 bucks!

SKP's usual order here is the Adobong Pusit however he didn't feel like having rice so he ordered Potato Soup and Chicken Bola sandwich instead. The bill was half of that from Manna Garden but equally satisfying :)

Here are some photos:

Potato Soup

Chicken Bola Sandwich

My all time favorite, Spicy Tuyo Fillet

Lunch at Manna Garden

After Jumu'ah, we left Paranaque and headed to the MOA area for lunch. SKP just came from a culinary tour of Pampanga the other day so he wanted to have something light. We both agreed to go Korean. We wanted to try the one along Macapagal but there were only a couple of cars parked. We didn't want to take chances so we decided to go to Manna Garden in Makati instead. SKP swears by this place and I had been reading about this in some of the blogs I follow, it was a perfect time to try it.

We feasted on the following:

Unlimited Banchan Part 1

Unlimited Banchan Part 2

A slice of the huge Seafood Pancake. This came with soy sauce and chili

Soon Doo Boo Chigae. SKP's favorite Korean soup. I like Yuk Gye Jang but this tasted good also so I'm not complaining.

Total bill per person is close to PHP 300. It was well worth it. Come to think of it, I have never been disappointed with Korean cuisine. After the meal, you're full but not bloated full :P Next time, we will try Min Sook, another Korean place right across Manna