A Chinese Valentine

Our first Valentine together so we decided to spend it with the other ladies in Chef's life: his grandmother, his mom, his two sisters and their househelps :)

The plan was to go to Cubao so that we can:
1. Buy the leather shoes at Marikina Shoe Expo for Chef's Gala Night
2. Do the marketing at Farmer's Market

We parked at the Gateway Mall because I had a restroom emergency hahaha. While there, Chef texted me to say that he too needed some time in the loo. After, he told me to meet him at the parking and I sensed something funny.

I got there first and he came after 5 minutes holding my favorite milflores wrapped in abaca :)

We left the flower in the car to wither este so that we can walk to the Marikina Shoe Expo without exposing it to the sun and dust. We got Chef's shoes which is a Cordova, pure leather for only PHP 700. I was disappointed that I didn't get it for PHP 500. Tsk tsk my negotiating powers is getting rusty.

It was around 4pm and the last meal I had was at 10. I was really hungry so we decided to grab a quick bite at Bellini's. I have very fond memories of Bellini's from many years back so I was naturally excited to go back there again. Unfortunately, the fond memories will only remain in my memory because for one, the service sucked big time. For a small size of pizza, we were made to wait for 30 minutes! And two, food was super blah. We ordered Onion pizza so at the minimum we were expecting pizza with mozzarella and caramelized onions but no, we got quick melt and sweet tomato sauce with a little bit of half cooked onions. In fairness, the espresso was good according to Chef. But for PHP 300, I thought that was highway robbery.

Anyway, since it was getting late, we jogged to the Farmer's Market to get the ingredients. As it was also Chinese New Year, we decided to have Chinese :)

Fresh produce from the Farmer's Market

Young garlic


Wansoy

Nectarines from Australia

Ginger extract being poured over two fresh lapu lapu

Fresh tausi

Our Chinese Valentine Fare:
Steamed kaylan with kikkoman, oyster sauce and toasted garlic bits

Stir fried clams cooked in kikkoman and oyster sauce with young garlic stalks

Hinalabos na suahe

Steamed lapu lapu with tausi

House of Italian Fashion

We were looking for a formal jacket for Chef for their Gala Night this week so we decided to head to Corso Marconi, an Italian Warehouse operated by the Marconi Fashion Group, Asia's largest and only fashion stockhouse chain.

Unlike other warehouses, this one still has that mall feel to it without the steep prices. Racks are neatly arranged, there's an abundance of mirrors and couches, decent fitting rooms, good airconditioning and more importantly a good assortment of Italian fashion bargain for adults as well as kids.

Chef wasn't able to find a formal jacket though that would fit him but he got himself several Cerrutti polo shirts for PHP 500 each and a Balenciaga top for PHP 700. I spotted several Stefanel tops for PHP 300, Lucky Brand jeans for PHP 500, skirts for PHP 100 and shoes for PHP 199.

Corso Marconi is at Morse cor Marconi Sts in Makati.

Beijing Hand Pulled Noodle House

Hands down, the best Chow Mian I have ever tasted. There's a little bit of waiting time (which isn't that long) because they make the noodles as soon as you order it. Can you say fresh? We got the beef chow mian that had tomato, zucchini, white fungus and mushroom. It's like fattened spaghetti in a weird but nice way.

We got the following side orders :

Suchai Dumplings
Vegetarian Dumpling. This tasted great even without the soy vinegar dip.

Sea Grass
Do not order this if you are going out on a date, nakaka wa poise hahaha. This sea grass is extra long and on the hard, crunchy side. It is served with leeks, wansoy and soy vinegar

Raddish
Sliced fresh raddish with soy vinegar topped with wansoy

For all those, we paid a little under PHP 400. Beijing Hand Pulled Noodle House is right beside Ristra's at Little Baguio in San Juan.

Pianoke Night at Serenade Hall

Pianist: Simon Martin

Filipinos' love for music, is evident with the evolution of singing machines. First came the Karaoke, a stereo tower with two cassette decks that came with the mic. Then came the videoke, that transferred the fun to television with musical dots and visuals to accompany you while you belt songs reminiscent of that singing contest in the 80's hosted by Bert Marcelo and Pilita Corrales. Then, I heard about Rockeoke, exclusively held at Mag:Net cafe where you can belt songs with live accompaniment.

Last Thursday, I had the time of my life at Serenade Hall with the latest venue to unleash the diva in you, Pianoke! As I have not tried Rockeoke, Pianoke as I would imagine is the scaled down version of Rockeoke where you only have the , yes, piano!

There were about four or more song booklets that had more than a thousand songs in them so before going there, better come prepared with your repertoire. Lucky for us, the crowd that night was a bit on the timid side so we totally hogged the mic . There was just one table that had great singers and everytime they sang, we would sing next just to lower the bar again :p

Pianoke with Pianist Simon Martin, a jolly fella, happens every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 7:30 until your voice give in. The best part is there is absolutely no cover charge! You can just order anything from their menu prepared by Executive Chef Fernan Punzalan and his team. For this dinner, we ordered: gambas, salpicao, chili with stuffed cheese, kare kare, sinigang na bangus and I forgot the others. For the first time, I didn't really paid much attention to the food, I couldn't be bothered with my song search :p

This is seriously a great alternative to expensive (not to mention tacky) videoke bars. The interiors were tastefully done, great acoustics and lighting plus the grand piano all add up to one awesome decadent night of songs and well, heckling :P

You can visit Serenade Hall's website for more information.

Beef Salpicao

Gambas

The only girl who knows her melodies and stuff

Interior

Two of the four song books

Caffe La Lotte

Another Chinese haunt this time at the Paco Area. This is the sister company of Sincerity, a popular Chinese destination in China Town. This outlet has more choices but I notice people come here for their fried chicken and so that was what we got.

The fried chicken was really really good. It was cut up into bite sizes that was crispy on the outside but juicy inside. The sign says they do not use MSG but I suspect they do because you feel thirsty and your head gets kind of heavy after. Or perhaps because i finished half of it?!?! :p

We also got kalderetang kambing which was weird to find in a Chinese restaurant I think. Maybe because they have many drinkers in the house? Their kalderetang kambing is one of the best I have tasted. It is hot and spicy and no trace of goat meat's "anggo"(?!?)

Glorietta Food Trip

I seriously cannot recall the last time I went to Glorietta. After the bombing, I consciously stayed away from it and just went to Mall of Asia, Eastwood Mall or Robinson's Midtown.

Last Friday though, Chef had a meeting there and has asked me to follow so we can have dinner together. We first had to stay at Burger King because I needed to send a few work items over. Bless BK for their free wifi! :)

We then agreed to go to the foodcourt to check what's there. We were first lured into President's stall, a popular Binondo place but their food that time did not look fresh nor appetizing so we decided to walk further. As we were walking, I cannot help but be pleased with the interior make over. Chairs and tables were replaced with more comfortable and stylish ones and lit dividers accentuated the place. It seemed like a good alternative to hang around especially when you're on a budget hehe.

Towards the other end of the food court (near the Bizu area) are two stalls that got us interested:

Go Greek!
I told you I love Cyma and this to me was the cheaper alternative. Since I wasnt able to have Cyma's Lamb Chop, I got the Lamb Chop platter which came with rice and salad for only, are you ready for this, PHP 195! It was love at first bite hahaha. The serving portion is just right for me and the grilling was perfect. Chef got 4 dressings but I don't know what they were called.

New Bombay Canteen
I have come to love this place since the first time I tried it at the Sagittarius Building in Dela Costa. Now they have a branch at the Columns and this one at the Food Court. I wasn't in the mood for Indian though that night, but Chef said this was really good. I also don't know the name hahaha

Dulcinea
We had our favorite churros con chocolate. I don't know what's with Dulcinea but everytime we go there, there would always be funny characters we run into it. Like the last time, there was a seemingly well to do family with a beautiful mom and daughter bashing a classmate (Daughter: And you know what momma, that girl is a bitch! haha) and this visit, there were two ladies talking about lovelife perhaps (Lady: I don't know if assuming lang ba ako or what :p). Okay fine, we love to eavesdrop hahaha

You better...Eat Well!

Chef's Chef friend, who happens to be Chinese tells of a good but affordable Chinese restaurant at the Fort. Everytime we pass by that area we always wonder whether we would like it or not. And so finally, one Friday night, we decided to give it a try.

Eat Well! Delicious Kitchen. That's the full name of the restaurant. When you hear a restaurant name like that, your gut always tells you, it's authentic Chinese :p

Apprarently, the one in charge in the kitchen is Chef Law Kwok Keung who used to be a Chef at the Shangri-la. Here you can find most of the usual Chinese fare you have come to love: Dimsum, Noodles, Rice Topping, Sauteed Dishes, etc.

We ordered:

Seafood Hot and Sour Soup
My hands down favorite soup. You can have the order split into two

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings or Hakao
My exposure to Manila Chinese restaurants might be limited but to me, this has been the best Hakao I have ever tasted.


Steamed Chicken Rice
White Chicken with lots of ginger and leeks


Roast Duck Rice
What can I say, duck makes me happy.


For dessert, Chef had Chilled Almond Jelly with Mango Sago. I wish I can articulate what it tasted like but Chef devoured it in less than a minute

Cyma Greek Taverna

Cyma is one of those places I consider going to whenever I feel like celebrating or rewarding myself. To many, Cyma may come across as a usual place but to a regular wage earner like I am, Cyma is already bliss :p

I have only been to Cyma at Greenbelt and Eastwood Mall. I have yet to try the original one in Boracay. That would be pretty neat, having Greek right beside the sea.


The food is consistently excellent in both outlets however, ambience-wise, I much prefer the one at the Eastwood Mall Veranda where you can dine al fresco. Al fresco dining at the Veranda from Ber months all the way to February is a treat especially with the romantic night breeze. I have good news for Erap, this branch doesn't charge for ambience hahaha okay that was corny :p


Although a bit pricey for me, I still think there's value for money because their servings are always for sharing. For this visit, we feasted on:


Tonno Salata

This is an original recipe of Chef Robby Goco. It has perfectly seared Ahi tuna with fresh mixed greens, baked onions, Gavros or anchovies, for us mere mortals, bell peppers, black olives, marinated potatoes, green beans, boiled eggs and feta cheese that provides saltiness to the mix. Dressing is Cyma's own Summer Herb Vinaigrette. We have asked the food attendant to already split this into two.




Yiouvetsi

I was really craving for lamb chops but it was expensive hahaha so we decided to get this one. This dish has baked lamb with orzo or rice shaped pasta served with grated parmesan, parsley and extra virgin olive oil. From the picture, you can already tell there was too much butter or perhaps too much EVOO?!? Nonetheless, it was pretty greasy but very delicious. It was my first time to try orzo so when I first saw it, I thought, it was arborio rice! Of course when I tasted it, it tasted like any other regular pasta except it was rice-shaped. The entire time, I was finishing the dish, my mind still could not properly process that it was pasta I was having hahaha weird. Anyway, this dish is a bit heavy so be sure to squeeze in some lemon for a little bit of tanginess.

Halal Resto in The Metro

Sitti's Greenhills Food Court

Sitti's Market! Market! Food Court

If you are a Muslim and you live in the Metro just like I do, chances are you are constantly plagued by the same question everytime you eat...where to eat and what to eat that does not have pork.

Luckily, if you are in Market! Market! or in Greenhills, you can feast on Halal dishes at Sitti's Halal Food Hauz. Why people name their restaurants "food hauz" with a "z" is beyond me but never mind that. Sitti's serve mostly Tausug cuisine although I've seen sisigs and steaks in their menu perhaps to attract a broader customer base.

We ordered Tiyulah Itum, Pyanggang and Satti. For first time eaters, I am pretty sure you will be shocked when you get to see these dishes. Here's why:

Tiyulah Itum

Tiyulah Itum is a black soup as in super black. This is the Tausug's version of the tinola without the papaya slices and chili leaves. It is a dark spicy broth of beef seasoned with ginger and chili. Chef said it also has turmeric and the black color came from toasted coconut flesh that takes quite a while to make i.e. you roast it and once it's burnt, you scrape it and roast the next layer until you finish the whole coconut! The first time I saw it, I was very hesitant to taste it because it seriously looked like soup with powdered charcoal but when I took my first sip, I was in love :)

Pyanggang

Pyanggang is roasted chicken smothered with toasted coconut flesh. I forgot to ask Chef how to make it as I was busy devouring our treats. Anyway, this dish looks like the chicken was rolled into powdered charcoal. It's salty and spicy and worth raving about.

Satti

Satti is actually a breakfast dish in Zamboanga and Jolo areas. It's cut up sticky rice floating in sambal sause topped with three to four little sticks of beef barbecue. Of the three, this is the dish that I didn't have a lot of because it's on the sweet side.

Tausug cuisine, according to Chef is one of the more advanced in the area. It was not influenced by Hispanic cooking therefore you find a lot of chili, turmeric, coconut and their cooking. Thanks to Sitti, we can now have a taste of Tausug cuisine without going all the way to Jolo! The best is that, the dishes are all under a hundred! Yay! Happiness! :)

Dapitan Arcade

I have been meaning to pay a visit to Dapitan Arcade because I heard that cheap stuff abound, and yep, I am sucker for anything cheap. So last weekend, we made the long journey (long because traffic was horrible on a Saturday ) from Taft to Dapitan.

Going there can be a little bit tricky. Good thing my cousin, who was quite familiar with the place told us to just turn right to Laon Laan from Espana and go straight, that should lead us to Kanlaon which is where Dapitan Arcade is.

There are many parking spots available from the Suki Market, to the side of the multi purpose hall to the one beside the Arcade itself. We got there around 4 and one of the sales ladies said they normally close at 7. There are stalls along the streets and the others are inside a building. I'm not sure why but it sort of reminded me of the Saturday Jatujak Market.

Dapitan Arcade is exclusively houseware though. Here you will see dinnerware, wooden furnitures, living room accents, lamps, chandeliers, storage boxes, etc. They also peddle mostly local products with very good design, craftsmanship and quality.

We read in one of the blogs that your one thousand can go a long a way and...it's true! SKP was able to buy six pieces of plates, dainty tissue holders, big intricate church candle holders for a little under a thousand.

As for me, I feasted on peanuts with chili and twenty pieces of squid and chicken balls all under a hundred bucks! Aylavet!

Some photos I took from the street stalls. I only took a few because SKP was already scowling at me, I was tempting phone snatchers daw :p