Hello! I Miss You....*sigh...

I soooo miss blogging!!!! I am lagging on my posts...really bad. The reason behind is good...'tis that season for a lot of merry making...and the added work load brought about by the holiday rush =)

I have sooo many places I want to share..hopefully before the year ends I'll be able to post a few. For now, I just wana see something new posted here =)

Hello to all of you who take time to read my blog....I miss you all...I miss writing....

...so for now, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Yuletide season like me =) Is it too soon for a Merry Christmas greeting? Perhaps....8 days away...yehey!!!!!!

Let's go on decking our halls with boughs of holly...falalalala-lala-la-la ;P MWAH TO YOU ALL =D

Pizzetta Italian and Greek Cuisine

Continuing with our Maginhawa street foodie exploration...adjacent to our favorite Pino resto bar neighbors Pizzetta Italian and Greek Cuisine. Italian and Greek....two of my favorite cuisines! We were allowed to order from Pino, while dining in Pizzetta too...nice!


Vegetable and Cheese Ball (I forgot the nanme of this dish!---but it's ok since this dish is forgettable! hahaha )

This was made of cheese and minced carrots coated with breadcrumbs and fried. It was served with a side of fried papadam. We think it would have tasted a lot better had they been served HOT! It's such a crime to serve fried food--cold! We even asked the waiter to change our order...they just poped our dish in a microwave and handed it back you us...all mushed up and tasting well..like mush!. Sad, sad...oh restauranteurs..please, please don't do this! Might I add that prices here are kinda steep for the serving size and quality! 3 pieces of cold fried minced carrots and cheese balls with a piece of papadam around 200 bukcs (more or less but probably more!)

Grilled Chicken Breast Served with Bruschetta and a small helping ofr Tatziki

oh my..priced around Php 250.00...super not worth it! Two skewers each with three small pieces of chicken breast with ultra thin slices of zucchini. The chicken pieces were tasteless too! sooo sad....i only managed to enjoy the bread.

We had to move to another place to eat some more...perhaps we ordred the wrong dishes but two out of two bad ones we decided to give up =(

King's Kebab

We have heard raves about King's Kebab, located along Katipunan avenue, very near Banaple. It was quite a debate actually, whether to have good ol' banaple or try something new. Well, we decided we can always go to Banaple any day...so we headed on to have some kebabs =)

Hummus

not really..a hummus..hummus...no trace of chickpea taste here...but it was good with the crispy pita breads. I liked how toasty they were...and it's becaused they are warmed on terracotta stones placed over the grill..nice =) I like toasty breads..

Chicken Kebab

Tasty and tender chicken breast pieces skewered and grilled with onion and tomatoes


Beef tenderloin Kebab

Tender pieces of beef...tasty too!


Liver Saute

unfortunate for us, they don't have liver kebabs, like the ones they have at Mister kebab....rather, they have this beef liver sauteed with onions and tomatoes...really good...better with rice than bread...but we were in the mood for bread...no rice today =)

Yummy, casual and affordable persian cuisine (though Mister Kebab is cheaper). All alfresco dining here.

Flap Jack's, Greenhills Theatremall

Ohhh..I love breakfast food =) I think a lot of people do so too...and why not? Breakfast being the most important meal of the day...one may indulge guilty free...on carbs, fat and fatty protein source ;P Well, we can always bank on having the entire day to burn them off..hahaha Sooo good are breakfast food that it has become en vogue to find breakfast meals available all day long. I blabber as I relish on the delicious thoughts of breakfast food....ahhhh.

Apparently, when I have heard and seen Flapjacks, opening a branch in Greenhills, Theatremall....I definitely had it on target.

I have read and heard alot about it...more disappointing comments than happy notes...I still wanted to give it a go =)

Prior to this visit...I was able to have a taste of their Adobo Pan de Sal...brought by my sweetie..for us to snack on upon picking me up...sort of like a pre-dining snack! hahaha the pan de sal was not pan de sal...tasted more like a a burger bun shaped like a Pan de Manila pan de sal...it had tomatoes and shreds of chicken adobo...it was ok...nothing great but we finished 2 of them before settling in a resto! hahaha

Now back to Jack...here we go....first up for me....ENDLESS COFFEE IN A POT!!!

not bad at all for Php 70 bucks! I actually like the clean and strong taste of their brew...I feel sorry for them because I managed to down quite a number of pots =)....seriously! hahaha

What good is dining at Flapjack's if not to have FLAPJACKS
This is..... Pancakes ...ofcourse! ;P Two big rounds of fluffy pancakes with a mound of whipped burre. They were nice.

Arroz ala Cubana
Ground beef with diced potatoes, bell peppers and peas served with sliced fried saba and garlic rice. This was good. Their garlic rice needed more garlicky flavor.

With those two..oh three items that I have tried, Flapjack's is ok..though kinda pricey for the type of food...(the Rice dish was about Php 195.00 pancakes Php 125.00 and you pay aditional Php 50.00 for siding to go with your flapjack's) . The food is not bad but nothing to rave about...perhaps we have yet to try other items on the menu =)

Icings, Tomas Morato

This evening was a get together to two great friends of mine...one who came back from a vacation and one going away to venture on a more exciting leg of her career =) I suggested we go to ICINGS. It is now situated at it's new location, adjacent to Katre. The place is now bigger and better than it's former site....but honestly, I have not eaten nor tried any cakes from Icing's up until this night.

The place has a casual cafe feel to...simple and comfy...with a very inviting cake dispaly counter...


..soo many interesting cakes and pastries....I was eyeinng the apple walnut cake! =)



We got there quite early....so we ordered an appetizer while we waited for the rest to come in for dinner.

Kani and Tofu Tempura

This was a very good choice! Crispy pieces of battered silken tofu and kani sticks coated with japanese bread crumbs and served with a nice tempura soy-ginger sauce =)


On to dinner...

Chili Prawn Tomato Pasta

Spaghetti pasta with a light tomato-chili oil sauce with pieces of prawns, served with panini bread. It was good but quite HOT!!!


Pesto Pasta

Classic pesto sauce with bits of seafood pieces =) The serving of the pasta dishes are quite generous here, so people with smaller appetites may share a dish! I am not one of those as I managed to finish my plate hahaha ;P

Vegetable Panini
Grilled zucchini, peppers and mushrooms with mozarella cheese served with fries =)

Ostrich Steak

Yes! They have ostrich meat here...it was quite good and priced reasonably...if not cheap ah for ostrich...around Php 250.00 or so

No room for cake...just some coool icy treats....

Chocolate Shake with Chocolate Ice Cream...

I forgot the name but is was alright..though needed to be sweetened up a bit and pumped up with chocolate =)

Lychee Shake



I really wasn't expecting much from Icing's...I was actually quite apprehensive to try the place, but I am very glad we did go here....there are many interesting food on the menu to come back for and cakes to try =)

Jatujak, SM The Block

We really loved the food at Jatujak, Mall of Asia. Missing and craving for spring rolls and bagoong rice we thought goin back this Thai resto, at a branch closer to us, which is located at The Block SM North Edsa.

The branch at The Block is smaller and had less patrons dining as compared to the one at Mall of Asia....when our orders arrived...we understood why!

Spring Rolls

Oh my...definitely NOT the spring rolls we loved at Jatujak MOA...definitely NOT what I am craving for. This one lacked the Thai umph and crisp that we so enjoyed then. Onlt the sauce tasted the same. I think it needsmore frying? More filling? More vemicelli? I don't know...but it was just NOT the one! We got sad...


Last time we dined there...we were eyeing on the MOO GROB...which had a picture redolent of a bagnet or lechon kawali on a bed of Atchara. On this visit we decide to have it....
...soooo SAD! LOOK AT THAT! Mere SHARDS of pork pieces...kinda like just having Lapid's Chicharon with laman...but I think the lapids chicharon has more substantial pieces. Although, they were really crispy like chicharon...for it's price of aroung Php 240.00 --it was definitely NOT WORTH IT.

BAGOONG RICE

We expected this to be our saving grace. HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG WITH BAGOONG right? But ooooooooh nooooo...its NOT THE SAME. It lacked flavor for some reason and the bagoong pork pieces were mostly FAT.

So wrong...so wrong! We don;t understand. Perhaps it was due to the lack of patrons...hence quality of food deteriorates...or the other way around? Well, for whatever real reason of the difference, I think we will not find ourselves here another time....only at MALL OF ASIA! ;P

Pino Revisited

It's been a while since our last visit to Pino Resto Bar, along Maginhawa St. in U.P. Village. Upon discovering this place, we hung out quite a number of times here, because of it's casual and comfy ambiance and good food =). Well, I got a tip that the place closed for some reason....so that put a halt on our visits here...up until we started goin around the area, we just decided to check the place out...and to our delight...it was open! Yey!!!


We found out that the place did close up for a short period because of some management changes, and with that...menu alterations too. Curious with the modifications and excited that it was open..we went ...

The menu was definitely shortend. Main courses and starters were cut back to a few items and focus more on the pastas, appetizers and pica-pica food.

Longanisa Nachos

Wow! A wild twist of Nachos ei? Nacho chips topped with chopped sweet longanisa, tomtoes and onios, drizzled with Wasabi mayo. Like breakfast and bar food in one! Pretty good and very generous in serving, I might add. This is just about Php 160.00 or so...I'll check on my next visit...but surely less than 200 bucks. Not bad at all and fun to eat =)

Tempura Oysters and Pearls

What a name right? Battered and fried oysters topped with ebiko (the pearls) resting on wasabi mayo and tamari laced shells. Each piece makes for a perfect bite...you get your tempura, sauce and dip in the chef's recomended proportion. Againg, delicious and fun to eat.

Nori Cheese Sticks with Mint Pesto and Strawberry Coulis
I really loved their cheese sticks with Mango Salsa...so I was excited to try the new twist. The Nori is laid between the cheese and wrapper...deep fries to a crisp and drizzled with the strawberry sauce. We didn't like the dessert-ish take on this. I don't think the Strawberry sauce go well with the nori taste. We asked for the Mint sauce, but it was unfortunately unavailable. It was still ok...but we were muh happier with the original version with Mango Salsa. We just asked for wasabi mayo to dip our cheese sticks in...at least wasabi goes with the Japanes feel =)

Beef and Shitake Salpicao

Tender beef pieces with Shitake mushrooms with a delicious garlicky--sweetish salpicao sauce! Did I describe it right? salpicao sauce? hahaha Anyway, think of it as a traditional salpicao made funky with shitake and I think they used tamari sauce that complimented the Shitakes. Delicious. This was the only dish we ordered that was not so big in serving.

So many yummy fun food to enjoy here. We will definitely come back...for the Red Wine Balut ala Pobre and other promising dishes on the list =)

Filipino Faves with Japanese funk....all if not most dishes we have tried came as a nice surprise. It's just so fun trying new flavors on conventional cusine....with hits or misses...that's how we learn what goes well with what right? =)

Ling Nam, Greenhills

Ling Nam is one old time noodle house fave of my family...well particularly my dad...other of which are Ma Mon Luk (tops our list) and Masuki =) I am so glad that these noodle houses have branched out to more convenient areas...like Greenhills....so now we never have to go to the original Binondo branches that are..err ...quite...not so tidy hahaha oooops...but then again that is part of the Bonondo dining experience (that's another story..so I will not delve into that). With that, Ma Mon Luk is an exception...as the branch along Quezon Avenue is, if I am not mistaken, the original!? hahaha Well, I say that since my first memory of Ma Mon Luk is at that branch and as the bowls and dining utensils show evidence of ....you be the judge.

Going back to Ling Nam, they are popular for their wontons and noodles. This is my first visit at the branch in Greenhills. This is at the Car Park building where Yellow Cab, Bangus, Max's ..etc. are situated.

We had the Wonton Noodle Soup

The wontons were just fair tasting and the noodle soup kinda lacked flavor...in my taste. If you like a clean broth taste...this is the soup for you. As for me, I like the Ma Mon Luk, Masuki kind of broth...which have that certain something-something that you can smell and taste ;p Perhaps they use a certain type of Fish sauce? ----like there's this peculiar pungency of the broth--that is quite desirable ;P hahaha I think I need a post on Ma Mon Luk and Masuki---I can't belive I don't! tsk! tsk! to moi!

The Ham Sui Kok...

Like savory, oblong butchis...filled with asado.

it was kinda oily and the asado filling was barely there!...Look at that...I don't think the filling can sum up to half a tablespoon...hahaha more meat please!

I guess I shall not find myself back here anytome soon. I miss Masuki...it's been a while! hahaha

Cook Book Kitchen...so nice to be back =)

This is what I miss...CBK homey comfort food! Ah yes, it's nice to back in the Kitchen!

Pasta Putanesca

I like this simple tomatoey pasta dish with a nice side of mini ciabatta =)

We also tried the Chicken with Sesame Remoulade

Yummy pan grilled chicken breast fillets complimented by the sesame remoulade. I like the taste of the sesame seeds with the mayo and herbs =)

And ofcourse, a trip to The Cook Book Kitchen will not be a trip to THE COOK BOOK KITCHEN without the....

Parmesan Crusted Baked Fish...

and ...

Kittin's Scarlet Cake =)

I think I need not ellaborate on the last two! hahahaha I love how, to date, the food taste is still consistent =)

Cordillera Cafe In UP =)

A laid back Saturday afternoon...wanting to relax a bit and veer away from the mall scene...we decided to have a little stroll around UP and have afternoon coffee =) UP does cradle a lot of wonderful quaint restos, and cafes you know. Let this part of my discovering UP series....anothefr nice discovery along the UP Academic Oval, Amorsolo building, beside the faculty center, is Cordillera Coffee.

Sooo nice! It's situated at the side of the building...you kinda walk up the steps and hereyou find...

a corner cafe....all afresco...

with nice table with umbrellas...where you can relax and enjoy some brew =)

They offer a nice selection of hot and cold coffee concoctions, apart from the traditional espresso drinks. They also have fresh fruit shakes and hot chocolate =)

I think I saw rice meals, pasta dishes and sandwiches too. They have a nice display of pastries to chose from...


Macaroons and Cassave Cups


Rum cake, Tablea Chocolate cake...and an interesting nutella chocolate cake!

Lemon bars, Revel bars, Brownies

We had the Cordillera Brew and Kalinga Iced Tea

I love the strong and clean taste of the brew and the iced tea was refreshing.

Macaroons

sweet and densely packed with dessicated coconut....nice with the strong coffee

Cassava cup
Kinda dense and on the dry side. The macaroon was better.

Well despite the not so good pastries we chose...the drinks were good and the ambiance very relaxing and conducive to conversation =)

A very nice place for a little tete-a-tete time.