Rocksalt

It's my dear Sally's birthday once again! We had a dinner celebration at Rocksalt, Timog.

I have never been intrigued by Rocksalt, primarily because of the bland looking exterior and signage of the place. As I found out, it is run by Global Academy (by Chef Rob Pengson)---school cum casual-fine dining restaurant. I got excited! hehehe =)

The main dining area is located at the second floor. The interior is bright, quiet and casual.

Angry Shrimp Cakes Php 165.00

Crispy shrimp cakes with green papaya and mango salad, lime cream and sweet chili sauce. We love this! The shrimp bits were chunky, giving a nice texture to the cake.

Chips & Chorizo Php 250.00

House made potato chips, smothered with crispy chorizo bits with cilantro-tomato salsa and smoked paprika cheese sauce. The house chips were great! Thin and crisp potato chips made yummy with the cheese sauce. I didn't get any smoked paprika taste though. We all go..."OMG hindi natin ito mauubos (we wont be able to finish all of this)..." because we all ordered individual entrees. Well...we under-estimated our appetites! hehehehe ;P

Crispy Tequila Calamari Php 125.00

Deep fried squid seasoned with Tequila salt and served with mango salsa. Another winner! For only Php 125.00...this dish is a steal! The squid pieces were big and they were able to maintain the tenderness after being fried. No tequila salt taste what so ever here...but yummy still..wiped out also! hehehe ;P

Let's have a closer look at the huge calamari strips....yum! yum! yum!!!!

Girls will girls. We like to share our entrees so we can all taste every dish!

Moroccan Spiced Fish Php 280.00

Chermula spiced dory fillet, pan seared with a warm potato salad. I didn't like how the fish was cooked. It was pinkish at the center where the chermula spices were stuffed. I don't think dory should be cooked rare =( The fish was bland tasting. A boring dish with an interesting name. Sorry.

Crispy Pork Callos Php 390.00

Twice cooked pork belly on traditional callos served with rice pillaf. This perked up everyone's curiosity! Crispy bagnet-ish pork resting on a bed of callos---how devilishly delicious sounding! hehehehe How does this dish fair? hmmm it was flavorful but the pork belly had a pork-y taste! hehehe I don't know how to put that into words...but it had this pork gamey-ness that was not so nice. The callos part was good though =)

Rice Pilaf

This came with the callos-pork entree...we ordered an extra bowl others (like me) who likes to rice-up with their meals ;P hehehe I liked that the rice was fragrant and fluffy =)

Pan Fried Chicken Php 375.00

Pan roasted half chicken, marinated in rosemary and garlic on whipped sweet potatoes, with chorizo-mushroom stew and grilled asparagus. Like fried chicken with mushroom gravy! It was tasty...but I don't particularly like how the sweet potato mash was drowned in the stew sauce. Maybe it would have been better if they served the sweet potato mash on the side.

House Special: Gamberetti Pasta ~ Php 250.00 or 230.00 (not sure because price was on the special board ;P hehehe)

Oh...I might get crucified by all my not so nice comments, but I have to be all honest...this dish was absolutely tasteless! =( For a placed named ROCKSALT---this dish BADLY NEEDED SOME! Or maybe we should have asked for some??? Dry and tasteless.

Pan Seared Salmon Php 330.00

Lightly smoked salmon fillet, crusted with apples and bacon served with sweet potato mash in a shrimp dill cream sauce. This was my order. I was generally pleased with my choice, specially after tasting the other entrees. There was no light smoke taste on my salmon...and it's only now that I realize the crust on my fish was made of apples and bacon (I didn't read the description when I ordered---heheheh too excited to get to the eating part ;P ) It was generally a pleasant tasting and the salmon fillet was cooked nicely.

Over all, I would say that the best part of our meal was the appetizers part! The entrees were all nice enough to eat..but I must comment that the descriptions were kind of mis-leading. They tend to promise all sorts of flavors and tastes with each dish but fail to deliver. So sorry to the chefs/students who work there =( . Nevertheless, the serving portions were generous and the service was very good. Oh one more thing we didn't appreciate was the fact that we told them it was a birthday dinner celebration...no reaction or act of generosity from the kitchen! I go, even at Burgoo, Italianni's or Alex III would give a small piece of cake or a scoop of ice cream..or perhaps a song. For all the food and price of our orders, we expected a little bit of perk. Please don't get me wrong, we had a great time having dinner here...catching up...chatting...tasting the food....criticizing..hehehe all part of the fun!

I hope they improve the quality of the food because the place is quite promising. I would suggest that they have a close monitoring of the quality of the food coming out of the kitchen.

Rocksalt

Unit 7&8 Timog Comercial Complex,

Timog Ave. cor. Panay Ave., Q.C.

(along BPI, Savory, Pixie's, Razon's etc.)

Tel# (632) 215 0761/ 0917 5360809

NYPD PIZZA

Craving for pizzas, mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings....when trying to think of an Italian resto in Tomas Morato...or a nice cozy pizza place....something like a whole in the wall Italian pizzeria...we just couldn't come up with one good place.

We thought of trying something new, NYPD pizza (New York Pizza Depot), despite the fact of not being an Italian pizza place...it seemed comfortable enough for a chatting evening..and oh...we were famished already...no time to be uber ideal and picky! hehehe ;P

NYPD is located at the upper ground level of CTTM bldg, where the famous Tony and Jackie Korean Salon in Quezon City, can be located. Upon arriving, the place was barren, but we were not turned off because the staff were most welcoming. We appreciated that and settled in.

We were happy to find the menu, carrying our cravings, only the mozzarella sticks was out of stock then. The price range seemed reasonable enough so go! Go! Go! =)

Buffalo Chicken Wings Php150.00 (6pcs)

The buffalo wings here is more of spicy fried chicken wings...but good spicy chicken wings. I would suggest that one should go straight to Buffalo Wing's and Things for the real deal. NYPD's version is very lightly coated with chili sauce...but we can say that the are flavorful, crispy and enjoyable to eat.

Calamares Php 175.00

I think among all our orders (yes...we have orderS ;P hehehhehe please read along), this seemed to be most pricey because there were just a few rings or calamari. They were not as crispy as the wings, but...but...the squid rings were meaty..the breading not too thick and well spiced.

NYPD Blue Pizza 10" Php 175.00

Blue cheese, Mozzarella, Chili and Chicken. This was pretty good. We could taste the sharpness of the pungent blue cheese. Mildly spicy with a chewy medium thin crust.

Garlic Tomato Pasta Php 170.00

This was simple yet flavorful. The tomatoes were barely there, but you will definitely smell and taste the garlic!c=)

Over all, we were pleased with NYPD. Nothing exceptional about the food, but all were pleasing to the palate and enjoyable to eat. A place worth visiting again.

NYPD PIZZA

U/G Level CTTM Square Bldg.,

Timog cor. Tomas Morato

(beside David's Tea House; same bldg.

where Toni & Jackie Korean Salon)

Tel# (632) 467 4826

Craving for Bubbles and Bibimbop!

It's so HOT! HOT! HOT! We have been cooling down with halo-halo's, guinomis and mais con hielos the past month, so we thought of having something new....how about pear milk teas? They are light, refreshing and have minimal or no caffeine---perfect!

Bubble Tea

We have tried Bubble tea before. I think I had a Taro milk tea and found it tooo sweet! This time I asked for 50% less sugar and had Match Milk =)

Take a peek at the new branch in Tomas Morato...the place is a nice refreshing white and green.

Matcha Milk Tea with Bubbles Php 115.00 (regular)

I absolutely love it! Cutting the sugar by 50% makes the sweetness just PERFECT for my taste. We loved the varying sizes of the uber soft and chewy bubbles. I think bubble tea pearls are THE BEST IN TEXTURE!!!!

Vegetable Sandwich (~Php 185.00)

He ordered this grilled veggie sandwich which took FOREVER to arrive. They were in dry run, so we were patient and understanding. The sandwich was tasty and loaded with veggies and mushrooms. I didn't get to note the actual name and exact price...but I think I am about right.

Serenitea

We have been getting lucky with newly opened tea places. This Senenitea branch is also quite new in the Aguirre Strip.

I grabbed a bag of this interesting tofu stick snacks placed at the counter. I love tofu anything =)

Tofu Sticks-Pizza Flavored Php 35.00

They were yummy! I likey! Crispy and crunchy---like breadsticks. I asked if they were really JUST TOFU STICKS and not bread...they said yes....SO HA! Very safe to indulge in. I wanna get the garlic flavor on my next visit.

Now for the Teas...

I got the Okinawa QQ Php 85.00 and he chose the Hokkaido Milk Tea Php 85.00

QQ means with pearls (black sago) and crystals (nata de coco). You may also opt to have bricks, which are coffee jelly cubes. For each order of milk tea, you can have 2 of either pearl, crystals or bricks. They charge extra for the 3rd add on should you choose to have so. I love the Okinawa blend. It has a stronger black tea flavor than the Hokkaido Milk, which had a coco-nutty taste.

In our opinion, the bubbles at Bubble Tea is better but for the price and over-all taste...well Serenitea has very good value for the buck! =)

After all the bubble tea talk, we go on back to KAYA Korean Restaurant. One of the not so authentic Korean Restos...but it can be conveniently found within malls.

I was with my sisters, taking our nephew for a spin at the Kids Station and Gymboree. I meant to take them to my favorite San Sung Korean Restaurant in Kalayaan, but my nephew fell asleep at Gymboree (awwwwwwwwwwwww---must have gotten tired from all the playing), so we decided to just eat at Kaya.
The craving was for Dolsot Bibimbap...and good thing they dished them out quite nicely here.

Dolsot Bibimbap Php 205.00

This was quite cheaper than the average g prices at Korean Houses. Their version was quite authentic tasting too!

We wiped out two servings .....
plus...

Japchae Php 160.00

I was shocked at the miniscule portion size. Now I know why it's only Php 160.00. Nevertheless, it was very tasty, so it wasn't that disappointing.

Mandou Php 135.00 (5pcs)

This was more pricey than in Korean Houses, being only 5pieces. They were tasty too...so it was ok =)

We wiped everything out so no complains hehehe.

For Korean food craving, I would definitely recommend going to authentic Korean restos. Nothing beats those FREEBIE plates of appetizers...even if the price range is steeper...the portions are bigger and YOU GET FREE KOREAN APPETIZERS (oooh, I mentioned that already ;P )

Oh one more not so nice thing about dining at Kaya...you pay for those korean appetizers =(

*me likes FREE APPETIZERS ;P hehehhe

Bubble Tea

Newly Opened branch in Tomas Morato,

beside Alfredo's Steak House

Serenitea

#268 Aguirre Ave., Phase 3

BF Homes Paranaque

Tel# (632) 794 3288

Kaya

Rockwell Center Branch

Level P-1, Poweplant Mall

Amapola cor. Estrella St., Makati City

Tel# (632) 898 0934-35

Ramen Tei and Refreshing Desserts

IT'S SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT! Do you believe that a way to feel cooler is to take a warm bath or eat warm food? Sounds crazy but it's worth a try.

We went to Ramen Tei, at Ortigas Home Depot:

He chose the Kimchi Ramen Php 225.00 regular/Php170.00 snack size

Ramen noodles with kimchi, pork and bean sprouts. He loved how the broth is spicy like korean kimchi soup...gave a good sweat! hehehehe Maybe that help lower the body temperature right?

I chose the Wakame Ramen Php205.00 regular/ Php155.00 snack size

Mine was ramen noodles with shoyu sauce broth, with lobe leaf seaweed with gave the soup a fresh grassy flavor =)

To go with out noodle soups, we had Kakiage Php 135.00

I love Kakiage. Theirs had lots of shrimp and squid too...so it's more of a seafood-veggie fry. It was yummy but we wished it was fried crispier---if it had been crispier...it would have been awesome. It was ok since the veggie variety was nice and it wal loaded with shrimps and squid. I had all the shrimps--yay.

We loved out meal, but just dreamed of a crunchier furai....=)

Now some cool things to have....

Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt....

Mini Peanut Butter Fro-Yo Php 85.00

It was light and yummy =)

Our favorite Via Mare, we tried their new flavored Guinomis...

Buco Pandan Guinomis Php 85.00

Ube Guinomis Php 85.00

They were both good, but I found the flavor of gelatine too artificial tasting. I would go for the regular guinomis anytime, but these babies are worth the adventure =)

Anything to cool down...anything as an excuse to eat more ;P hahahaha

Ramen Tei

Unit 177Bldg. D.,

Ortigas Home Depot Complex,

Julia Vargas St. Pasig

Tel# (632) 706-5930

Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt

ground floor Edsa Shangrila Mall

Cafe Via Mare

#190 Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Gandia St.,

Q.C.

Tel# (632) 416-1355