Filipino Restaurant Favorite: Ombu Kusina

I find it so fascinating how our own Filipino cuisine evolved throughout the years. We've seen and tasted several new and innovative interpretation on classic dishes. And though our grandparents' recipes have a special place in our hearts (and tummies), the modern take on adobo, lechon and so on deserve applause. And speaking of modern Filipino restaurants, one of my new favorites is Ombu Kusina. 

Hello, Ombu Kusina. 

Ombu Kusina has been known for serving modern Filipino dishes. It has been around for slightly over a year and it continues to be patronized by locals and tourists alike. 

It's Back: Mesa Rockwell is Now Open

Complex flavors and different influences make Filipino cuisine very interesting. There are several restaurants that offer great Filipino dishes and one of the best ones in town for me is Mesa Filipino Moderne.

Hello, Mesa Filipino Moderne.

The well-loved Filipino restaurant, Mesa, is back in Power Plant Mall!

Love at First Bite: Manam

I have been eying Manam for quite some time now. Anyone who could resist good sisig at an affordable price is not human. Come on, crunchy sisig on sizzling plate at less than PHP200? I’m drooling just thinking about it. After months of planning to visit this place, it finally happened.

Hello, Manam!

The spacious and high ceiling restaurant was barely full at 6:30 p.m.. Diners started to pour around 7 p.m. and it was packed by the time we left. 

It was a good thing that I made a mental list of what to order as we were really famished while browsing the menu. We could have ordered more than we could eat that night. After some “process of elimination” for the other dishes F wanted to try, we finally settled with House Crispy Sisig (PHP135, solo), Overloaded Garlic Bangus Belly (PHP175, solo), Gising Gising (PHP120, solo) and Bagoong Rice (PHP95, solo). F ordered Strawberry + Kamias (PHP115) while I went with Mango + Pomelo + Coconut Cream + Sago (PHP120). 

The drinks arrived first and both looked good.

F’s drink was refreshing yet a bit tangy because of the kamias.

It was balanced though by the strawberries (if it was indeed naturally sweet).   

My drink was like the beverage version of Mango Sago with a hint of pomelo. 

It was delightful yet not exactly thirst quenching. 

The dishes were served right after our drinks and the aroma made us drool.

Revisited: Recipes by Café Metro

Simple comfort dishes are still the best for me. No unpronounceable ingredients, uncomplicated tastes and happy tummy. I think that is a great way to describe a great meal.

I was sick for a week last month and I was off work for almost the whole week as well as I had to visit a couple of doctors. It was just a simple case of cough that got out of hand that made me look like a zombie for two weeks. (Imagine waking up at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. because of your insanely itchy throat.) 

Anway, my mom and I decided to pass by Shangri-La to buy my third set of medicines and since it was already past 4 p.m. then and I haven’t had lunch yet, we decided to grab a quick meal before heading home. I recommended my all time favorite Recipes by Café Metro.

It has been quite a while since I last visited Recipes by Café Metro and it is still the same simple restaurant that I love.

My mom ordered Chicken Sotanghon Soup (PHP120, small | PHP220, regular) and Lumpiang Toge (PHP100) while I went with the Lechon Kawali with Kangkong (PHP225) and Gising Gising (PHP185).

The Chicken Sotanghon Soup was rather bland yet the warm soup was a great appetizer during that rainy Thursday afternoon.

 

The Lumpiang Toge was your usual wrapped toge. Serving was pretty generous for the price of PHP100 though.

Restaurant Discovery: Zarzuela

The intense summer heat is getting crazier and crazier to the point that we just hibernated the whole Holy Week. No wonder my sister's getting whiter... uh, paler. Well, you get my point. But come Easter, we decided to go out and our eyes had a hard time adjusting to the brightness of the sun.

We were planning to go to Megamall but since the line to the parking lot was crazy, we opted to go to Shangri-La instead as M wanted to see the new wing too.

When we arrived, I already know where to eat as Frannywanny, P, and I were able to roam around the area a few nights ago.

Hello, Zarzuela. By its name alone, you could easily say that it's a Filipino restaurant.

While checking the menu, I got attracted to the less healthier choices. I ordered Krispy Binagoongan (PHP359), Gising Gising (PHP239), Chicken Fried Adobo (PHP299, all chicken; PHP329, pork and chicken). I got intrigued by the appetizer Fountain of Youth (PHP199) so I ordered that as well.

Love At Second Bite: Recipes by Café Metro

It thrills me every time I get to get out of my home-work-home routine on a weekday thus when my officemates planned a movie night out (we watched The Muppets and sad to say, I wasn’t able to watch the first 20 minutes of the movie as something urgent has to be done—yes, more urgent than to save the home of the Muppets), I immediately said yes. We planned to leave the office early to have time to eat dinner. 7 p.m. clock out, game!

To cut things short, we left around 7:45 p.m.. Still pretty close to the 7 p.m. plan. Sort of close.

 

We were famished when we arrived and a bit panicky as well since the movie will start at 9 p.m.. Clueless on where to eat, we decided to eat somewhere near the cinema. We first tried our luck with Recipes by Café Metro. And we were lucky that night! There was an available table for our party of 6.