Restaurant Love: Balboa (Take 3)

I love Balboa. In fact, I think this is my third entry on the restaurant. I ate there around 6 times already and I still crave for more. I have the Balboa addiction! But I have finally moved on from my crazy fascination over its Roasted Chicken. This time, I tried other dishes.

F sent me a random message about Balboa one Friday night and asked if I want to try the place out. Since I had no plans for lunch that day, we agreed to meet and K joined us as well.

I arrived a bit late (because I had to finish my weekend chores first) and F and K were halfway done with their meals. But given that I love to order a complete meal, I ordered a bowl of Cream of Squash (PHP209), Smoked Salmon (PHP348), and Carrot Pineapple (PHP138). I also ordered an Espresso Cheesecake (PHP228) for sharing.

 

My cream of squash was not as smooth as I wanted it to be but it sure was creamy and thick. It was sweet and slightly salty just the way I prefer it to be. I enjoyed it with my toast.

Restaurant Discovery: The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse

Last Friday, I filed for a half day to work on my student permit as I am now learning how to drive! Horrah! Getting a student permit was really easy and quick. I arrived around 2 p.m. and there were only a few people around. In an hour, I was done! But this is another story. For now, I want to talk about this new wing of Shangri-La mall and the steakhouse I fell in love with.

Hello, The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse!

I wasn’t really planning on visiting this steakhouse as I was targeting the ramen place beside it. However, they are closed from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to [I guess] prepare for dinner or something.  Anyway, I was really down when I saw the closed sign but smiled in an instant when the server at The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse told me that they’re open and happy to serve!

So, steakhouse it is then.

I was planning to order a big slab of steak until my mom told me that it was Friday. I don’t really practice it (and I even had tapa for breakfast!) but since my mom was hesitant, I finally gave in and decided to order The Pink Meat (PHP500) while my mom opted to order Stuffed Calamari (PHP360). Since I wanted something more, I opted to order the Goat’s Island and Berry Seas (PHP220) as dessert. We also had two glasses of their Signature Iced Tea (PHP108)

While waiting, we were given complimentary bread with butter drizzled with some herbs. My mom enjoyed it as it was crisp outside yet soft and warm inside. My mom though preferred if they served it with cheese while I was pretty content with the melted butter.

Celebrating New Chapters at Pages Deli

I used to ignore this place till I started to read good reviews about it. I wanted to try it myself but I don’t like eating alone in nice restaurants. Then a friend wanted to have dinner to celebrate her birthday. Perfect!

“Let’s meet at Shangri-la!”

“Sure! But where? (Thinking it has to be somewhere new or at least a place we have never been to before) Uhm, how about Pages Deli? Or Lemon Grass?”

“Pages Deli. See you there!”

That was how my friend and I decided to have dinner at Pages Deli.