Not Just Toasts: Toast Box

After an afternoon of being tea-loving friends, we decided to stop by Toast Box, a cute little restaurant that I thought only serves toasts. Hey, the name was deceiving. 

Hello, Toast Box.

N was drawn to this restaurant while we were trying to burn some calories (and J mesmerized by LEGO). I was pretty surprised that the restaurant has a lot of dishes to offer. They serve Nonya Laksa (PHP225), Hokkien Prawn Mee (PHP220), Chicken Sausage Noodles (PHP149), and a lot more aside from toasts. N, J and I ordered the three I just mentioned. We all added PHP30 to get a glass of Iced Barley.

 

The place was really packed when we entered but were lucky to spot an empty table right away. Despite the crowd, service was pretty quick. We were still digesting our brunch when our bowls arrived.

I wasn’t really able to taste the bowls of N and J as the itsy bitsy taste of their soup made me drink a third of my drink. It was SPICY! I have mentioned in my previous blogs that my tolerance for spicy food is pretty much non-existent. I try but there are just some I really could not eat as I’ll just cough throughout the whole meal.

Tea Party: TWG Tea Salon and Boutique

The T3 (The Takaw Trio) is back and this time, we are a bit more posh! We decided to have lunch at this new tea place in Greenbelt 5 and it was the start of an amazing day.

TWG, does that stand for “The Wonderful Gastronomy”?

The place has a high ceiling and we noticed that it has this masculine look that Sherlock Holmes will not look odd in. N also noticed that the place has a lot of male customers as well. Tea party is just for girls? Nah!

When J and I arrived, N was waiting for about 2 hours already. But to my surprise, she was able to resist finishing the yummy raspberry tart she ordered. It was fluffy in the inside, tangy on the outside and the crisp yet creamy dark chocolate chip made all the difference. Sorry, no picture but just say, “one awesome tangy raspberry with dark chocolates on the side tart!”

It took us a while to decide on what to order. I was overwhelmed with the menu as it had a lot of yummy choices. In the end, I chose the first thing that caught my eye… Gourmet brunch set (PHP750). 

 

Restaurant Discovery: Lusso

I am seriously addicted to salmon! Every time I get to see salmon being offered, I order it. Sashimi, baked, or whatnot, I must try it. 

I finally reached the point of being “quarter of a century”. It makes one feel a lot older, right? *sigh* But one nice thing that comes with age is TONS of experiences and memories. It may be good or bad, but hey, it makes you who you are now. (Well, if we try to connect it with salmon, it may sound weird, but I hope you get my point.)

Anyway, Frannywanny asked me a few Sundays ago if I was free for dinner at Lusso. It was actually my birthday but since my family usually celebrates my birthday over lunch, I said I could join her and her lovely cousins.

I’ve never heard of this place before but based on how excited Frannywanny was, I bet it’s a good restaurant. And, boy, was it posh-looking. Unlike other restaurants with screaming signages, this restaurant was pretty simple with its name on its door handle. It was wittily done too using a long L as both the signage and a decorative piece for the entrance.

Painting Makati... PINK!

I was pretty excited when I saw a huge tarpaulin over a vacant space in Greenbelt 5 with the words “Pinkberry Swirling Soon”. At that time, I haven’t tried Pinkberry yet but since a lot of Hollywood celebrities love it and assuming that some of them are picky eaters, then Pinkberry must be good. And I was able to confirm it myself when I tried it during my vacation. Pinkberry love!

I was determined to try Pinkberry here in Manila on its first week of operations to the point that I braved the Christmas rush and the dark night just for it. Paranoid, I was speed walking from the MRT to the malls and back. My travel time going back was less than 20 minutes.

Anyway, I was glad that I was able to meet with some friends on my way to Pinkberry as I might have spent half an hour finding my way to the store (as I have absolutely no sense of direction). 

Let’s Paint the Town… PINK.

One chilly night, we decided to brave the cold winds and bend down to look for stars… at the WALK OF FAME area in Hollywood. But this is another story. The Tommy’s trip after the long walk is also another story. What I wanted to share in this entry is how we painted the town… pink. Or how the wind made our noses pink.

Another must visit place according to my friends was Pinkberry. I’ve heard a lot of good reviews about this place… that it serves really good yogurt, that the place is über cute, and Kim Kardashian loves hanging out here (uh, where did this come from?).

We were supposed to go home already as it was already past 12 midnight when we finished posing with the stars… on the floor of the Walk of Fame. But our eager tour guide R wanted to tour us around Burbank. As he was the one who does the driving, we just sat back quietly as he drove to the place he called his “favorite hangout”.

With our toes curled and noses turning pink, we strolled around Burbank and saw… PINKBERRY. Well, they were about to close already when we arrived yet they still welcomed us with smiling faces. I love you already!

A Bald Man’s Chocolates

I was pretty excited to pay Max Brenner Chocolate Bar a visit as I was informed that their chocolates are amazing. Plus, I love to be surrounded by bald men serving chocolates. (Hmm… that sounded so weird.)

Still full from one heavy lunch from Max’s neighbor Simply Thai, we walked for a bit around Greenbelt. After 5 to 10 minutes, we went back to the corner of the bald men.

Bald guy spotted!

We checked the menu and noticed that the place serves savory dishes as well. The meals were quite pricey (though I should have expected that since we were at Greenbelt 5). But I was not after sandwiches, meat, rice, or whatnot… I wanted to try their Chocolate Fondue (PHP528). It comes with two types of chocolates (choices are milk, dark, and white) and seasoned fruits, marshmallows, lady fingers, and fudge brownies.

Yahoo! Chocolate Fondue! Chocolate Fondue! Chocolate Fondueeeee!

I was very excited to try the dark chocolate as I LOVE DARK CHOCOLATE. (I was quite apathetic towards milk chocolate; and, just like some of my friends, I also believe that white chocolate is not real chocolate.)

It was quite thick, rich, and velvety… but mostly thick. It was chocolate ooh-la-la~

As for the milk chocolate dip, it was a bit too watery. It seemed more like a chocolate drink than a dip for me. It did not have the rich taste of the dark chocolate. Nonetheless, I think kids would like this one better for its milder and milkier taste.

The plate of fruits, brownies, marshmallows and lady fingers was too small for the price. Well there were a few slices of kiwi, bananas, and apples but it would have been nice if they also added some strawberries. Or is it because it is not in season? But it is never in season here, right? Rather, it is always in season in Baguio (the place with year round strawberry harvest), right? The brownies though were really good. It was moist, soft, and rich in chocolate. It didn’t have to be dipped in chocolate for more for it would seem like a sin already.

As for the interior, it is so cute! After 30 minutes of waiting for the customers to leave, we finally had the place to ourselves. In short, we had a mini photo shoot with everything cute inside the place. There’s the wall, the chocolate machine, the cartoon poster of a girl with her tongue out (it's on the photo with the bald guy) and more of the wall.

 

I’m not really sure if it’s worth it to go to Max Brenner but I definitely enjoyed dining there. It was like I was in a playground.

Just a little trivia before I end:

Did you know that Max Brenner was named after the founders Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner? I’m not sure though if both are bald. But there’s one thing I know… there was only one server in the restaurant that was bald. What happened?

Max Brenner is located at Ground Floor of Greenbelt 5, Makati City.

Weekend Restaurant Love: Simply Thai

Food Warrior Eating Challenge training day 2 (training day 1 was held at Sambo Kojin)

I needed to train my stomach to eat more these days for an eating contest I will be participating in this coming Saturday.  Since I hardly go out during the weekdays (as I lead a life of home-office-home from Monday to Friday), I try to maximize my weekends by checking out restaurants I have never been to or haven’t had the chance to blog about. This time, I have my eyes on Simply Thai and I decided to visit it last Sunday with a friend.

We went there around 1pm and there were only a few diners. I guess it was because it was already past lunch time.

I tried to recall what Executive Chef Cecille Chang Ysmael made us try during the intimate dinner she held a few months ago. The dish I remembered was the Crispy Catfish (PHP320) and the Caramelized Squid (PHP295). Since the two were pretty similar, we decided to stick to the Crispy Catfish.  

We thoroughly read the menu and looked for non-spicy dishes and we finally ordered Mieng Kham (PHP220), Silom Shrimps (PHP325), Phad Thai (PHP320) and an order of Thai Green Milk Tea and Thai Milk Tea (PHP120 each). My friend and I agreed not to order desserts as we plan to check its neighbor Max Brenner that same afternoon but we came across Simply Thai’s Nest (PHP240) and the description said that it is a MUST TRY sooooo (you already know what we did). Yes, we are easy to convince as long as it is food-related.

The drinks arrived fast and we were excited to try it.

The Thai Green Milk Tea was too sweet for me. It had a subtle avocado taste (was that the reason why it was green?) mixed with condense milk and jasmine. I wasn’t able to (or should I say couldn’t?) finish it. Tsk.

I prefer the Thai Milk Tea as it had a stronger tea flavor (yet was still undeniably “milk” tea). Also, it wasn’t as sweet as the other one. I didn’t order it because of the color as it looked like curry to me. But I hoped that I ordered that instead. (To be honest, I was waiting for my friend to swap drinks with me but it didn’t happen.)

Finally, the dishes arrived.

The first one to arrive was the Mieng Kham. We were quite clueless as to how to eat it. Since there were leaves, we assumed that we had to wrap the prawns, lemongrass, coconut, chili and peanuts in Thai betel leaves.

I removed the chili before eating it as I saw my friend cry because the chili was too spicy.

It was zesty. It was definitely different from those I have tried before. I checked betel leaves out and I found out that it is often used as palate cleanser. I’d say it truly is a must order as a starter.

The next dish served was the Phad Thai.

It was cutely wrapped in an egg net (which made me think if it really has a purpose or if it was just for aesthetic purposes only). What I loved about it was that it was not the salty, oily type. It was just right. The noodles were cooked well and the small side dishes (peanuts, bean sprouts, and lime) brought out the rich flavor of it. It was love.

The Silom Shrimps on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment if you’re after authentic Thai food.

It was your typical pan seared prawns. The lemongrass and tamarind taste as very very subtle.

Now for the Crispy Catfish…

It was the crispy catfish that I remember. It was neither oily nor salty. It was well-seasoned. However, it seemed to be a bit dry this time. It needed to be eaten with the green mango-apple salad to make it easier to swallow (well, water or any beverage works too). Nonetheless, I still love it and will definitely order it again when I visit Simply Thai.

We were still enjoying the four dishes when our dessert arrived. We felt that the servers were in a hurry. I was not really sure why. The server approached us and asked if there was something else that we would like to order as they were about to close their kitchen. (Ehhhh?) One server also started to sweep the floor. (Uhm, can’t you wait till we’re done?)

Anyway, back to the dessert…

The dessert was adorable. The ice cream really looked like an egg. My friend and I just had to have our photos taken with it. As for the taste, it was truly coconut ice cream resting on shredded sweet potato and taro. The sweet potato taste was stronger though (but you could see the bits of taro if you look closely). The coconut ice cream was rich in flavor and the “nest” and caramel (yes, the brown liquid on the plate was caramel) went well together. It was a bit heavy though (probably because of the “nest”).

Nice ambiance, good food, fairly priced items…  I just hope that the servers will let me take my time to enjoy my meal on my next visit.

Simply Thai is located at the Ground floor of Greenbelt 5, Makati City.