Restaurant Love: Nonna's

I am a big fan of truffles! I love anything with a strong kick of this fragrant ingredient. For one, Mama Lou's truffle pasta surely makes my top list of truffle dishes. And when I had a belated birthday celebration with my mom and sister, I made sure that we dine somewhere where I get my truffle fix. This time, we went with Nonna's in Robinsons Galleria.

Hello, Nonna's. 

Nonna's is the sister brand of Mama Lou's. You'd quickly notice it too once you check its menu. 

First Bite: Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen

I've been looking forward to dine at Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen ever since I fell in love with its sister brand, Nonna's in Nuvali. And when my fried decided to have her birthday celebration at its Ayala Malls the 30th branch, I smiled from ear to ear! 

Hello, Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen.

After years of eying this place, I finally got to visit  Mama Lou's with some of my closest friends to celebrate K's birthday. Since we were dining on a Friday night, I decided to make a reservation to make sure that we have seats. 

Almost everyone came on time except for one who got stuck in terrible C-5 traffic. And I was glad that I made that reservation as the place was packed! 

Love at First Bite: Nonna's

I've been hearing great things about this pizzeria in the South that I couldn't help myself from wanting to visit it ASAP. However, the place isn't exactly near. In fact, it isn't even in Metro Manila. But when I won some gift certificates from that restaurant, I finally have a good reason to drive all the way to Nuvali for lunch. And I finally did a few weeks ago.

Hello, Nonna's!

This restaurant, which is also a brainchild of the brilliant minds behind the successful Mama Lou's, was quite packed on a Sunday morning. Thankfully, we were early enough to secure a table for five.

Burpday Celebration at Buffalo Wild Wings

It was my sister’s birthday last weekend and we originally planned to visit Annam to celebrate. But due to conflict in schedule with last minute events, I had to ask my mom and sister if we could move it to Buffalo Wild Wings so that I could also use my gift certificates for it. Thankfully, they agreed and were supportive of my food blogging activities. And so, we were set.

Hello, Buffalo Wild Wings. 

It was my first time to dine in this branch despite it being one of the first restaurants to open in Uptown Mall. I guess it was because I already visited its Estancia branch twice and because I’m not really a fan of wings. I’d usually order burger or flat bread here. 

I was an hour late for lunch because the event I attended ended late. To my surprise, my mom and sister were not upset at all. I guess I have to thank the Mozzarella Sticks (PHP325) and Chicken Caesar Salad (PHP465) for it. 

I managed to have a bite of the mozzarella sticks and chicken caesar salad; and both were good but not good enough for its price. The mozzarella was not as gooey and the marinara sauce was not as tangy. The breading though had that nice crunch that creates a lovely contrast against the soft mozzarella. 

The salad was your usual caesar salad with grilled chicken drizzled with parmesan garlic sauce and caesar dressing. The greens were crisp and the grilled chicken added flavor to the dish. Though the serving size seems generous, the price seemed to be still steep for salad. 

Second Bite: K&L Café

Summer is here and the intense heat is driving me crazy. I want to walk around especially during food trips but the sun wants to fry an egg on my head. So when J and I went on a White Plains food trip, we try to escape the heat by having saba con yelo (hielo) at Pan de Amerikana (and brewed coffee and pandesal for a sasaw sa kape afternoon treat). And after a bit of cooling down, we were game to visit our last stop… K&L Café.

Hello again, K&L Café.

It has been quite a while since I last visited the adorable K&L Café.

They were busy setting up for a mini gathering when we arrived so we were requested to dine at the second floor.

The second floor is pretty cute too. The wall ornaments and the frosted window with the logo of the shop made the place homey.

After checking the menu, we went with the following: Longganisa Locale (PHP219), Mozz-Ham-rella Sticks (PHP195), and Ultimate Red Velvet Pancakes (PHP295). We also got Strawberry Calamansi (PHP95) and one of their new drinks that I forgot to take note of.

First served were our drinks. I loved J’s drink as it was sweet yet citrusy. Mine, on the other hand, was a bit too sweet and wasn’t much of a thirst quencher.

The mozzarella (with ham) sticks were served next. Served warm, the stretchy mozzarella with bits of ham was a great appetizer. I’m sure cheese-loving kids would love this dish.