Supermarket Find: Stip's Chips

The salted egg craze started a few years ago and had most of our favorites covered in its thick flavorful sauce. And with barely any sign of it dying anytime soon, let's just say that this trend is here to stay. So, are you up for some salted egg potato chips?

Hello, Stip's Chips! 

The sudden popularity of anything salted egg flavored opened business opportunities to many. We've seen the boom of brands offering salted egg pizza, bread and what-have-you. But the most common product in the market is salted egg potato chips. 

Love at First Bite: Papas

POTATO. Think of Gru's minions saying this word and you'd get an idea on how crazy I am with anything made with potatoes. And when I spotted this kiosk that sells fresh fried potato chips, I just have to give it a try. 

Hello, Papas!

I was walking around the south side of SM Mall of Asia looking for something to snack on while waiting for a friend when I saw this unfamiliar kiosk. The first thing I noticed were the cone containers on the counter which I figured would be for some small bites. And to my delight, it was for potato chips! I love potato chips!

Restaurant Love: Cibo

Cibo is one of the you-cannot-go-wrong restaurants in Manila. I have never ordered anything from this place that I didn’t like as every single dish offered by this restaurant has been well thought of and beautifully executed. And it is not surprising given that this is the brainchild of Asia’s Best Female Chef of 2016, Margarita Fores. But given the number of new restaurants here and there, I tend to forget this well-loved restaurant till R’s family decided to have dinner there one Sunday. 

Hello, Cibo!

It was my first time to visit its Eastwood branch and it was packed! We had to wait for 10 minutes or so before we got a table to fit our party of 8. 

R’s sister had everything planned out and ordered a few dishes for sharing such as Patatine (PHP165, medium | PHP295, large), Spinaci Zola (PHP270), Tartufata (PHP395) and Penne al Telefono (PHP375 | PHP660, La Famiglia). R and I were not very hungry when we went so we decided to share one order of Grilled Tenderloin, an off the menu dish. For drinks, we both went with Pomelo Shake (PHP150).

First served were two orders of Patatine, Cibo’s famous thin potato chips with garlic mayonnaise dip. It was funny how all the guys thought that these were complimentary wait baskets. Well, these delightful treats weren’t but definitely worth the price. Crispy and well seasoned, it was perfection!

Spinaci Zola is yet another famous appetizer of Cibo. I have always been a fan of spinach and gorgonzola combination and Cibo puts those two together like a spinach dip master! 

Café Love: Wildflour Café + Bakery

It has been a long while since I last visited Wildflour but I still remember its delectable desserts and scrumptious pasta. And since I had an appointment right across the lovely restaurant, I decided to have a nice afternoon snack here before heading to my meeting.

Hello again, Wildflour Café + Bakery.

I was assisted as soon as I stepped in but the table where I was being directed to had a LOT of mosquitoes flying around. I quickly told the server that I’d rather sit elsewhere and she ushered me to the seat at the far end of the café.

After reading through the menu and not feeling very hungry, I opted to get Wildflour Reuben (PHP420).

While waiting, I was given a loaf of bread and Wildflour’s delicious salted butter. I managed to eat half of the loaf before my order arrived.

I was greeted by huge multi grain bread sandwiching homemade corned beef coleslaw and crisp potato chips.

First Bite: Backyard Kitchen+Brew

I still remember the first time I visited Backyard. We only ordered its famous butter beer since we saving space for our Mecha Uma tasting menu dinner. And since there are just too many new restaurants here and there, I didn't get to visit Backyard again till last week. Well, we didn't really plan to visit Backyard but since we failed (once again) to have lunch at Asakusa, we ended up stuck between Backyard and Burger Pub. Thinking that I just recently blogged about the latter, I convinced R that we go for Chef Ed Bugia's restaurant. 

Hello, Backyard Kitchen + Brew! 

This time around, we ordered non-alcoholic drinks Lemonade (PHP65) and Home Brewed Iced Tea (PHP85). For our hot meals, we went for Slow Roasted Pork Belly (PHP275) and Backyard Burger (PHP285).

First served were our drinks and both were very refreshing. The lemonade was delightfully tangy while the iced tea had a nice citrusy flavor with a tinge of honey. Yum!

In less than 10 minutes, the Slow Roasted Pork Belly was served. Now, that's fast service! 

As one of Backyard's specialties or recommended dishes, it did not fail in the taste department. I truly enjoyed the rich flavor of the pork belly. Succulent meat covered in a sweet and mildly spicy sauce. 

In order to offset its overwhelming taste, I ate some of the crunchy and slightly tarty coleslaw and delightfully cheesy mac and cheese after each bite of the pork belly. It was a harmonious dance of flavors! And the good thing about this affordable dish was its generous serving size! 

First Bite: Pablo’s

Working in Fort Bonifacio could sure dent your wallet if you’re not smart with your money. Temptation is very strong, especially on payday, as we are surrounded by restaurants and retail stores. There are even a few malls to choose from. And being stranded could also be costly. Believe me. As a person who brings homemade food to work, I make sure that I spend less than PHP100 a day, even less on most days. But when rain pours, sometimes, so does money.

Hey, Pablo’s!

Rain was crazy a few weeks ago. I was stranded for almost 3 hours for two days! And since I had no plans to brave the rain, I decided to join my officemates for dinner at Pablo’s.

It has Happy Hour until 8 p.m. but since I have some drinks at home, I focused on the real food. On my first night, I opted to get the Sirloin Beef Tapa with 2 Eggs (PHP245) and an order of Pablo’s Potato Chips (PHP170). On my second visit, I went for Basil Chicken (PHP245).

The potato chips confused me. Those were definitely not “paper thin” as what the menu claimed. It was fat potato cuts. At least it was crispy.

But it was smothered with spicy red powder making it difficult for me to enjoy.

My officemates kept saying that Pablo’s tapa is deeeelish so I had my palate ready for something awesome.

When it was served, first thing that came to mind was, “serving size is okay, it’s fragrant too, but is it better than my mom’s tapa?” Yes, I have never tasted better tapa than my mom’s. My mom’s tapa has this sweet and tangy taste that I love and so far, I have not tasted anything better.

It was okay. The tapa was tender and it was juicy. It was a nice mix of sweet and salty taste. I didn’t taste the tanginess that I want from tapa though. But it was pretty good for its price. And I loved that the rice was not your usual plain rice. It was mixed with tapa sauce and bits of marinated sirloin.

Restaurant Love: Spätzle Euro Market Café

I was so scared that the Halloween traffic might be crazy given that some people will be going to their provinces but I was surprised that there were only a few cars on the road come 6 p.m.. However, my friends were late and I was already “hangry”.

After several exchanges on where to eat, I finally decided that I’ll stay in Spätzle. No more moving. I was tired, hungry, and grumpy. Yes, I have reached the bratty foodie stage.

K and E were game to eat there though as they have never visited Spätzle Euro Market Café.

After a few minutes, K finally arrived and we hurriedly ordered the following: Paprika Potato Chips (PHP145), Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Roesti (PHP320), The Spätz Burger (PHP355), Frozen Brazo de Mercedes (PHP230) and Watermelon Slush (PHP105).

My drink arrived first and it was refreshing. I loooove watermelon!

The potatochips were delightful as well. It was slightly zesty making it different from the usual chips. It helped keep us sane while waiting for our mains.

Kettle: Fried Chicken Heaven?

What is torture for food bloggers? Seeing food shots and new restaurants we cannot visit because we're at a far away place. Daaaaaaaaarn!

Okay, what's happening? I left Manila for a few months and I see all these new establishments popping here and there! I am dying here! Since I could not do anything for now, let me share with you the food finds/establishments I can't wait to try or visit soon. (Warning: To help ease the pain of not eating these yummy dishes, I will do the listing in parts. Please bear with me. Oh and share your finds too!)

Kettle.

Image from Kettle

Why must you open just now? I read at Yummy magazine that your fried chicken is superb! I love fried chicken to the point that I ate it for one whole week! 

Image from Munchingaroundmanila.com

Since Kettle was featured by my favorite food magazine, I decided to check its menu and if I could just order NOW, I'd get the Oven Roasted Squash Soup (PHP249) just because squash is so delicious and that they don't have my other favorite... tomato soup. 

Image from Dude4food.blogspot.com

The Pork and Potato Strips (PHP339) which was described as a combination of crunchy pork belly and fresh potato chips is tempting too. Fine, irresistible!  

My First Bite: Stacy's

Cute restaurants attract me like an insect being lured by the light. Okay, perhaps that wasn't the best way to describe it but you get my point.  Such was the case ever since I saw several blogs featuring the quaint restaurant called Stacy's.

I have been wanting to visit Stacy's for the longest time but Quezon City is a bit too far from me and the possibility of me getting lost is almost 100%. But thankfully, Stacy's opened another branch, this time at The Fort (which is very near my place!). 

After seeing the announcement of their second branch, I immediately tagged my friends asked them if they want to have lunch there sometime... soon. And they agreed! Hurray!!!

We decided to have K's birthday lunch there and that means free lunch! Thanks, K!

Greetings from California... Pizza Kitchen.

My sister have never tried to dine at California Pizza Kitchen before so one random Sunday afternoon, we decided to go to Rockwell and have one late lunch there.

I’ve never dined in CPK’s branch in Rockwell so it felt so weird that the place was quite small (as I was used to the [former] spacious Shangri-La branch located at the ground floor). There were only a few diners when we arrived so we got a table right away. We got the one with a couch! Yey!

Pantry Surprise: Royce Potato Chip Chocolates

I am starting to love Mondays. 

I have always wanted to try Royce’s Potato Chip Chocolates but every time I visit Royce, I always end up with a chocolate bar instead. Tsk. Resisting “real” chocolates is so hard.

One random (and lucky) Monday, we were approached by one of the associate publishers and gave us a box of Royce Potato Chip Chocolates. She said that it was from the publisher and, without hesitation, we started to munch on the chocolate goodness. 

 Hmm… it tasted like sweet Ruffles. Hey, Ruffles… Truffles… *ahem* moving on.