Choi Garden Feast at 50% Off

Choi Garden is one of the best Chinese restaurants in town. Known for its superb roast duck and pork, scrumptious abalone and fresh seafood, its Annapolis branch is often packed with hungry guests. And it gets even busier when it partners with banks for bang for the buck deals. For this September, your favorites are at 50% off!

Hello, Choi Garden. 

We dropped by Choi Garden last Thursday to grab a few dishes for dinner. But we were surprised to know that we can't order roast pork to go. 

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!

When in Bacolod: Aboy's

It was an endless eating spree for me last week when I tagged along R's business trip to Bacolod. I had zero expectations for this trip as I've never been to the City of Smiles. I was even worried that I might get bored as my research on things to do in Bacolod only says The Ruins, Negros Museum and Butterfly Museum. Food-wise, I just wanted to visit Calea. But my friends (and clients) were very excited for me. They gave me a long list of restaurants and highly recommended several dishes for me to try. And I must say, their excitement was contagious! I was so excited just staring at the list they gave me. And on my first day, I visited Aboy's. 
 
Hello, Aboy's.

This Filipino restaurant is one of the highly recommended establishments by my foodie friends and R's dealers. 

First Bite: Samba

Shangri-La chain of hotels has been known to offer superior services. These past years though, the spotlight has been on its dining establishments. From the well loved Heat, Senju and Summer Palace of Edsa Shangri-La to Inagiku of Shangri-La Makati, tastemakers have grown to be fascinated with the new additions Canton Road and Raging Bull of Shangri-La at the Fort.  And late last year, a new restaurant was added to the list and it is designed, just like the others, to give us a gastronomic experience worth remembering.

Hello, Samba.

This Peruvian restaurant on the 8th floor of Shangri-La at the Fort, may seem to be a bit misplaced at first given that Canton Road and Raging Bull are both on the 3rd floor.  However, one would understand why this restaurant is placed there upon stepping in its al fresco dining area.

Love at First Bite: Urameshi-Ya

It has been months since I saw J's Urameshi-Ya Instagram post and I can't help dream about unlimited wagyu, oysters and scallops. The best part is that it only costs PHP500 (plus service charge). Thankfully, some loolooers were game to brave the Makati weekday traffic to visit the Little Tokyo's not so hidden gem. Since most are free today, July 4 (which also happens to be a Monday, the surest day that Urameshi-ya has wagyu), we decided to go for it! 

Hello, Urameshi-Ya!

Little Tokyo was a ghost town when we arrived as most restaurants open at 5 pm. While waiting, we enjoyed some ice cream from Dojo which I will review separately. 

It was just 4:30 pm when Che Che of Urameshi-Ya approached our table asking if we're complete as we could already start if we want to. We were pleased as it means that we could eat earlier as I was famished! (I only had SkyFlakes in preparation for this feast!)

Soon, we were given tongs and griller. (We were given two but the other griller was placed on our table after 10 minutes or so.)

Love at First Bite: Ooma Japanese Rice Bar

Bruce Ricketts is on a roll. (Not the edible Japanese kind of roll.) After the successful Sensei Sushi and the well-loved Mecha Uma, he opened another restaurant called Ooma. Since I haven’t tried the first two (with first being too far and second having a steep price tag), I just have to try the pocket-friendly Ooma… ASAP.

Hello, Ooma!

The place wasn’t as packed as I thought on weekdays. Half of the restaurant was for those who made reservations and the other half was for walk-in diners.

My mom and sister went there early and got us a table and they ordered the following: Salmon Tartare Aburi Maki (PHP295) and O-Gyoza (PHP235). When I arrived, I added Scallop and Tuna Aburi Maki (PHP295), Uni Sashimi (PHP195), Tuna Tataki (PHP195), Soft Shell Crab Taco-Maki (PHP199) and Half Baked Chocolate Lava Cake (PHP185).

The O-Gyoza was meaty, juicy and delightfully cheesy thanks to the grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese. 

The togarashi and unagi sauce made it even more delicious. It was also served on a metal strainer which dripped out the excess oil.

The Salmon Tartare Aburi Maki was L-O-V-E. The combination of soft and fresh salmon and scallops with the cucumber, uni and shiso leaves was heavenly. There were different textures in every bite.

I also liked the Tuna Tataki. For its price, serving was generous. The sesame crust added texture to the soft tuna slices. The pickled mushrooms, fried shallots and pickled red radish and ginger garlic sauce added flavor.

Sentosa Revisited

For some reason, I eat a lot on Sundays! My tummy grumbles tenfold thus I make sure I have something to nibble on when I’m out. But since we attend mass at 6PM, the time when my tummy alarm clock goes wild, I had to silence my uncooperative clock and sincerely pray it won’t go on a strike and scream.

Hello again, Sentosa!

It has been a while since I last visited this place. I remember that during that first dinner here, I was almost the 5^th wheel if C’s other half showed up. I didn’t really care but that would have meant less food for me. (Yes, I sometimes think like this).

Anyway, this time, I went with my sister and mom after mass and we were really famished! My mom opted to buy Sautéed Broccoli with Scallop in XO Sauce (PHP245) while I went with Hainanese Chicken Noodle Soup (PHP220) and Satay Kajang (PHP195) while my sister got Roast Chicken Rice (PHP220). For dessert, we ordered Sticky Rice with Mangoes (PHP85) and Pisang Goreng (PHP95). I also tried the Chrysanthemum Iced Tea (PHP85, bottomless) simply because it intrigued me.

Served with an actual Chrysanthemum, it sure was a refreshing and flowery drink!

Despite the busy packed night, service was pretty quick as we got our food in about 15 minutes. First served was the Satay Kajang.

For PHP195, you get to try 3 different kinds—beef, pork, and chicken. I love chicken best as it was the one with the tenderest meat (easy to remove from the stick). The meat was flavorful that you do not even need to smother it with the sauce that goes along with it. For an appetizer, I prefer to have it with rice.