Valentine's Day Gift Ideas: Snake River Farms (SRF) Gift Box

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and many are stressing out on what to give their significant other. Thankfully, R and I are not too big on buying each other gifts and prefer to spend time with each other. And there is no better way to spend quality time than over a good home cooked meal. 

Hello again, Snake River Farms. 

My favorite steak brand came up with the perfect Valentine's Day gift idea. It bundled several favorites--Wagyu Strip Loin, Wagyu C. Cut Sirloin, Wagyu Flapmeat, Wagyu Ground Beef and Wagyu Frankfurter. Each pack weighs 330 grams with the exception of Wagyu Ground Beef which weighs 500 grams and Wagyu Frankfurter with 454 grams. 

Work Perk: Manila Polo Club

Most of us hate Mondays as it means that we had to bid farewell to weekends again and face the real world. But there are times when work has its perks and one of which is having offsite meetings. You might think that I’m crazy because it still means work. But hear me out. Offsite meetings also mean possible good food! And for my company planning session, the team was thinking of holding it somewhere far like Anvaya. However, the ones with kiddos around were not too warm with the idea  hence we ended up in… Manila Polo Club. Though it’s not exactly far, the traffic separates us from the office. 

Hello, Manila Polo Club!

We booked one of the meeting rooms for our whole day planning and the rental of the room is consumable for the whole day. We had to bring some of our equipment though like projector to avoid incurring additional charges. 

To start the day, we each ordered something for breakfast and I went with Granola and Yogurt Trifle (PHP335).

Restaurant Love: Buta+Wagyu

Buta+Wagyu is one of our favorite restaurants as its succulent A5 wagyu are just too good to be to enjoyed once. However, it’s also too pricey to be enjoyed on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. But when there’s something to celebrate, one of our top picks is Buta+Wagyu.

Hello, Buta+Wagyu!

Knowing that this is R’s favorite restaurant to date, I suggested this Japanese wagyu place as the venue for R’s pre-birthday dinner. R’s parents and sisters were okay with the idea and I quickly placed reservation as soon as I got a go signal. We decided to have dinner there on a Thursday night.

I was the first to arrive and I ordered a few appetizers for everyone to munch on as we decide on which mains to indulge in. I got Organic Pork and Wagyu Gyoza (PHP280) and Organic Pork and Wagyu Kimchi Mandu (PHP320) for sharing. When R and his family arrived, we ordered two Double Stone Grill Samplers—Ohmi (PHP8,500) and Kagoshima (PHP7,000), and three orders of 200g Steamed Wagyu (Rib Eye Hida, PHP1,640/100g). There is also a cooking charge of PHP300 on top of the cost of the wagyu dishes.  

Love at First Bite: Buta+Wagyu

I have read a few reviews about this wagyu place in SM Aura that serves A5 wagyu beef. All reviews say that the place serve quality beef but it comes with an expensive price. I told R about it but we didn’t really bother going as even with us two, I’m sure that we have to shell out around PHP10,000 for a nice and filling meal. But then R’s dad wanted to bring one of their business suppliers there for dinner and R told me to tag along. So we got to try it for free! Yay!

Hello, Buta+Wagyu!

The wagyu restaurant is located at the Sky Park of SM Aura, beside Kettle. I didn’t notice it at first as the entrance of the place is flushed inside the walkway and is right beside the escalator going to Niu. It has another dining area right across where we dined. R, his dad and business suppliers were already there when I arrived. 

Since I was the resident foodie that time, I ordered for us. We got a Stone Grill Sampler (PHP8,500 + PHP300 cooking charge) and 300g of Sirloin Hida Steamed Wagyu (PHP1640/100g + PHP300 cooking charge). I also got a glass of Apple Cucumber Shake (PHP250) while R got Cantaloupe Shake (PHP160). 

While waiting for our dishes, I munched on the complimentary side dishes—anchovies and kimchi. (I hate kimchi but I was too hungry to be a picky eater. I actually finished the whole thing!)

Soon, our steamed wagyu was served. 

It was so soft and perfectly cut. I enjoyed dipping it in Ponzu sauce and putting a bit of wagyu spice and garlic chips for extra flavor. It was so good that we ordered rice to go with it and we also ordered another 300g right after we finished the first serving. That was another PHP5,220 to our tummies.

The platter of raw wagyu cuts was presented to us while enjoying the steamed wagyu. We asked the servers to prepare it medium and to just provide us with a hot stone grill for us to cook the meat even more if needed as some do not like seeing blood in their meat. 

It took about 10 minutes after we finished our steamed wagyu when the platter came. The Ohmi platter comes with Rib Eye, Sirloin, Chateaubriand and Chuckroll cuts. All were amazingly good! 

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.

Love at First Bite: π Breakfast and Pies

Breakfast food is love. Sunnyside up eggs, bacon, spam, tapa, hot dogs… I could eat it all day long. This is why I adore restaurants that serve breakfast from opening to closing. And that’s why I got excited when R suggested that we try π Breakfast and Pies for dinner one Sunday night.

Hello, π Breakfast and Pies!

The quaint restaurant is pretty small and parking could be difficult too if you visit around lunch or dinner time.

R’s memory of the Longsilog (PHP295) wasn’t that good as he recalled that he only got two small longganisa and felt that it looked sad with the mountain of rice. Anyway, we opted to go for the Wagyu Beef Sirloin Tapa (PHP265) and the Caramelized Spam (PHP265). We also ordered Lemon Basil Fritz (PHP75) and Cranberry Celery Cooler (PHP75) as our drinks.

First served were our drinks.

The lemon basil fritz didn’t have much citrus taste to it while the cranberry celery cooler had a strong celery taste. In short, both drinks tasted very healthy. (And sadly, R and I are not fond of it.)

The tapa and spam were served next.