Restaurant Discovery: Akira The Art of Sushi and Teppanyaki

I think I have mentioned way too much already how much I love Japanese food. My friends know how to lure me out of my hibernation mode... Japanese food, new restaurant, or eat all you can. Why am I so easy to bribe? WHY?

My AmCham friends and I decided to have a reunion since it has been 5 years since we all first met. From a batch of 25 (plus one adopted person from another batch), 3 made it from our batch and our adopted batch mate. Reunion, fail. Fun dinner, success!

It has been a night filled with laughter and reminiscing about our bloopers and fascination about the teppan table at Akira, a new restaurant in Shangri-La's East Wing.

Since the food was quite pricey, we decided to order for sharing. We got the teppan Set B: US Rib-Eye with chicken, shrimp, and beef plus miso soup and fried rice on the side (PHP1068), Wagyu Ramen (PHP489), and Akira's house iced tea. I also ordered salmon sashimi (PHP228), a must order whenever I'm in a Japanese restaurant.

Service was quick as before we noticed, our food is being prepared right before our eyes. We just have to take photos.

YUMMY EATS 2013 COUNTDOWN: 19 days to go!

It’s the time of the year again when we get to discover great dishes and meet amazing food entrepreneurs with crazily creative ideas on how to turn simple dishes extraordinary. Yes, it’s Yummy Eats time again!

We were lucky to get first hand dibs on the products the concessionaires will sample. With over 50 concessionaires, we had a hard time focusing on which products to try first. But here’s a teaser of what to expect on the 18^th of May at the NBC Tent.

Pio’s Paella offers classic and black paella. The clams and shrimps used were undeniably fresh. Every spoonful is oozing with flavors.

Baby Pat Breads and Pastries offers usual ensaymadas and your not so usual ones. With the craze of Speculoos, they now have Speculoos ensaymada! You must taste that!

 

Love cheesecakes? Food Lab will be selling their rich cheesecakes and will sample it too! Try it with their cookies for added crunch!

Or how about bacon? Mad Meats Bacon will be serving its bacon slabs while The Kitchen Slave will have its Smocked Bacon Caramels available. 

Weekend (Endless) Eating: F1 Café

I simply cannot resist buffets despite the intense guilt after eating a lot. When N invited me to a buffet lunch last Saturday at F1 Hotel, I immediately texted back, YES! *Darn gluttony!*

I instantly said yes because it was pretty convenient as I stayed at F1 the night before as I helped out with the ingress for the Good Housekeeping Family Fun Run. All I have to do is head down and EAT.

N and I met around 11 a.m. and the buffet was still closed as they open at 11:30 a.m. but the waitress told us that we could help ourselves with whatever was out that time.

The bread, desserts, salad and sushi stations were ready to be "attacked" so N and I took some photos and started our 3-hour lunch challenge.

Cheap Thrill: Dunkin' Donuts' Bunwich

Yoga. I'm not sure if it is actually effective in helping me trim down or be more toned but I think I tend to eat more after my practice. Lately, I've been having two breakfasts and eating merienda as well and I used not to snack in the afternoon on weekdays. What. Is. Happening? But because of this, I found myself inside Dunkin' Donuts ordering breakfast #2 one sunny Monday morning.

Hello, Dunkin' Donuts!

Yes, I love Dunkin' Donuts. I love the ones in Korea best as the texture is very different (chewy, just how I love it!) but I still love the ones here in Manila. 

My mom has been bringing home some Dunkin' Donuts sandwiches (croissant BLTs) and last Monday, it was my first time to visit the branch near my work (which happens to be near the factory of Dunkin' Donuts as well).  

Since I was in my it's-a-Monday-meaning-the-week-just-started-and-so-I-do-not-want-to-spend mode, I decided to go with the bunwich as it only costs PHP50 each. (And no, I wasn't really in the mood to eat doughnuts that time.)

Promo Alert: Dine at HEAT Restaurant at 50% off!

My friends know that I have this thing for buffets. I just can't resist it. I remember as well that my first date with N was also in an eat-all-you-can restaurant (and found out later on that it's a no-no for first dates. I guess it doesn't give that romantic ambiance given that you're surrounded with people with mountains of food on their plates).

But since I am stingy, I do not go to the hotels for buffets. I'm satisfied with a PHP299 deal from Don Day or Sambo Kojin or even Yakimix (for unlimited salmon).

Then one lucky day, I saw a photo on my news feed. Overheated? Oh shoot! HEAT! Edsa Shangri-La's HEAT is having a summer buffet promo!

The price is so tempting as for only PHP715++ (for lunch Mondays to Saturdays for the whole month of April), you get to eat awesome food! The catch though is that you need to bring along with you a company of 4 or more to avail the promo. Still, it's not a bad deal at all!

I'm booking a reservation soon to celebrate someone's birthday. Book now too! :)

For reservations, contact 633-8888 ext. 2777. Note that prior reservation is needed.

HEAT is located at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel,1 Garden Way, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Restaurant Discovery: Zarzuela

The intense summer heat is getting crazier and crazier to the point that we just hibernated the whole Holy Week. No wonder my sister's getting whiter... uh, paler. Well, you get my point. But come Easter, we decided to go out and our eyes had a hard time adjusting to the brightness of the sun.

We were planning to go to Megamall but since the line to the parking lot was crazy, we opted to go to Shangri-La instead as M wanted to see the new wing too.

When we arrived, I already know where to eat as Frannywanny, P, and I were able to roam around the area a few nights ago.

Hello, Zarzuela. By its name alone, you could easily say that it's a Filipino restaurant.

While checking the menu, I got attracted to the less healthier choices. I ordered Krispy Binagoongan (PHP359), Gising Gising (PHP239), Chicken Fried Adobo (PHP299, all chicken; PHP329, pork and chicken). I got intrigued by the appetizer Fountain of Youth (PHP199) so I ordered that as well.

Restaurant Discovery: Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen

I mentioned in my previous entry (The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse) that I was targeting to try this new ramen place beside it but they close from 3 p.m to 6 p.m. every day. But I was destined to try dine there soon as when I met up with Frannywanny and P, we all agreed to try that place out.

Hello, Ikkoryu Fukuoda Ramen!

The place has really cute interiors. Wood everywhere with Japanese writing with red chairs!

The menu is a bit more extensive compared to Kichitora. Ikkoryu Fukuoda Ramen also offers rice meals, salad, appetizers, and they also have more desserts (though the one I want wasn’t available).

After a while, I finally decided to go with the Black Garlic Tonkotsu (PHP380) and Chasu Maki salad (PHP230) as my appetizer. I simply chose those with the chef recommended stamp beside the names. :)

Service was quite quick as in less than 10 minutes, my salad is on the table. 

At first, I was hesitant to eat it as it looked dry and bland. I was looking for a dip for it. But since I couldn’t figure out if dipping it in soy sauce is a good idea, I opted to eat it as is. Cold… and savory! I was surprised that it was very flavorful. The chasu was well seasoned and despite the dry and bland look, it sure was juicy (to some extent). I just love the tenderness of the pork and the crunch of the vegetables. It sure was a great way to start my meal.

Staycation 2013 Mini Projects

These past few weeks has been pretty productive. I'm learning how to drive (manual!) and I'm also learning how to cook one dish every weekend.Come Holy Week, I plan to be more productive as looking back, I just bond with my bed together with my BFFs Chips and Soda. It'll be different this year! So here's what I plan to do...

Since I won't be going out of town or visit my hometown (as my hometown is Manila!), I will do the following:

Hang around.

Not hang around the mall as the malls will be closed but hang stuff that needs to be hooked to make my space clutter-free. (Oh, we'll have a blast Command!)

Maximize space.

I'll be exploring the highs and lows of my room to see if there's extra space that I can use. As how IKEA says it, sometimes the space that we're looking for is there all along, it's more on just working with the space you have with a bit more of imagination. I so love IKEA. I even cried when I visited a branch during one of my trips!

Sweet Find: Chez Karine

I first heard of this store from B and ever since she bought a box of macarons, I’ve been curious if it really tastes good (as B was really looking forward to buying a box of it). Months passed by and finally, I managed to grab a few macarons.

 

Hello, Chez Karine!

 

This small pastry shop has a charming feel to it. Filled with light colored items, it sure screams “cute”. I went straight to the macarons and asked the friendly server for their best sellers.

She suggested that I get the Earl Grey, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate and Strawberry (all macarons are priced at PHP50/each). I decided to get the first three and opted to get coffee instead of strawberry as my sister is not very fond of it. 

I also bought one Muscovado Pudding (PHP100) and Mango Panna Cotta (PHP100).

Restaurant Love: Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

Ribs… what’s not to love? Soft meat, lovely sauce, dirty fingers… bliss. And where can we try out one of the best tasting ribs? Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que! 

It was a tiring day as we just flew back to California from New York and it was one gloomy Thursday. N and I were quite hungry and decided to have lunch out. Since I haven’t visited Lucille’s yet and N was craving for meat, we drove to the popular ribs place.

Hello, Lucille’s!

It has this diner feel and it is pretty charming!

 

We decided to go for a BBQ Lunch Platter with a combination of St. Louis spare ribs, tri tip, one quarter smoked chicken ($15.99) and ordered a salad and mashed potatoes on the side. N also ordered the Lucille’s BBQ Tri Tip Sandwich ($13.49).

While waiting, we were given complimentary bread which I recall Frannywanny raving about. It was sweet bread to my surprise. I was expecting the typical bland bread with butter so this was a pleasant surprise. I guess it is to prepare the taste buds to the savory ribs.

The salad was your typical greens so let me focus more on the “meat”.

Driving 101: How to get a Driver's Permit

I mentioned in my previous post that I visited LTO (for the first time) to get my student driver’s permit and it was such a breeze. For those who have yet to get their permits, here are some things to know.

My mom warned me that it’ll be really warm while waiting in line so she told me to bring a fan to help me cool off. (TIP: Wear light clothes too.)

To my mom’s surprise, there was hardly a line. She thought that it must be because it’s the third Friday of the month. I’m not really sure if that’s something to take note of but it doesn’t hurt to pay a visit on the third week. There might be really less people renewing their licenses around this time.